Editor: Laura M. Bies
LI Newsletter Subcommittee Chair: Allison Fowler

Fifth Class of the Leadership Institute Meets in Snowbird

The 5th class of the Leadership Institute met in Snowbird during TWS’ Annual Conference in early October. Between 3 discussion sessions, a day and half of Council meetings, a Leadership Institute Alumni and Friends reception, meeting their Council mentors in person, and the student mentoring program, participants were certainly kept busy.

Overall, approximately 1400 attendees, guests, and exhibitors trekked to the beautiful mountains in Snowbird, Utah to enjoy a top-notch scientific program and network with colleagues. We had over 50 exhibitors for the trade show and 9 organizations represented at the Career Fair. The Plenary session on diversity in the wildlife profession entitled “There’s More to Diversity than Just the Wildlife” included informative and moving presentations from members Columbus Brown, Roel Lopez, Jeanne Jones, Seafha Blount, and LI alumna Dana Sanchez. Ron Labisky, 2009 Aldo Leopold Award Winner, concluded the program with a presentation entitled “Strong Professional Headwinds: Some Thoughts to Ponder.”

About a dozen LI alums made it to the meeting, including several who helped out with moderating discussions during the LI sessions and attended the LI reception. Thanks to Angela Fuller (2008), Bridgette Flanders-Wanner (2006), and Susan Rupp (2007) for moderating discussions!

The 2010 Class is currently submitting surveys about their experience. Those that have been submitted already have identified some highlights from the conference, and the LI experience overall. Participants were surprised about how much they enjoyed both the COWCH interviews and the Council Meetings. Elizabeth Ball, Missouri Department of Conservation, summed it up well: “I thought going to the conference was the capstone of the entire experience. I got a lot out of the readings but I really benefited by going to the meeting and interacting with everyone [in person]! “

The survey responses will help us to continue to improve the LI experience for future classes. In the next issue of Leadership Chronicles, we’ll look at how the program has evolved since 2006.

Alumni News

Read about promotions, awards, and leadership positions recently attained by LI alums.

Sarah Bucklin, LI Class of 2009, was recently elected at the annual TWS meeting to serve as Board Member on the Ethnic & Gender Diversity Working Group. She has also been appointed to serve as Central Region Board Member to the Leadership Wyoming Alumni Association, a statewide organization committed to building a better Wyoming through leadership activation and service.

Mackenzie Jeffress, LI Class 2010, is currently serving on the Caesar Kleberg award committee.

Elizabeth Johnson, LI Class 2010, received her Associate Wildlife Biologist credentials from TWS.

Michael Larson, LI Class 2006, is representing the wildlife section of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources on the Climate Change Adaptation Team.

Audrey Owens, LI Class 2009, attended the Conservation Leaders for Tomorrow workshop in November. This hunting awareness workshop is coordinated by the Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation and the Wildlife Management Institute and helps introduce natural resource professionals to hunting.

Erin Patrick, LI Class 2006, expanded her existing position as the USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services Rabies Coordinator for Kentucky to also include the state of Tennessee. As a result, she will be relocating to Knoxville, TN.

Marnie Pepper, LI Class 2010, accepted a new position with the USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services as a Wildlife Biologist. Marnie was also elected vice president of the Maryland-Delaware TWS chapter, and designed the new chapter logo.

Tiffany Whitsitt, LI Class 2009, has a new position as a natural resource technician at Tinker Air Force Base in central Oklahoma. She is also the new webmaster for the Oklahoma chapter of The Wildlife Society and will be helping the chapter create a new website.

Leadership Training Opportunities

The National Conservation Leadership Institute: This is a great program that offers more advanced leadership training to a select group of Fellows identified by their nominating organizations as having high leadership potential. Learn more at conservationleadership.org. Electronic applications will be accepted in early 2011.

Effective Conservation Leadership: The National Zoo's Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia, is offering a 10-day course in Effective Conservation Leadership through the Smithsonian-Mason Global Conservation Studies Program. The course will run May 3-13, 2011. For more information, please visit nationalzoo.si.edu/SCBI/MAB/GMU/leadership.cfm.

Where are they now?

Read about what an LI alum is up to now and what they’ve achieved since they participated.
Dr. Susan Rupp, LI Class of 2007, has been an Assistant Professor in the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences at South Dakota State University since 2006. While Rupp primarily instructs and mentors students, her research involves the impacts of renewable energy sources on wildlife, focusing on cellulosic biofuels. Susan enjoys her research, especially since wildlife biology has become a forefront issue and an area around which various professions, like engineers and biochemists, can collaborate in effort to conserve natural resources.

