women in science: former girl scouts helping to recover black-footed ferrets
Interview Questions for a Wildlife Biologist Working with Black-Footed Ferrets
1. What inspired you to pursue a career in wildlife biology, particularly working with black-footed ferrets?
My animal behavior professor, who is now my best friend, inspired me to pursue a career in wildlife biology. She broadened my view of the world and helped me realize I could conduct research that could then be used to help protect wildlife and their habitat. It’s all an accident that I started working with black-footed ferrets after graduate school. I always loved watching the prairie dogs and burrowing owls around campus in Texas and didn’t even know about the ferret until much later. Being provided with the opportunity to work with prairie dogs and other grassland species is what inspired me to pursue a career working with the masked bandits of the prairie in South Dakota.
2. Can you describe your educational journey and how it prepared you for this field?
In my early days of college, I wanted to be a veterinarian, so I pursued a biology degree with a focus in the medical field. The school I went to in Texas did not have very many wildlife or animal-focused courses, so I made sure to take every available course they offered. Luckily those courses were taught by some pretty awesome teachers who inspired me to take a different route and helped me apply to graduate school in Colorado. It was in my Master of Environmental Management program where I was introduced to the forest service and our public lands. While in that program I was introduced to a variety of people who work in the wildlife field or with a land management agency and they taught me a lot from working with partners and stakeholders to having compassion for the work you are doing.
3. What is a memorable experience from your work with black-footed ferrets?
This is a tough question, I’ve had a lot of good memories while working with the black-footed ferret. The first time I helped with surveys was a big one. Imagine being out on a prairie dog town, it’s late at night and dark. You can see all the stars in the night sky and the milky way above your head. You’re driving around and you see a flash of tiny green eyes right above a prairie dog burrow for the first time. You approach the burrow, step out of the truck and see if there is a ferret in there and staring right back at you is this tiny creature with green eyeshine. It is indeed a black-footed ferret, and it has decided it’s going to chatter which scares you and makes you jump. The first time I saw a ferret and heard it chatter at me was thrilling and I just knew that I was going to do this work for as long as a I possibly can. They are special animals that live on the prairie and need our help.
4. What challenges do you face in your work, and how do you overcome them?
Oh there are a lot of challenges I face at work from money to lack of staff to people not liking what you do. I work with a lot of partners like non-profits and federal organizations to overcome the money and lack of staff challenges. We work together to apply for grants so that we can continue the work we are doing to fight plague and to protect the ferret. We also help each other out when needed for field work and to conduct surveys. In 2024, we brought together a large group of people, 20+ individuals from different states and organizations, to help us do plague management when we identified plague at our site. It’s important to know and realize that there are other people that are working on this and are going to help when the challenges come. All you have to do is ask.
What gives you hope for the future? What gives me hope for the future is knowing that there are people out there who care as much as I do about our wildlife, ecosystems and our lands. People who care are the reason we can do the work we do, and I know they will always be front and center and give a voice to the critters who can’t speak and are unseen. We are the Lorax.
5. In what ways did your experience as a Girl Scout contribute to your current success?
My family was not super outdoorsy outside of sports like soccer and softball. Girl scouts was my way to explore the outdoor world. My first camping trip was with girl scouts when I was in elementary school and that introduced me to camping, hiking, knot tying and a variety of other skills I probably would not have learned until I was an adult. I also attended a few girl scout camps over the summers that taught me how to start and put out fires properly and safely, some trail clearing and other skills that I use as an adult and in my job. Girl scouts really helped me develop my social skills and taught me how to be a kind and caring person to everyone. The skills I was able to learn from campfires to talking with people have helped me be the biologist I am today. I can take care of myself when I’m doing field work and I’m able to work with and communicate with a lot of people everyday to make sure I’m doing my job to the best of my ability.
6. If you could give one piece of advice to aspiring biologists, what would it be?
Go outside and don’t be afraid to get dirty. Be eager to learn and try anything new even if it sounds scary.
7. What can people do to help recover this endangered species?
Be excited about helping the black-footed ferret and all the species of the grassland including prairie dogs. Stay informed and engaged with what is happening to wildlife and their habitat. Bring awareness and tell others about them so their story can spread and be heard all around the United States and the world!
