Camp Kehoe - September 13 - September 17, 2017

Chris is currently a Wildlife Biologist with the USFWS Office of Conservation Investment in the Northeast Region. Previously, he served as the Regional Chief of Hunting & Fishing (2017-19) and Migratory Game Bird Biologist for the USFWS, Northeast Region (2006-17), working with State and Federal partners in the U.S. & Canada to support science-based conservation and harvest management of migratory game birds. From 1996-2006, Chris served as a Wetland Wildlife and Furbearer Biologist with the Ohio Division of Wildlife (ODOW), where he developed research, monitoring and public communication programs to improve furbearer management within the State. He also served as the State Coordinator in the testing and development of Best Management Practices for Furbearer Traps and Trapping in the U.S. His efforts also led to the first regulated trapping season for river otters in Ohio following their successful reintroduction in the early 1980’s, built around strong science and communication efforts within the agency, and more importantly, with the public. Prior to working with ODOW, he was employed as a Wildlife Research Biologist with the MO Dept. of Conservation and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Wildlife Services, and Wildlife Technician with the U.S.G.S., Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Station. Chris is also a volunteer Trapper Education instructor with the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife Hunter Education Program.

Rob has been involved with CLfT since 2008 and continues to find it motivating, challenging and extremely satisfying. He has served on both the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Board (Chairman) and the F&W Advisory Committee. A "student" of public regulation, he believes in the regulatory process works when all of the "players" understand and fulfill their obligations. Also, a current Trustee and President of the Barre Fish and Game Club, the largest private shooting and hunting club in Vermont. Other relevant credentials include Hunter Education Instructor (30 years), Range Safety Officer, NRA certified Shotgun Instructor and have conducted many education shooting programs for kids and women. Rob grew up in a hunting and fishing culture in Minnesota.
After graduating from college in Biology, he took a position as the Minnesota "Research Co-coordinator for Scientific and Natural Areas" . After 3 years, he when back to school and became a Chiropractic Physician, moved to Vermont and has been in private practice since 1983. He owns and manages a 50 acre wood lot and spends as much time as possible outdoors.

Molly has been a CLfT instructor for a least a decade. She's also a Vermont Fish and Wildlife Chief Hunter Safety Education Instructor, a Hunter Safety and Bow Hunter Safety Instructor, an NRA Shotgun Certified Instructor, a Vermont Fish and Wildlife Conservation Group board member and active with Back Country Hunters and Anglers. Molly has worn many hats in her work life -- dairy farmer, carpenter, graphic designer and family practice nurse . She currently creates custom western hats and leather goods.

Tom Decker is the Branch Manager of the Communications, Analysis and Partnerships Branch for the US Fish & Wildlife Service - Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program. Tom is a Certified Wildlife Biologist and has worked for USFWS for 10 years. Previously Tom worked for 15 years for Vermont Fish and Wildlife and 9 years for Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife holding several positions including Furbearer Biologist, Director of Wildlife, and Director of Operations. Tom is a life member of the American Society of Mammologists and a Professional Member of the Boone and Crocket Club. He has been a member of The Wildlife Society since 1988 and is a TWS Fellow and National Conservation Leadership Institute Fellow. Tom is a certified hunter education and trapper education instructor in Massachusetts and a hunting instructor in the Vermont 4-H Shooting Sports program. He is also a certified archery instructor in the National Archery in the Schools Program. Tom has Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Fisheries and Wildlife Biology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a Bachelor’s degree in Geography from Worcester State University. He lives in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont and spends much of his time gathering wild edibles and fishing, trapping and hunting moose, waterfowl, deer, grouse, pheasant, squirrels and turkeys.

Michael Kolsun has been a volunteer Hunter Education instructor for the Vermont F&W department for 30 years and serves on the F&W board. He is certified in hunter, bow and trapper education and currently serves as a Chief Instructor. Growing up in a non hunting family, he was mentored into hunting in his early twenties. After all the help he received, the importance of 'paying it forward' lead him to becoming a certified instructor. Through networking in his local community, he now has a team of 12 instructors, teaching a hands on, interactive, experiential based class.
He has attended the Tom Brown Tracker School, learned to make primitive longbows with John McPherson, is an avid hand loader of ammunition and has spent time as a primitive rendezvous/fur trade era, muzzle loader competitor. Taking the hunt to a deeper level of satisfaction, which includes butchering and caring for ones harvested game, is a year round pursuit.
As an Endowment member of the NRA, he has instructor ratings in pistol and shotgun. After retirement from UPS, he has started Vermont Advanced Shooting Sports (V.A.S.S.), a post hunter education school, to facilitate the new shooter with limited mentoring opportunity.
Michael and his wife, Molly Cook, live on 38 acres in the Northeast Kingdom in Brighton, VT. They spend their time managing their land to sustain wildlife, hunting, fishing, shooting and enjoying the gifts that nature provides. Wild game meat in the freezer is their preferred diet.