Susan is a member of South Dakota’s state chapter and is Chair of the chapter’s Biofuel Subcommittee. In addition, Susan is also Chair of the Certification Subcommittee of the South Dakota chapter. The Certification Subcommittee authorizes TWS members who would like to become a Certified Wildlife Biologist or an Associate Wildlife Biologist. At the national level, Susan is also Chair of the Biofuel Technical Review Committee. This committee is responsible for producing a thorough scientific review and report of the impacts of biofuel production on wildlife, which is expected to be released next year.

Susan has found LI to be extremely helpful in her career. For instance, the skills and training provided in LI have helped Susan gain confidence in interacting with colleagues and navigating situations that would be have been intimidating prior to LI participation. Now as an LI graduate, Susan enjoys being able to give back to the program by helping and mentoring new participants to LI.

Guest Editorial: In the Face of Fear

Susan P. Rupp (2007)

It has been said that leaders do not command excellence, they build excellence. To inspire people to achieve excellence takes honesty and adaptability, competency and creativity, and fair-mindedness and respect. Leaders build a common vision through mutual trust. That trust must be built on sound character, strong morals, and personal integrity. Over the past few years, I have come to realize that integrity is not a measure of what somebody does right, but more about how they handle what they do wrong.

Effective leaders need to be able to admit their mistakes and shortcomings, adapt and be innovative in their efforts to correct the situation, and persevere to accomplish their goals regardless of the seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Furthermore, those obstacles are not always external. Sometimes facing our own fears is the biggest obstacle of all.

In August 2006 I started my position with South Dakota State University as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences. I was a bit surprised I was offered the job, quite honestly; I had just finished my Ph.D. and did not expect the transition to academia to come as quickly as it did. Furthermore, all of my research was focused on elk in the southwest and I was certain my lack of “worldly exposure” would limit my ability to be competitive outside of the southern Rocky Mountains. But only 8 months after finishing my degree I had accepted the job and was settling in to the Prairie Pothole Region of the upper Midwest – one of the most critical areas for breeding waterfowl and grassland songbirds in North America. Needless to say, the transition to a new ecosystem and lifestyle was quite a shock!

Life has not been easy these past four years. Though I am slowly finding my niche researching the impacts of biofuel production on wildlife populations, I am still learning a lot about the ecology of the Great Plains and trying to find ways to incorporate what I learn into my lectures. Many times, my students teach me more than I teach them. I learned early that using my experience from New Mexico in the classroom - despite obvious similarities in wildlife management approaches and policy- was not going to be very well-received or successful in South Dakota. And then there was the struggle of being in a new place with new people, having to learn how things worked, who did what, and where I should go for information.

Since the move to South Dakota I have often thought to myself, “How can I be a leader in my profession when I honestly don’t know what I am doing at the moment?” Competency, after all, had always been a cornerstone to effective leadership in my mind. I wanted to be a leader, both inside and outside the classroom, but fear began to consume me. Fortunately, my time with the TWS Leadership Institute has helped put some of this into perspective. During my Celebrating Our Wildlife Conservation Heritage (COWCH) interview, my mentor recalled a story told by Aldo Leopold in which he reminded the listener to “Keep your eye on the goal and don’t get distracted by the meadowlark.” A simple statement like that made me realize that the fear and uncertainty I felt could distract me from accomplishing the goals set before me. So, my efforts the past few years have focused on conquering my own fear and insecurity so I can be a more effective leader now and in the future. And in doing so, I have come to realize exactly how much fear controls the lives of others. Just pick up a newspaper and read the front page; it is filled with fear-evoking headlines.

In his 1933 inaugural address, Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, “The greatest thing we have to fear is fear itself…nameless, unreasoning, unjustified, terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” Most of us are familiar with the beginning of that quote, but it is the latter part that really addresses why fear is such a threat. Surprisingly, many people fail to recognize the fear in their own lives - instead masking it with excuses which, at the time, appear legitimate, but are really only a cover for the anxiety and uncertainty they face. And if there is one characteristic all great leaders have in common, it is the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of the people of their time. John Kenneth Galbraith, a Canadian-American economist, said this, and not much else, is the essence of leadership.

So what am I trying to say through all of this? Though it is not always easy, I’ve learned that leaders can challenge others by challenging themselves first. Leaders move forward in spite of the obstacles, follow through with responsibilities, encourage others despite fatigue, and generate enthusiasm for a common vision even in the face of uncertainty. Sometimes in order to lead effectively, we have to know when to follow. We may not always know what to do next or how to handle a situation, but we can learn from watching others. I have found that sometimes the best thing to do is to take a step backward and see the world from a different perspective. After all, even the smallest object looks huge when held close to the eye.