Texas A&M AgriLife wildlife management awarded at state conference

Texas A&M AgriLife faculty, staff and students were recognized for their academic contributions and expertise in wildlife management and conservation at the Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society meeting recently held in Houston.

The Wildlife Society is an international nonprofit scientific and educational organization serving and representing wildlife professionals in wildlife conservation and resource management.

“Each year, our faculty, staff and students represent Texas A&M University at the largest state chapter meeting with the utmost professionalism, further solidifying our reputation as leaders in wildlife management and research,” said Roel Lopez, Ph.D., director of the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute and head of the Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management in the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. 

Outstanding scientific publication

Stephen Webb, Ph.D., was part of the research team that received the Outstanding Scientific Publication Award for the article “Analyzing Contacts and Behavior from High Frequency Tracking Data Using the wildlifeDI R Package.” Webb is a research assistant professor in the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute and Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management.

Webb said the wildlifeDI package was developed for use with the statistical software, R, and enables researchers to quantify dynamic interactions and contacts of wildlife equipped with radio telemetry devices. This data can then shed light on animal behavior, social networks and disease transmission.

“Through our work, we designed the analyses and outputs to integrate into existing R analysis workflows to facilitate the adoption of the package into a wide variety of wildlife tracking studies,” Webb said.

Publication co-authors include Jed Long, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Geography and Environment at Western University, Ontario, Canada; Seth Harju, biometrician with Heron Ecological, LLC, Kingston, Idaho; and Kenneth Gee, conservation delivery specialist at Oaks and Prairies Joint Venture, Ardmore, Oklahoma.

Outstanding technical publication

The Outstanding Technical Publication Award went to the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute’s Addie Smith, program coordinator; Alison Lund, program manager; and Lopez.

Their report, Conserving Texas: Quantifying Ecological Return on Investment, provides an approximate statewide ecological return on investment, assuming significant investment in land conservation via potential state funding. Further, the report describes the demand for land conservation and increased public access while also illustrating areas of high conservation priority for protecting wildlife habitat, water resources, agricultural land and public access to outdoor recreation.

The authors said the goal of the report is to better understand the current benefits and need for financial investment in Texas’ natural resources to best support the state’s growing population, thriving economy and natural resources.

Career recognition and leadership appointments

Sarah Turner, Ph.D., research assistant with the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute, received the Outstanding Achievement: Early Career Professional Award. In her role, she focuses on ecological monitoring of military lands, ensuring compliance with environmental policies and developing natural resource management plans.  

TheOutstanding Achievement: Mid-Career Professional Award was given to John Tomeček, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management. Tomeček is recognized as a state and national leader in wildlife management and conflict mitigation. In 2023, he was appointed to the National Wildlife Services Advisory Committee.

Don Steinbach, Ph.D., emeritus associate department head and AgriLife Extension program leader, received the Texas Chapter Friend of Wildlife Award honoring decades of service to wildlife conservation and the Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society. For the past decade, Steinbach served as the executive director of the Texas Chapter in addition to numerous other statewide committee appointments, including the Texas 4-H Foundation and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s White-tailed Deer Advisory Committee.

Smith and Shelby McCay, project coordinator with the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute, were recognized as Early Career Professional Program Fellows.

Last year, Smith and McCay were selected to participate in the Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society’s James G. Teer Conservation Leadership Institute. This competitive program ensures a future legacy of well-trained conservation leaders by providing professional training in leadership skills and contemporary conservation issues for today’s wildlife biologists and conservation professionals. 

Additionally, Mary Pearl Meuth, assistant state coordinator of the Texas Master Naturalist Program, was appointed president of the Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society and will serve a one-year term. 

Wildlife students showcase research and academic skill

Lindsay Martinez was the first-place recipient of the highly competitive Clarence Cottam Award, recognizing her research creating a path forward for reintroducing the federally endangered ocelot into its historic but unoccupied South Texas range. Martinez recently graduated from Texas A&M with a Master of Science in rangeland, wildlife and fisheries management and now serves as the research program coordinator for the East Foundation. The Clarence Cottam Award is the most prestigious student award given by the Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society, recognizing and promoting student research excellence in wildlife biology, conservation and management.

In addition to participation in research poster sessions, members of the Texas A&M Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society and the Texas A&M Range Club faced students from universities across the state in academic-based competitions.

Members of the Texas A&M Range Club swept the plant identification competition, with team one clinching first place and team two placing second. 

Top scoring individuals include Steven Lovelace, first place, Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology; Jessica Sebastian, second place, and Charles Purcell, third place, both students in the Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management.