The Boone and Crockett Wildlife Conservation Program supports graduate students in wildlife conservation and related fields through its University Program Fellows Program. The Club’s University Programs offers educational and professional development opportunities that prepare future scientists, decision-makers, and leaders to address the enormous challenges facing wildlife conservation.

In 2019 the Club established the annual Boone and Crockett Fellow Outstanding Achievement Award to recognize a graduate student whose research advances the Club’s mission and informs natural resource management and policy decisions in North America. The award highlights and strengthens the connection between students and the Boone and Crockett Club that supports them. 

The Boone and Crockett Club promotes a system of governance in North America where natural resource policy decisions are informed by strong, credible science. As part of achieving this broad-based goal, the Club has invested considerable resources in its University Programs to generate credible science on important natural resource issues and train future conservation leaders. The success of this important work hinges on the efforts of Boone and Crockett Endowed Professors and other Professional Members within academia to invest in selecting, mentoring and training graduate students. These graduate students in turn devote countless hours to research and education that furthers the Club’s mission and helps the Club be more effective in advocating sound natural resource policy. 

One award will be presented annually to the Fellow judged to have made the most significant contribution to the Boone and Crockett Club through conduct of their graduate research. 

Eligibility:

• Applicants must be Boone and Crockett Club Fellows pursing either M.S. or Ph.D. programs of study for part or all of the 2021 calendar year
• Applicants shall be in the final stages of graduate research such that the body of work can be satisfactorily judged and interpreted
• Applicants must have the explicit support of the Boone and Crockett Professor or Professional Member who is advising them in their graduate program

2025 Award Winner - Alejandra Zubiria Perez

Michigan State University - Ph.D. Fisheries and Wildlife - Graduating Fall 2025 
Characterizing gray wolf mortality and evaluating its influence on wolf populations in the Great Lakes Region 

Alejandra was born and raised in Mexico City, where she developed a love for wildlife through documentaries and books. She knew at an early age that she wanted to study wildlife conservation and contribute to our understanding of the environment and the species that we share space with. As she progressed professionally, her interests became more focused on the human-wildlife interface, particularly how humans influence wild animals both directly and indirectly. She has been fortunate enough to find opportunities that have allowed her to explore this and be part of scientific research that can be used to inform wildlife management decisions. She currently works full-time as a Wildlife Biologist for an Indigenous-owned consulting company in north-central British Columbia, Canada, where she looks forward to continuing to produce high-quality research that can be used to guide management.

Alejandra’s research as a B&C Fellow has leveraged a database that compiles all wolf data collected in the Great Lakes region to understand wolf mortality. Her first chapter evaluated how harvest mortality in Wisconsin influenced pack reproduction and persistence. Her work contributed to understanding of the indirect effects of mortality by demonstrating that pack persistence and reproduction can remain unchanged if harvest occurs at low levels and at certain times of the year. Her second chapter evaluated cause-specific mortality in the Great Lakes region to identify patterns in incidence and timing of mortality. She found that illegal killing of wolves was the predominant cause of death and was most prevalent during white-tailed deer hunting seasons in the region. Her third chapter is evaluating landscape characteristics associated with different causes of death for wolves. Overall, her research will provide science-based information managers can use to continue developing informed management plans.   

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2024 Award Winner - Landon Magee

University of Montana  - M.S. in Wildlife Biology - Graduated Fall 2024
Analyzing Moose Abundance and Calf Recruitment on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation

Landon Magee is a member of the Blackfeet Nation (Amskapi Piikani). Growing up, he forged a deep connection with the land through hunting and fishing adventures with his dad, embracing the remarkable beauty of the reservation and its surrounding areas. His passion for the outdoors led him to pursue a degree in wildlife biology. His future aspirations revolve around serving as a biologist within the Blackfeet Fish and Wildlife Department and beyond Tribal boundaries, encompassing opportunities with federal or state agencies and non-governmental organizations, focusing on population dynamics and the conservation of significant big game species and predators.   

