Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center - January 15 - January 19, 2024

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.

Kim Bogenschutz is the Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Program Coordinator for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR). She has developed and directed the IDNR AIS Program since its inception in 2000. Prior to her current position, she worked for the Minnesota DNR, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Iowa Department of Transportation, and IDNR in a variety of capacities including fisheries management, private lands restoration, environmental review and permitting, and nongame wildlife. Kim is vice-chair of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Invasive Species Committee, past chair of the Mississippi River Basin Panel on Aquatic Nuisance Species, and is on the Board of Directors for the Midwest Invasive Plant Network. A native of Minnesota, Kim earned a BA in Biology from Gustavus Adolphus College and an MS in Fisheries Science from South Dakota State University. In addition to CLfT, she shares her love of the outdoors as an instructor for Outdoor Journey for Girls and Becoming an Iowa Outdoors Woman. Kim, her husband, Todd, and their daughter, Veronica Brooke, reside on 50 acres along the bluffs of the Des Moines River in Madrid, Iowa, with their two bird dogs and cat. In addition to fishing, hunting, and boating, she enjoys attending her daughter’s dance events, spending time at the family cabin in Minnesota, and coaching cheer and dance teams.

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.

Steve Hall earned a BS in Wildlife Biology from Colorado State University in 1981, and became a Colorado Hunter Education Instructor beginning in 1980 as part of his studies. Upon graduation, he was hired as Colorado Services Manager for the American Sportsman's Club for 2 1/2 years, and then worked for Colorado Division of Wildlife. In 1985, he was hired Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPW) in hunter education, then moved to Education (& Outreach) Director starting in 1988. While at TPW, Hall served as International Hunter Education Assn. (IHEA) president and as vice president and board member of the National Bowhunter Education Foundation for 12 years. He serves as ‘Huntmaster’ for the Texas Youth Hunting Program, which he helped start in 1996. He was inducted into both the IHEA and Texas Hunter Education Halls of Fame. After retiring in 2011, he served as executive director for two years with the Texas State Rifle Association and then as executive director for IHEA-USA for 2 ½ years. He returned to Texas Parks and Wildlife in August 2015 where he and his wife, Karen, of 36 years, chose to reside. They have a son, Ryan (wife Kelsey), and daughter, Sarah, and a new grandson, Keelan and granddaughter, Rylee. Steve is an avid bow hunter and fly fisherman and continues to volunteer to teach in many outdoor education programs.

Thirty year career with Missouri Department of Conservation as researcher, administrator and outreach programs chief.

Outreach Programs Chief, Missouri Department of Conservation, January 2004-December 2009
Wildlife Research Supervisor, Missouri Department of Conservation, January 1999-December 2004
Wildlife Research Biologist (wild turkeys, ruffed grouse, forest ecology, agricultural systems), Missouri Department of Conservation, August 1985-December 1998
Wildlife Biologist, Missouri Department of Conservation, January 1979-July 1985
As a Wildlife Research Biologist Mr. Kurzejeski has significant experience in designing and conducting research, often working closely with collaborators at the University of Missouri. His research included work on population dynamics of galliforms; impacts of Federal Farm programs on plant and animal species; influences of forest management on terrestrial and aquatic systems; and measuring the attitudes and preferences of resource user groups. During his career with the Department of Conservation his work involved both the biological and social sides of natural resource management. He led many agency-wide communication efforts aimed at gleaning public input from Missouri citizens. He supervised staff responsible for the development of hunting regulations and worked closely with all aspects of regulatory process.

Leopoldo “Leo” Miranda-Castro is the President, CEO and founder of Leo Miranda LLC (Est. 2023). Before that, he was the Southeast Regional Director of the Department of the Interior’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (2018-2022). He oversaw the work of approximately 1,300 federal employees in carrying out the Federal Government’s partnership role in conserving fish, wildlife, and plant resources and their habitats within 10 southeastern states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Leo began his work with the US Fish and Wildlife Service as a Private Lands biologist in his native Puerto Rico, later becoming the national coordinator for the private lands program and then supervisor of the Chesapeake Bay Field Office in Annapolis, MD. He then was selected as the Assistant Regional Director of the Southeast Region’s Ecological Services Program. An advocate of public-private conservation partnerships, he points to the success of the shade-grown coffee industry, sustainable timber production and protecting military bases buffer zones in conservation as examples of how government organizations and private landowners can work together to achieve real "win/win" outcomes for people and for wildlife.

On any given weekend, you are likely to find Leo in a tree stand or by a river, hunting or fishing with his son, Pablo. Leo attributes much of their shared love of nature and commitment to conservation to the pursuit of these outdoor recreational pastimes, and hunting in particular.

Dr. Wes Neal received his B.S in from Virginia Tech, and both his M.S. and Ph.D from North Carolina State University. He specializes in research on topics ranging from farm pond management to tropical fish ecology and management to sport fish genetic selection. Wes served as state Extension fisheries specialist in Arkansas for 4.5 years before joining the faculty at Mississippi State University in 2008 in the same role. He is an Extension Professor in the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Aquaculture at MSU. Wes is an avid angler and hunter, with a primary focus on connecting with nature and securing healthy natural meats for the freezer.

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.