Who We Are

Growing up in Round Hill in rural Loudoun County, Virginia, population ~450, near the Blue Ridge mountains, Heather developed an appreciation and passion for wildlife and nature at an early age.

Her father was a research veterinarian; her mother was an artist, a stay-at-home mother, and passed on her own appreciation of nature, as well as her green thumb, to Heather.

The youngest of 5 siblings (3 sisters and a brother), Heather was fond of horseback riding and fishing in her youth, spending every possible moment outdoors. A lover of all wildlife, birds have always held particular interest for her, but especially birds of prey. When she saw her first falconry demonstration around the age of 15, it furthered her desire to work with raptors, but various circumstances prevented her from truly pursuing her passion until recently.

She worked at the National Labor Relations Board as an editor from 1987 to 1998, leaving to raise her daughter, Sara. She returned to NLRB in 2010, where she worked as an administrative assistant until quitting in late 2018 to immerse herself in completing her apprenticeship, gaining hands-on experience, and preparing herself for life as an independent full-time raptor rehabilitator .

She has done volunteer work at The Raptor Conservancy of Virginia and Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research.

Heather is going to be our principal rehabilitator, once she has completed her apprenticeship and obtained the necessary permits.

Mark has been a complete city boy most of his life, with no real knowledge of the animal kingdom whatsoever, a fear of snakes, a fascination when he encountered even the most mundane of wildlife, and having never really noticed the raptors all around him.

Since meeting Heather, he has overcome his fear of snakes; become not just aware of the nature around him, but a passionate conservationist; and dedicated his life to the pursuit of providing medical care and husbandry for raptors, studying them, training them for education purposes, and, in cooperation with the wildlife rehabilitation community as a whole, doing everything possible to ensure their conservation and continued thriving in the wild.

Mark is our President & CEO, the modern equivalent of "Executive Director." He has extensive business background, having been a serial entrepreneur, having created or been involved in the development of at least 10 different companies. He is responsible for the business, technical, administration and management side of things, is our primary fund-raiser and grant seeker, is our liaison with corporate sponsors and donors, has been single-handedly responsible for design and construction of our rehabilitation clinic, and is apprenticing to become a raptor rehabilitator himself. He will assist in the rehabilitation efforts while maintaining his full-time job with the federal government until his retirement.

Mark & Heather met in 2010, after Heather was 2 weeks into her new job at the same Agency Mark had worked for since 2008. They fell in love almost immediately, and were married in November 2011.

Their work together on the Severna Park Osprey stand & camera project planted the seed for interceding and making a positive difference in the lives of birds of prey.

Over the next year, as they contemplated how to further that effort, it became clear that they both shared this passion, and wanted to help in a hands-on, tangible way, allowing them to directly see the impact and benefit to the birds.

After locating Owl Moon Raptor Center, the only dedicated raptor rehab facility in Maryland, they began volunteering there, and were quickly impressed by the need, the level of care provided, the extraordinary knowledge, skill, and experience that Suzanne Shoemaker possessed, and how much she cared.

Given their proximity to the Chesapeake Bay, and seeing a local need for raptor care, they felt that the best way to put their passion and interest into action would be for them to pursue becoming licensed raptor rehabilitators and to open a dedicated raptor center in the Severna Park, MD area.

Support Maryland Raptor Conservation Center.

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Heather Jeweler

Mark Jeweler

Our story together