During the summer of 2022, he deployed 100 trail cameras at random locations distributed through a portion of the Blackfeet Reservation and along the east side of Glacier National Park. These cameras were left out on the landscape from June 2022 to November 2022, which generated over two million photos. More recently, another 62 trail cameras were deployed beginning in May 2023, with collection in October 2023. Although data from the first field season is still being processed, this data will provide an accurate estimate of the moose population size and the number of moose calves being recruited into the population, providing a framework for reliably surveying moose. This data will also help to inform the implementation of proper management plans within Glacier National Park and on the Blackfeet Reservation. A sound monitoring and management plan is especially important given the Blackfeet Tribe has partnered with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks to implement a lottery system for non-tribal members for moose tags, in addition to their existing auction for non-tribal members and lottery system for tribal members.

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2023 Award Winner - Calvin Ellis

Texas A&M University - Kingsville - M.S. Student - Graduated December 2023
The interaction between mule deer spatial ecology and chronic wasting disease epidemiology.

Calvin grew up in a small town outside of Athens, Georgia. His love for the outdoors helped him decide to earn a bachelor’s in wildlife science from the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia in 2020. At Texas A&M University-Kingsville his graduate research project focuses on mule deer spatial ecology in the Texas Panhandle, specifically understanding the movement of species susceptible to chronic wasting disease. His team GPS-collared 30 juvenile mule deer in Oldham County, located along the Canadian River, to study movement and dispersal patterns. Calvin will also use a previously collected five-year dataset of mule deer movement to examine site fidelity and fine-scale selection in crop fields in this region.

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2022 Award Winner - Charlie Booher

University of Montana - M.S. and M.P.A. - Graduated 2022
Looking to the Future of Conservation: the Role of Hunting in Wildlife Policy

Charlie grew up hunting, fishing, camping, and paddling with his family in Michigan and Wisconsin. He received his bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University, where he combined traditional training in wildlife management with studies in conservation policy, interning with organizations including The Wildlife Society, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, and Michigan United Conservation Clubs. Charlie received a joint M.S. in Wildlife Biology and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Montana. His thesis aimed to address major issues facing the field of wildlife conservation by clarifying commonly used—but rarely defined—language surrounding the take of wildlife; compiling and analyzing dedicated funding for fish and wildlife agencies; and assessing challenges to the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation to inform the future of the field nationwide. Charlie is currently employed as a consultant at Watershed Results, a DC-based lobbying firm. He provides direct advocacy, strategic communication, and earned media services to the Boone and Crockett Club, the Wild Sheep Foundation, MeatEater Inc., and the Montana Sporting Coalition in this role.

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2021 Award Winner - Levi Heffelfinger

Levi grew up with an early influence in wildlife science in southern Arizona. From a young age, he accompanied his dad on wildlife surveys and captures. Being an avid hunter, his appreciation for the outdoors has driven his love for wildlife research. Levi earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona and his Master’s degree from University of Nevada, Reno, where he worked with mule deer movement and demographics in the Mojave Desert. Levi’s doctoral work focuses on the influence of fragmented landscapes (energy and agricultural development) on mule deer movement and population performance. In the future, he hopes to work at the interface of management and research of large game animals.

"Being a Boone and Crockett Fellow was the primary reason I accepted my position with the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute. My time as a Fellow has provided opportunities and memories I will cherish forever. The connections made through the Boone & Crockett Club, coupled with scientific training and communication skills has provided me the opportunity to flourish in the wildlife management field. For that I am eternally grateful and hope I can continue to do justice for the Boone & Crockett Club moving into the future." 

