Over the last six months, I have served as Conservation Nation’s first inaugural fellow. My fellowship is at Yellowstone National Park (aka Yellowstone), where I work as a biological science technician for the Yellowstone Wolf Project. I spend most of my days tracking the radio-collared wolves in each of the packs throughout the park, hiking out to various kill sites to collect samples, observing wolf behavior, and recording my observations. Public education is a crucial part of my job—especially when it involves teaching people about a controversial wildlife species. As many individuals out west are not very fond of wolves, I need to show people these animals in the wild so I can explain their importance to the landscape and encourage human-wolf coexistence. 

The last six months have been abnormal because of the historic flood that came through the northern entrance of Yellowstone on June 13th. For three weeks, the park was inaccessible because the entrance road had washed away. As a result, I could not monitor the wolves, manage the wildlife, or gather data for our ongoing research. While this unfortunate situation has made my job difficult, it has been interesting to sit on the sidelines—watching as wildlife adjusts to the effects of such a massive amount of water quickly washing through the landscape. Unfortunately, we still cannot access a portion of the park with some of the highest wolf densities.

While the park was closed, I conducted educational outreach for elementary-aged children with Yellowstone’s non-profit partner organization Yellowstone Forever. We spent our time practicing radio telemetry, tracking old wolf collars, discussing the importance of wolves on ecosystems, and examining bones and other biological samples from wolves and their prey (e.g., bison, elk, and deer). I also occasionally worked as an educator for a children’s summer camp at a local animal shelter. Additionally, I took high school students into the field with Ecology Project International to help track wolves, check out kill sites, and discuss the teens’ opinions and feelings about wolves.

October was a busy month for me. Mid-month, I represented Conservation Nation and the Yellowstone Wolf Project at the International Wolf Symposium. While there, I gave a detailed presentation on the Yellowstone wolf habituation problem and its long-lasting impacts on the local wolf population. I also traveled to Washington, D.C., where I spent time with the kids at the Conservation Nation Academy to tell them about what I do—and to teach them that they can do it too! Aside from those experiences, I was a featured guest speaker at the Achieving Optimal Health Conference, where I presented about the interconnectedness of nature.

In other exciting news, I was recently interviewed for an article with Travel Noire to discuss my role as a Black woman in conservation. I was also a featured guest in the Black People and Yellowstone episode of the Black America Cares podcast. Check it out!

The thing I am most excited about is my involvement in the Letters to a Pre-Scientist program. The organization recently accepted me as a pen pal for a 5th-grade boy who is interested in pursuing a career in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). We will write back and forth to each other every month, and I will hopefully get him interested in all that I do for wolves and conservation. I am excited to get his perspective and hear about everything he is doing in his life!

In the next few weeks, winter is coming. Winter in Yellowstone is magical and is my absolute favorite time of year. The snow causes the park to quiet down—there are not as many visitors, and the wolf-watching is unmatched. Starting on November 15th, the Yellowstone Wolf Project team will head into our intensive research period. There will be 30 days straight when I will sit outside—sometimes in -20-degree weather—and watch my specific wolf study pack to record all of their behaviors and my observations. I am also very excited to spend an entire month traveling to India to see snow leopards and tigers with my husband. There are many good things to look forward to—adventure is out there!