The management and conservation of wildlife and fisheries resources relies on professionals with extensive scientific knowledge, a nuanced understanding of how the public interfaces with natural resources, and a mastery of skills ranging from estimating population trends to pulling trailers to talking with landowners. The Wyoming Wildlife Fellowship, a collaboration between the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and the Haub School, strives to promote well-rounded and well-prepared wildlife and fisheries professionals through an immersive, supportive, hands-on education and work experience.
We invite applications for the 2024 Wyoming Wildlife Fellowship cohort! Online applications are due at 5 p.m. on March 15, 2024.
The Fellowship is fully funded by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, and Fellows will have the opportunity to network and work with Game and Fish employees through paid summer internships with the Department, seminars, service opportunities, and more!
Fellow Macy Jacobson (far left) conducts backcountry sampling of nongame fish species as part of her summer internship. Photo credit: Chris Martin/WGFD.
Paid summer employment with Wyoming Game and Fish Department: Fellows will be placed in 2 paid summer internships with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Through these internships, Fellows will gain work experience that is necessary to be competitive for positions in wildlife or fisheries professions. Past Fellows have used trawling nets to survey fish species of greatest conservation concern, spotlighted at night for black footed ferrets, conducted laboratory tests for wildlife diseases, taught kids about wildlife and wildlife management, and so much more!
Service projects: Each semester, Fellows will select hands-on service projects focused on diverse aspects of wildlife and fisheries management and conservation in Wyoming. Fellows have used radiotelemetry to find the location of frogs, helped wildlife biologists collect important data about hunting at hunter check stations, presented scientific concepts to the general public, and much more. Through these service hours, Fellows make connections with wildlife professionals around the state, learn new skills, and gain a broader understanding of the wildlife and fisheries profession.
Fellows Ryan Loghry (right) and Ty Hults (center) assist Wyoming Game and Fish Department Habitat and Access Specialist John Henningsen (left) with a fence pull as part of a service project. Photo credit: Taylor Wagstaff/UW.
Fellows Olivia Poore (left) and Adam Novak (right) present results of a research project conducted during seminar, in collaboration with Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s Science, Research & Analytical Support Unit. Photo credit: Rhiannon Jakopak/UW.
Skills-based seminar: Fellows participate in a seminar course that explores the concepts and skills that are necessary for wildlife and fisheries management and conservation that are often overlooked in traditional coursework. Concepts and skills include changing tires, time management, safety in the field, refining job application materials, collaboration with members of another agency, addressing a wildlife or fisheries management question using science, and much more.
Fellows also participate in a cohort of other like-minded students, have countless opportunities to network with wildlife and fisheries professionals, and receive personalized career advising.
The Fellowship is open to any undergraduate student at the University of Wyoming, including transfer students and incoming freshmen, who is interested in wildlife and fisheries management and conservation and who has at least 2 full years (4 semesters, 2 summers) left in their undergraduate degree.
Fellows must be 18 years old at the start of the Fellowship. Fellows must have an average 3.0 GPA to be eligible for or remain in the program. To support their time in the program, Fellows are awarded a stipend of $3,000 for each of the first 2 semesters of the program, $3,500 for the following 2 semesters, and $4,000 for any remaining semesters.
We invite applications for the 2024 Wyoming Wildlife Fellowship cohort! Online applications are due at 5 p.m. on March 15, 2024.
If you have any questions about the Fellowship or if you have potential opportunities for the Fellows, please reach out to Rhiannon Jakopak at rjakopak@uwyo.edu.
The Fellowship is fully funded by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, and is administered in collaboration between the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources.
The Fellowship was initiated in 2021, and there have been 3 cohorts so far:
University of Wyoming
Bim Kendall House
804 E Fremont St
Laramie, WY 82072
Phone: (307) 766-5080
Fax: (307) 766-5099
Email: haub.school@uwyo.edu
