2025 MT TWS Award Recipients

Distinguished Service Award: 

Dan Tyers

Wildlife Conservation Award:

Granger Ranch

Biologist of the Year Award:

Ashley Taylor

Bob Watts Communications Award:

No Nominations

Rising Professional Award:

Shane Petch

Wynn Freeman Scholarship Recipients:

Noah Sechrist (MSU) and Malakai Spint (UM)

Western Meadowlark Award Recipients
(for other Montana colleges with wildlife programs)

No Nominations

Best Student Oral Presentation:

Milan Vinks (grad, UM) – Spatio-temporal response of grizzly bear habitat selection to harvested forests and fire disturbance in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem

Ava Window (undergrad, UM) – Intra-seasonal shifts in summer elk diet composition

Best Student Poster Award:

Elise Loggers (grad, MSU) – Long-term insights from stable isotope analysis of foraging strategies of grizzly bears in a dynamic ecosystem

Kilynn Groen (undergrad, UM) – Ecological consequences of selective logging: Insights from the Chiquibul Forest Reserve

TWS Grant Recipient:

Itai Namir (MSU)

Conference Artwork:

Carly Segal (MSU)