2021 Award Winner - Ellen Pero

Growing up, Ellen spent summers on the lake and in the woods of Michigan, developing an eagerness to spend her life working with and for the natural world. She received her bachelor’s degree in Fisheries and Wildlife from Michigan State University and her Master’s degree from University of Manitoba, where she studied the behavioral ecology of a threatened ground squirrel. At University of Montana, Ellen is focusing on how elk population dynamics, physiological stress, movement and resource selection, and reproductive behavior interact and progress following reintroduction to a new landscape. Ellen aims to obtain a research biologist position with a state or federal agency where her work can inform wildlife management, conservation, and policy.

"Over these last 4 years as a Boone and Crockett Club Fellow at the University of Montana, I have worked to communicate my research in and outside of peer-reviewed publication. Of five chapters in my dissertation, three are in submission or prepared for submission to peer-reviewed conservation journals (Conservation Science & Practice, Conservation Physiology, and Restoration Ecology). I have additionally applied for and attained multiple scholarships as a way to highlight our work. Non-academic print outlets, including local newspapers (e.g., Daily American Republic) and outdoor magazines (e.g., Missouri Conservationist, The Wildlife Professional) have also featured our research and my participation therein. I have presented at multiple scientific and professional wildlife, ecological, and conservation conferences, including invited presentations at The Wildlife Society’s annual meeting. As a means of outreach, I have also been involved with our local student chapter of The Wildlife Society by sharing my work with up-and-coming students interested in our field." 

2020 Award Winner - Christopher Hansen

Chris Hansen is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate whose research explores the conservation benefits of sustainable land use on mammal communities, specifically focusing on rangelands and urbanization. Chris obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology at Truman State University and his Master of Science degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences at the University of Missouri, where he managed a research project developing a monitoring protocol for ruffed grouse in South Dakota.

Throughout his career, Chris has worked on a wide variety of research projects that included estimating black-backed woodpecker demographics in South Dakota, identifying the influences of wind energy development on sage-grouse in Wyoming, and quantifying the effects of oil and gas development on mule deer in North Dakota. During this time, Chris published 9 peer-reviewed scientific articles and gave multiple presentations at state and national wildlife conferences.

Joshua Millspaugh, Boone and Crockett Professor of Wildlife Conservation at the University of Montana, said,“Chris is exactly the type of student we want to attract to our Boone and Crockett University Programs.  He is hard-working, motivated, creative in his research and has a proven ability to work with a broad range of people.  He also has the capacity to bridge the gap between rigorous field studies and the development of effective land management decisions.  His work at the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Ranch and along the front range in Montana will help inform our understanding of grazing and big game while simultaneously providing huge dividends for education and outreach.  This award appropriately recognizes his leadership, quality of research, and broader contributions to wildlife and land management.”

2019 Award Winner - Daniel P. Thompson 

My research evaluates how moose respond, both physiologically and behaviorally, to daily and seasonal fluctuations in environmental temperature on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. Using internal temperature sensors in moose, I can look at daily and seasonal body temperatures to determine when they may become stressed from warm environmental temperatures. Using captive moose, I will evaluate how individual moose respond physiologically to warm environmental temperatures by using novel techniques such as heart rate belts, salivary and fecal stress hormone levels, and forward looking infrared thermal images. With wild moose, I will evaluate behavioral responses to warm environmental temperatures by using GPS collars to determine habitat selection and activity. Understanding habitat selection of moose for both thermoregulation and habitat quality will allow wildlife managers to identify areas that can provide both thermal relief and adequate forage for moose during seasonally warm temperatures when planning habitat improvements for these populations.

Boone and Crockett Club President Timothy C. Brady said, " On behalf of the Boone and Crockett Club and its University Programs Committee, I'd like to congratulate you on being awarded the first Boone and Crockett Fellow Outstanding Achievement Award in Graduate Research. Your work evaluating the physiological and behavioral responses of moose to changing temperatures is an excellent example of research that brings meaning and understanding to the Club's mission and strategic vision. Your role with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game demonstrates your ability to lead in research that will make a difference to management of landscapes for big game."