Kristina grew up in Carnation, Washington camping, fishing, rock hounding with her family and generally cultivating a passion for wildlife. She was awarded her B.S. in Wildlife Biology from University of Montana, where she was the Student Chapter of TWS secretary and vice president 3 years collectively. She spent a stint of time in Laramie, Wyoming investigating niche partitioning and community ecology dynamics in small mammals throughout sagebrush and prairie grassland ecosystems. She was awarded her PhD in Ecology from the University of Wyoming in 2022. While completing the final few years of her dissertation she lived in a remote community on Prince of Wales Island in Alaska. She moved back to Missoula, Montana in 2022 and began her career in Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) in 2023 as a field coordinator for the Western Montana Sharp-tailed Grouse Reintroduction Project.

Throughout her career in wildlife, Kristina has developed an interest in supporting new professionals to keep the conservation and passion for wildlife strong in future generations of wildlife biologists. She’s helped organize a grass-roots conference on black-tailed deer in Alaska and overseen the logistics of large TWS events for student chapters as a student and a mentor post-undergrad. Through her career, especially in her current role, she’s worked with ranchers, private landowner, FWP peers, federal and NGO biologists, academic partners and the general public. Following these experiences she’s developed an interest in community-led, agency-supported conservation to encourage passion for wildlife conservation in the general public. Kristina has been a member of TWS for the past 15 years and has been constantly amazed at the passionate effort towards research and conservation she’s seen accomplished through dedicated wildlife professionals.

Kristina would love the opportunity to be further involved at the state chapter level of TWS. Especially in Montana, which has been an un-paralleled community to work in during her career. She enjoys spending her free time hunting and fishing with her friends, hiking with her dogs, and finding all possible wildlife-experience opportunities to do with her daughter.

Justin is the Research Administrator for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, where his role is to coordinate, manage, and deliver the agency’s research, biometrics, decision support, and genetics programs to support fish, wildlife, and recreation management and policy decisions. He previously worked as the Wildlife Research & Technical Services Bureau Chief and Wildlife Biometrician for FWP, and prior to that as a Wildlife Biologist for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in Alaska. As with most wildlife professionals, he spent years working seasonal jobs that took him from southern Chile to Florida to northern Michigan and Minnesota to Alaska. In what now seems like a lifetime ago, he earned an M.S. From Montana State University in Fish and Wildlife Management and a B.S. from the University of Florida in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation. He is a  National Conservation Leadership Institute Fellow, Cohort 8 (2013-14), and he earned an Expert Certification in Decision Analysis from the U.S. Department of Interior in 2019.

Justin is from Florida and while he technically bleeds orange and blue, John Steinbeck articulated it best: “For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection, but with Montana it is love.” Justin lives here because of the wildlife and outdoor opportunities we have; he is an avid bird hunter (and dog lover), big game hunter, backpacker, hiker, fisherman, rafter, skier, and he even loves to operate 4WD trucks, ATVs, and snow machines. Justin has been asked many times what his favorite animal or taxa is and finds it to be a most difficult question because he is fascinated by all animals, including humans. He has worked on many kinds of birds (his first, “gateway” taxa), small mammals, ungulates, and carnivores of all sizes. He has also worked increasingly on humans (social science, psychology, and even economics). Over time he has become less able to separate the human and natural worlds, whether human society can recognize it or not, and he has seen how fundamental wildlife and the outdoors are to human mental, physical, and societal health, and vice versa. Justin is driven by and committed to a life of service to the wildlife, outdoor opportunities, and people of this state. The Montana TWS Chapter and its members have been so important at every step of Justin’s career and life journey, as a venue for learning, debating and discussing ideas, mentorship, and community, and he wants to help ensure this organization continues to play these important roles into the future.