Q. What is the highlight of your career?
A. I have had so many highlights in my career, wildlife capture and handling is a big one and I have been fortunate enough that have  I have got to capture many Wyoming species including pronghorn, bighorn sheep, elk, mule deer, moose, black-footed ferrets and wolves here in Wyoming and even captures of dik-dik antelope in Africa in relation to my job. Handling the animals you get to manage is a unique and awesome experience. In addition to captures, being out in the wildest places in the country are also a highlight for me. Being able to experience the outdoors in a way that is similar to the earliest explorers to the Yellowstone area gives me an appreciation for how important it is that we protect these areas and the animals that use them. Finally, getting to pass on my passion for wildlife and wild places to the younger generation is also an enormous highlight that occurs multiple times a year and always reminds me why I got into the business of wildlife management.

Q. What are challenges you encounter in your career?
A. The greatest challenge of being a wildlife biologist for the state is trying to balance all the needs of hunter, ranchers, outdoor recreationalists and the general public with what is best for the wildlife we manage. There are so many different layers of information that wildlife managers have to sort through in order to make those decisions.

Q. How did you get to this career?
A. Many years of schooling and time in the outdoors applying the skills I learned in school and learning the “ropes” of wildlife management from the older generation of wildlife managers.

Q. Are there scholarship or internship opportunities available with your career? If so, where can more information about those be found?
A. There are many different opportunities across the country to get involved with wildlife research through paid positions and internships and this could be a good way to get involved. One helpful website for these: https://wfscjobs.tamu.edu/job-board/