Deniz Aygen grew up playing outside in the woods, lakes, and streams in Michigan and attended Michigan State University for her undergraduate degree. She got bit by the travel bug early in life and after college used her biological training to work around the world and in the US on various bird migration projects. Deniz then attended the University of North Carolina in Wilmington to earn her master’s degree in biology, focusing on royal tern chick diet in the Chesapeake Bay. Shortly thereafter she moved to Idaho, began working for the Idaho Department of Fish & Game on waterbird breeding surveys, and so began her career with the Department. As the Watchable Wildlife Biologist, she was instrumental in developing the Idaho Birding Trail in 2005 as well as the Bird by Bird Program in 2009; Deniz continues to passionately promote nature appreciation, wildlife viewing and recreation, and the importance of nongame wildlife and habitat conservation in Idaho.