1. What inspired you to pursue a career in wildlife biology, particularly working with black-footed ferrets?
My animal behavior professor, who is now my best friend, inspired me to pursue a career in wildlife biology. She broadened my view of the world and helped me realize I could conduct research that could then be used to help protect wildlife and their habitat. It’s all an accident that I started working with black-footed ferrets after graduate school. I always loved watching the prairie dogs and burrowing owls around campus in Texas and didn’t even know about the ferret until much later. Being provided with the opportunity to work with prairie dogs and other grassland species is what inspired me to pursue a career working with the masked bandits of the prairie in South Dakota.
2. Can you describe your educational journey and how it prepared you for this field?
In my early days of college, I wanted to be a veterinarian, so I pursued a biology degree with a focus in the medical field. The school I went to in Texas did not have very many wildlife or animal-focused courses, so I made sure to take every available course they offered. Luckily those courses were taught by some pretty awesome teachers who inspired me to take a different route and helped me apply to graduate school in Colorado. It was in my Master of Environmental Management program where I was introduced to the forest service and our public lands. While in that program I was introduced to a variety of people who work in the wildlife field or with a land management agency and they taught me a lot from working with partners and stakeholders to having compassion for the work you are doing.
3. What is a memorable experience from your work with black-footed ferrets?
This is a tough question, I’ve had a lot of good memories while working with the black-footed ferret. The first time I helped with surveys was a big one. Imagine being out on a prairie dog town, it’s late at night and dark. You can see all the stars in the night sky and the milky way above your head. You’re driving around and you see a flash of tiny green eyes right above a prairie dog burrow for the first time. You approach the burrow, step out of the truck and see if there is a ferret in there and staring right back at you is this tiny creature with green eyeshine. It is indeed a black-footed ferret, and it has decided it’s going to chatter which scares you and makes you jump. The first time I saw a ferret and heard it chatter at me was thrilling and I just knew that I was going to do this work for as long as a I possibly can. They are special animals that live on the prairie and need our help.
4. What challenges do you face in your work, and how do you overcome them?
Oh there are a lot of challenges I face at work from money to lack of staff to people not liking what you do. I work with a lot of partners like non-profits and federal organizations to overcome the money and lack of staff challenges. We work together to apply for grants so that we can continue the work we are doing to fight plague and to protect the ferret. We also help each other out when needed for field work and to conduct surveys. In 2024, we brought together a large group of people, 20+ individuals from different states and organizations, to help us do plague management when we identified plague at our site. It’s important to know and realize that there are other people that are working on this and are going to help when the challenges come. All you have to do is ask.
What gives you hope for the future? What gives me hope for the future is knowing that there are people out there who care as much as I do about our wildlife, ecosystems and our lands. People who care are the reason we can do the work we do, and I know they will always be front and center and give a voice to the critters who can’t speak and are unseen. We are the Lorax.
5. In what ways did your experience as a Girl Scout contribute to your current success?
My family was not super outdoorsy outside of sports like soccer and softball. Girl scouts was my way to explore the outdoor world. My first camping trip was with girl scouts when I was in elementary school and that introduced me to camping, hiking, knot tying and a variety of other skills I probably would not have learned until I was an adult. I also attended a few girl scout camps over the summers that taught me how to start and put out fires properly and safely, some trail clearing and other skills that I use as an adult and in my job. Girl scouts really helped me develop my social skills and taught me how to be a kind and caring person to everyone. The skills I was able to learn from campfires to talking with people have helped me be the biologist I am today. I can take care of myself when I’m doing field work and I’m able to work with and communicate with a lot of people everyday to make sure I’m doing my job to the best of my ability.
6. If you could give one piece of advice to aspiring biologists, what would it be?
Go outside and don’t be afraid to get dirty. Be eager to learn and try anything new even if it sounds scary.
7. What can people do to help recover this endangered species?
Be excited about helping the black-footed ferret and all the species of the grassland including prairie dogs. Stay informed and engaged with what is happening to wildlife and their habitat. Bring awareness and tell others about them so their story can spread and be heard all around the United States and the world!