Mike was employed for over 36 years with the NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation as a Wildlife Biologist and Environmental Educator. In that capacity, Mike worked on white-tailed deer, river otters, hunter and trapper education and summer environmental education camps. Mike has been working as an instructor for CLfT for 9 years. Taught undergraduates, graduate students and natural resources professionals in Vermont, Illinois, Arkansas and Georgia about conservation management. Participated in assessment of curricula. Love being part of the program and look forward to each and every workshop!

Eric is a retired Vermont Game Warden and Hunter Education Coordinator. His is the past executive director of the International Hunter Education Association and Orion-the Hunter's Institute. He currently serves on numerous boards including Orion, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers (BHA) and Lamoille River Paddlers Trail. An avid hunter and owner of an eager Brittany bird dog, he has a hard time finding time to do all the wilderness canoe trips, fishing trips to Montana and in Vermont, and the hikes in Norway that he would like to do. Eric has introduced hundreds of folks to the joys of the outdoors thru hunting, fishing and tripping, and touched thousands thru teaching, talks and writing. He is currently coordinating an ethics column in the BHA Outdoor Journal.

I am Chief of the USGS Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units, a network of 40 research units in 38 states at major universities. I was Chief of Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration for the Northeast Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service previously. I am also Adjunct Associate Professor of Wildlife Conservation at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Michigan State University, and Andres Bello University in Santiago, Chile. I am a Certified Wildlife Biologist and Past President and Fellow of The Wildlife Society. I am a Professional Member of the Boone and Crockett Club, Life Member of International Hunter Education Association and Senior Specialist in the Fulbright Scholar Program. I am a member of the IUCN Otter Specialist and Sustainable Use and Livelihoods Groups, serve on the Board of Directors of the National Conservation Leadership Institute, and represent USGS on the Wilderness Policy Council. I advise MS and PhD students studying carnivores, ungulates, and human dimensions, and have worked in Africa, Canada, Chile, Peru, and the US. I'm Associate Editor of Human Dimensions of Wildlife journal, Science and Education Editor for Fair Chase, and teach graduate courses in Wildlife Conservation and Human Dimensions of Wildlife Conservation. I teach Hunter and Trapper Education in Massachusetts, and have hunted most of my life, feeling most alive and connected to nature when doing so. My trophies are wild game meals I serve to friends and family.

Gary grew up in West Virginia and received degrees from West Virginia University, Clemson University and Colorado State University. He has lived, hunted and fished in seven states and has hunted in North Carolina with the same group of friends for more than 30 years. Gary cofounded the North Carolina Fur, Fish and Game Rendezvous, a natural resources youth summer camp, and team-taught the shooting sports component of the program for eight years. He is an instructor for wildlife ecology and shooting sports at the American Wilderness Leadership Schools. His current interests include wildlife damage management, shooting sports, natural resources public relations, human dimensions and environmental education. He taught Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation and Natural Resources Public Relations at Penn State and North Carolina State University. Gary is now an Emeritus Professor of Wildlife Resources at Penn State University. He was on the original planning for CLfT. jgs9@psu.edu

Val grew up in a small town in Upstate NY and was an outdoors enthusiast at an early age. From the time she could say "zoologist", she knew she wanted to work with wildlife and conservation. She spent much of her time hunting and fishing with her family, who instilled an appreciation for wilderness in her and encouraged her love for wildlife. She completed her undergraduate at Cazenovia College, majoring in Environmental Studies. She then ventured to Murray State University for a Master's in Biology where she studied the impacts of roads on a population of copperheads in Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. She returned to the Northeast to Binghamton University for her PhD where she studied movement patterns and population structure of the eastern tiger salamander on Long Island. She then worked for 2 years at the Bronx Zoo as a Curatorial Fellow in the Herpetology Department and then spent a year working for the Wildlife Conservation Society studying bison in Montana. She taught at Green Mountain College, Keystone College, and Hocking College, and served as Wildlife Biology Program Director at each. She is now the program coordinator for Natural Resources Conservation and Management at Paul Smith's College. She is a certified Hunter's Safety Instructor for both archery and firearms. She has taught courses on Hunting History, Ethics, and Management, and Wild Game Preparation. She lives in NY with her husband, 2 kids, and 5 dogs.

Prior to coming to CLfT, David was a Captain with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division where he served for 27 1/2 years in a variety of positions including Field Officer, Environmental Investigator, Homeland Security Coordinator, Training Administrator and the Education and Training Section Commander. David has held a number of instructor certifications and specialties that included: 4H Shooting Sports Shotgun Instructor, NRA Muzzleloading Rifle, NRA Range Safety Officer, Indiana and Illinois Hunter Education Instructor and Indiana Trapper Education Instructor. David is a 1980 graduate of Vincennes University with an Associate of Science degree in Conservation Law Enforcement and a graduate of the 191st Session of the FBI National Academy. He served three terms as president of the Association of Natural Resource Enforcement Trainers (ANRET)(now a subcommittee of NAWEOA). David served as Secretary of the International Hunter Education Association, IHEA from 2009 to 2011. David was inducted into the IHEA-USA Hall of Fame in 2018. He has remained active in law enforcement by serving with the Mason County Sheriff's Marine Patrol Division and in 2021 he became NASBLA's 1st Certified Recreational Boating Professional (CRBP) in the Nation.