Cascades Raptor Center

Cascades is thrilled to welcome two new trainers to our team:
Travis Cherry and Taylor Luken!
Travis’s wildlife journey began at a raptor center near his childhood city of Charleston, South Carolina. It was there that he was introduced to the world of wildlife education and animal training. Throughout his professional career, he’s led nature walks as a naturalist, helped manage hiking trails alongside local volunteers, and worked with a wide variety of animal ambassadors at different organizations across the East Coast and Midwest. When he’s not working with birds or
thinking about birds, Travis is thinking about opossums, spending time in nature, playing TTRPGs and board games with friends, or watching cartoons.

Taylor’s background is in biology and science communication. While completing her bachelor’s degree in biology at Centre College, she traveled to Malaysian Borneo and the Finnish Arctic to study conservation and climate change, which informed her decision to study American chestnut conservation and teach college genetics in grad school at SUNY-ESF in Syracuse, New York. It was there that she developed an interest in teaching and helping others find what excites them about the planet they inhabit. It was also during this time that Taylor served as a crisis counselor for The Trevor Project’s LGBTQ+ youth crisis helpline—work that only furthered her desire to connect with others through kindness and sincerity. After completing a master’s degree in high school science education in 2023, Taylor started volunteering as an educator with Raptor Rehabilitation Center RAPTOR Inc. in her hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. She quickly discovered that working with birds of prey was what she was meant to do. Outside of work, Taylor can be found typing stories and essays on her laptop, struggling valiantly to learn new bookbinding skills, or toppling over with figure skates or roller skates attached to her feet.