Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center - December 6 - December 10, 2021

Laura is a Certified NRA Shotgun,Rifle, Pistol, Personal protection in the Home, Personal Protection outside the Home, Conceal Carry instructor, and a Certified Volunteer Hunter Safety/Tree stand Instructor for both Illinois DNR and Texas Parks and Wildlife. A Texas Master Naturalist. Besides the shooting sports she enjoys teaching archery, fly fishing, cooking, beekeeping. She is a big and small game hunter, and has traveled extensively to hunt and fish. She is a Certified Master Gardener in Illinois and Florida, a beekeeper and a Nationally Certified Medical Technologist. Was an elected Trustee for the Village of Campton Hills, IL, former instructor at Country Garden Cuisine cooking school. In 2018 She transitioned to Texas. She is a member of Corpus Christi, Texas Pistol and Rifle club, NRA, Mid-Coast Chapter as a Master Naturalist, South Texas Beekeepers,and Sisters on the Fly.

Amber Barrow has been working for the Department of Natural Resources since 2011 as an environmental educator at the Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center in Mansfield, GA. She also is a hunter education instructor who teaches at day programs and overnight youth hunting events. She has a bachelor's degree in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from Berry College. Amber grew up fishing with her family but started out learning about hunting at the age of 14. Her grandfather taught her about small game hunting for rabbits and squirrels. Later in college, her boyfriend (later to be husband) taught her about falconry and using hawks and other birds of prey to hunt squirrels, rabbits, and other small game. She fell in love with sport and continues to learn more each and every day about the hunting and its history. She loves to cook all kinds of wild game recipes and loves trying new things while outdoors. She currently goes small game and bird hunting with her husband, loves fly fishing and is licensed falconer in Georgia. She currently flies 3 harris hawks.

Bill has an M.S. in Wildlife Science from Utah State University. He worked for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources for 36 years as a biologist, wildlife manager, coordinator, wildlife section chief and assistant director. He now enjoys the wonders of the world on a daily basis with his family while on the road and from the porch.

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.

Texas Game Warden July 1988-August 2019. Stationed on the lower Texas coast. Firearms Instructor, Hunter Education Instructor, Marine Safety Enforcement Officer Instructor. I have been hunting creeks and fishing since a child with my grandpa and father. I enjoy migratory game bird and waterfowl hunting. I also enjoy cooking. Married to Jill Flores. We have 27 year old twins. A speech pathologist and wildlife biologist. My family and I take every opportunity to enjoy the outdoors. Living on the coast provides almost all season opportunities to fish and hunt. I have been able to pass on my knowledge to CLFT workshop students as to the roles of law enforcement in regards to wildlife conservation. I also provide preparation and cooking information of wild game meals for CLFT programs. Retired and living the dream. Enjoying organizing and assisting with youth hunting opportunities and summer wildlife programs.

Rusty Garrison served as the Director of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division from 2016-2020.
Rusty was with DNR for 20 years having served most recently as the manager of the Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center in Mansfield, Georgia. He served in numerous other capacities, including Assistant Chief of Game Management, State Coordinator of Project WILD, and Chief of the DNR Mountain Search and Rescue Team. Before his career with DNR, Rusty worked for the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service for nearly nine years.
Rusty has served as a CLfT instructor since 2012. He has assists with classes mostly at Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center in Georgia; but also teaches at Max McGraw in Illinois and at facilities in Colorado and Idaho.
Rusty holds the degrees of Bachelor of Science in Animal Sciences and a Master of Science in Wildlife Biology, both from the University of Georgia. He is active in his local community, having previously volunteered as a fire fighter and first responder for his county EMS. Rusty has traveled to over 75 countries while on mission trips and remains active in his local church. He is married to his wife Sue, has three daughters, and is a proud grandfather.

Sara Mueller is a graduate of The Pennsylvania State University for her B.S. (Schreyer Honors College, 2014), M.S. (2016) and Ph.D. (2023) in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences. Sara's past research has focused on aquatic ecology ranging from community interactions with invasive species, metabarcoding eDNA samples for aquatic organisms, and Brook Trout morphology. Through her work, Sara advocates for the integration of knowledge between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems; and encourages collaboration and cooperation across respective disciplines. Sara was also adjunct faculty at Penn State Dubois teaching natural resources policy and animal identification. Now, Sara is the Executive Director of the Wildlife Leadership Academy and oversees its mission of engaging and empowering youth in the conservation space (wildlifeleadershipacademy.org).

Bruce Thomas has been with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GA-DNR) since August of 2019. He currently serves as the Hunting and Shooting Education Specialist for the Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center (CEWC) in Mansfield, Georgia, the site of several CLfT workshops each year. He works with any and all programs related to hunting and shooting at CEWC, ranging from “Hunt and Learns” for new hunters, to Becoming an Outdoors Woman (BOW) activities to summer shooting sports camps. He became a CLfT instructor shortly after joining GA-DNR. He is a certified NRA Instructor for Rifle, Pistol, and Shotgun as well as a certified Hunter Safety Instructor for Georgia.

Prior to joining GA-DNR, Bruce enjoyed a 32-year career in public education, first as a county extension agent with the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service, followed by a stint as a high school agricultural education teacher and finally as K-8 school library media specialist. He earned his BSA and MS in Animal Science from the University of Georgia as well as an EDS in Agricultural Education.

He grew up on a small, diversified farm in Georgia and began hunting and shooting at a very early age. Some of his best hunting memories are chasing rabbits and squirrels with a single shot .410 shotgun when he was about 11 years old.

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.

Joli began her career in conservation by volunteering and working seasonal positions in Colorado with the Student Conservation Association, the NPS, USFWS, and the Iowa Conservation Commission while attending and after graduation from the University of Nebraska at Kearney. In 1989, Joli left Colorado to return home to the Midwest to start her 3-decade career as an Iowa Conservation Officer. In 1999, she expanded her role as a law enforcement (LE) trainer with the IDNR, accepting the new position of Training Coordinator and eventually becoming Supervisor of Licensing and Training for fifteen years. Coming full circle, Joli worked her final years back in the field.
Joli’s passions have evolved from LE training and “education through enforcement” to introducing new audiences to conservation and natural resources recreation and appreciation through programs including Outdoor Journey for Girls and Becoming an Outdoors Woman. She also enjoys working with Iowa State University (ISU) in outdoor skills programming, Hunter Education, class presentations, and presenting for over two decades with the Program for Women in Science and Engineering.
Joli enjoys trailrunning, bicycling, and paddling with her partner and dogs. She finds great joy and deep value in bird hunting (especially behind her late, beloved springer, Abbey), firearm and bow hunting deer from a treestand, and sitting in the spring woods calling turkeys. She is excited to spend more time doing all of that--and CLfT!