Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation - January 10 - January 14, 2020

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.

Jarred Brooke is an Extension Wildlife Specialist with Purdue University. His hunting and wildlife conservation journey started by chasing northern bobwhite and ring-necked pheasants behind his family's Weimaraners in the farm country of Indiana. His passion for hunting and wildlife conservation led him to Purdue University where he graduated with a BS in Wildlife Science. Building on his love of upland gamebirds, Jarred completed an MS in Wildlife Management at the University of Tennessee where he conducted research on the ecology of northern bobwhite on reclaimed surface coal mines. Jarred completed a brief stint in Kentucky working for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources and Natural Resources Conservation Service as a Farm Bill Biologist before returning to his alma mater in 2016. As an Extension Specialist, Jarred works with landowners, land managers, and various state and federal agencies to provide resources related to applied habitat management - with a focus on game species. Jarred also teaches a course at Purdue University on the role of consumptive use in wildlife conservation. Jarred has been an instructor with CLfT since 2018.

Scott resides on 12 acres of restored prairie in Oregon, Wisconsin. A native of New Hampshire, he earned an undergraduate degree from the University of New Hampshire and graduate degrees from the University of Wisconsin—Madison. He began hunting by following his father and grandfather around the mountains of northern New England in pursuit of deer and grouse. He has been hunting for more than 40 years for deer, wild turkeys, upland birds and waterfowl. Scott served as state leader of the Wisconsin 4-H Shooting Sports program for 13 years and is a certified instructor for rifle and shotgun. With the help of several colleagues and friends, he launched the Wisconsin Student Hunting Project in 1995, which received national recognition several years later; it is the model on which CLfT was based. Scott has taught many wild game cooking classes and enjoys promoting game utilization. He is very active in The Wildlife Society and belongs to numerous other conservation organizations.

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.

Robert J. Gates is Associate Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Management in the School of Environment and Natural Resources at Ohio State University. Bob grew up and began hunting with his father in east central Wisconsin, after which his family moved to the hunting paradise of eastern South Dakota, where he received his B.S. in Wildlife Science from South Dakota State University. Bob’s graduate degrees were from Montana State University (M.S.) and Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (Ph.D.). Bob’s travels have provided many memorable hunting, fishing and other outdoors activities that he has shared with family and friends in 19 states/provinces in the U.S. and Canada. He is most proud of passing on the hunting and fishing traditions to his younger brother Dale, and to his sons Eric and Jared. Bob is an avid bird hunter who most enjoys hunting pheasants and prairie grouse over pointing dogs (especially Brittanys) and also hunts doves, waterfowl and big game. Bob has taught classes and conducted research with graduate students for nearly 30 years, first at Southern Illinois University, and currently at Ohio State University. His research interests are primarily focused on ecology and management of upland game birds, waterfowl and other wetlands-dependent wildlife, and conservation of wetlands and early successional habitats. He has been a member of The Wildlife Society (TWS) for more than 30 years, serving as state chapter president in Illinois and Ohio, and President

Hunting is one of the things that defines me. I hunt for food, family, friends, dogs, challenge, exercise, education, memories, treasures, and fun! Most often, I hunt grouse, woodcock, pheasants, quail, ducks, geese, deer, and elk, but I have had the opportunity to hunt a wider range of species from Alaska to Namibia and several places in between. My mother taught me how to hunt and I have been hunting with my father on the opening weekend of the Wisconsin deer hunting season for 51 years. I am trained and certified in a dozen ways regarding firearms and hunting and CLfT is one way that I enjoy sharing the world of hunting with students and beginning hunters.

Jamie Nack has been a CLfT instructor since 2007. She received a B.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point in Wildlife and Biology and a M.S. degree in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Jamie considers herself very fortunate to have a father who was always willing to take his daughter hunting. The time spent and lessons learned helped instill a love for the outdoors at an early age, developed a passion for hunting, led to a career in wildlife management and nurtured a conservation mindset. Over the past 25+ years, Jamie has hunted deer, bear, bobcat, turkeys, rabbits, waterfowl, upland birds, fox and coyote. She is a member of numerous conservation organizations, including The Wildlife Society (state, section and national). Jamie resides in Columbus, Wisconsin with her husband, two daughters and three hunting dogs. Family time is often spent outdoors hunting, fishing, training dogs, gardening and exploring.

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.