Employee Spotlight: Matt Hixson
The USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center’s Bird Banding Laboratory, welcomes its newest team member Biological Technician Matt Hixson.
Matt Hixson joined the USGS Bird Banding Laboratory (BBL) on August 10th, 2026. Originally from Illinois, Matt developed his passions and interests in avian research and birdwatching in 2021 as a technician for the Illinois Natural History Survey in Champaign, Illinois. To gain experience and get involved in the field, he participated in local banding efforts at Phillip’s Tract Banding Station, monitored an extensive network of nest boxes, and jointly led efforts to survey bird collisions on and around his college campus at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He graduated in May of 2022, obtaining a bachelor’s degree in Integrative Biology.
Since graduating, Matt has worked in five different states collecting data for a variety of different projects through banding, beginning with the nocturnal and cryptic Eastern Whip-poor-Will and Northern Saw-whet Owl in Illinois, then with the endangered Golden-cheeked Warbler in Texas. He then changed his focus to gaining skills in the operation of migration banding stations, working for Kiawah Island Banding Station in South Carolina, and the University of Montana Bird Ecology Lab in Montana. Eventually this work brought him to Maryland, where he worked for three seasons at Foreman’s Branch Bird Observatory on the Delmarva Peninsula.
Now across the Chesapeake Bay and in his new role as Biological Technician, Matt will support the BBL’s broad spectrum of work duties while also providing experience and support in thrice-weekly migration banding efforts. He will assist in the completion of band orders, perform data quality control, and aid in the operations of the encounters team.