Rusty Kaiser, wildlife biologist for the Bureau of Land Management in Pinedale, Wyo., pauses to admire a mule deer fawn last summer while helping the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, for which he worked to earn his UW master’s degree, conduct research in the Wyoming Range.
Growing up in southwest Wyoming, Rusty Kaiser enjoyed the outdoors as an avid hunter and angler, gaining an appreciation for the state’s wild places and the animals that live there. So perhaps it’s no surprise that his education at the University of Wyoming led to his career as a wildlife biologist, working for the Bureau of Land Management in Pinedale. His job includes balancing energy development and sage grouse conservation—a topic he studied as a UW graduate student in the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit.
“I was fortunate to grow up in Kemmerer, where there are plenty of opportunities to get in the outdoors and explore wildlife and their habitats,” says Kaiser, who graduated with a master’s degree from UW in 2006. “Now, in my role as a wildlife biologist, I really like that educational opportunities come my way when I get to impart some of my knowledge on a particular subject to the public so we can all become more aware of the issues, challenges and success stories that we encounter each day in the world of wildlife.”
Alyson Courtemanch, meanwhile, grew up in Maine and was attracted to UW after serving as an intern in Grand Teton National Park. After completing her master’s degree research on bighorn sheep in the Tetons in 2014, she went to work for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, serving as wildlife biologist for the agency’s Jackson region, where she oversees some of Wyoming’s most prized big game herds.
“I’ve always dreamed about a career working with large mammals that are part of intact, wild populations. In my mind, there’s no better place than the greater Yellowstone ecosystem to do that,” Courtemanch says. “Wyoming is home to some of the largest, most spectacular wildlife populations and ecosystems in the world. Therefore, it is an extremely appealing place to build a career as a wildlife manager. Honestly, I now have the job that I’ve dreamed about, getting to manage and study elk, moose, bison, pronghorn, deer and bighorn sheep every day.”
Their paths to UW differ, but Kaiser and Courtemanch both represent the important roles of UW and the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, founded in 1980 as a collaborative program involving UW, the Game and Fish Department, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and other state and federal resource management agencies.
The co-op unit conducts research to help guide management of the state’s treasured wildlife, from its iconic big game such as elk, deer and moose to smaller species such as pygmy rabbits and sagebrush songbirds. But perhaps just as important as the unit’s research output is its production, in collaboration with UW’s Department of Zoology and Physiology, of well-trained professionals to manage the animals and habitat the unit studies.
UW graduates are found throughout Wyoming as fishery biologists, habitat managers and agency personnel for the Game and Fish Department, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service and a number of private consulting firms and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
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