Excellence in Elk Country Award

This award, presented by Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, is to honor an individual scientist or wildlife biologist whose career has demonstrated desire and dedication to benefit the scientific management of elk or elk habitat. The accomplishments and actions of the individual must have shown a desire and dedication to go above and beyond the normal course of duty, as demonstrated by publications, participation in professional organizations and symposiums, recognitions and awards and other activities. The recipient has earned respect and credibility among his/her peers in the wildlife and conservation profession. The recipient has shown a sincere commitment and devotion to the conservation of wild free-ranging elk, other wildlife and their habitat. 

2021 Award Recipient: Ian V. Tator, Wyoming Game and Fish Department

Ian grew up on a ranch along the Colorado-New Mexico border where a love of wildlife and the outdoors was deeply instilled. He knew early in life that working in the wildlife management field was the career path for him. Ian attended New Mexico State University (NMSU) where he joined the student chapter of The Wildlife Society and served in various capacities including president. Throughout his college career, he worked in a wide variety of on-the-ground summer positions including wildland fire, chainsaw thinning crews and various wildlife technician positions focused on hands-on wildlife and habitat work. Ian graduated with degree(s) in Wildlife and Fisheries Science from NMSU in the early 2000’s and immediately went to work as the first wildlife biologist on the beautiful 500,000 acre Acoma Pueblo in west-central New Mexico. Over the next ten years, he developed management plans, hunting regulations and habitat management strategies. In 2010, Ian was promoted to the Director of Acoma Pueblo’s Game and Fish & Land and Cattle Enterprise where he worked with partners to implement projects and solutions to benefit both cattle and wildlife. In 2012, Ian was selected to lead the Statewide Terrestrial Habitat Program for Wyoming Game and Fish Department (the Department). This position, which Ian holds to this day, allows him to assist a talented crew of habitat biologists in implementing projects on a statewide basis. Ian serves as the chair of the Department’s mule deer working group, administers the Department’s Mule Deer Initiative program, is a member of the RMEF Project Advisory Committee, co-chair of the Intermountain West Joint Venture WY State Conservation Partnership, a member of the Wyoming Governor’s Big Game License Coalition and leads the Department’s efforts to combat cheatgrass and other invasive annual grasses. Ian lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming with his wife Kristen and their three children who all enjoy wildlife, outdoor activities and open spaces as much as he does.

O.C. Wallmo Award—For contributions to Knowledge and Improved Management of Black-tailed and Mule Deer

O.C. “Charlie” Wallmo was one of North America’s foremost wildlife scientists. Principally a researcher, he had a broad interest in deer ecology and management. It was characteristic of Charlie to approach a problem with an objective in mind, free of preconceived ideas. His science was rigorous and productivity substantial, as demonstrated by his many outstanding contributions to the literature on mule and black-tailed deer. Dr. Wallmo was a man of unquestionable integrity, which he never compromised even under the most intense political and administrative pressures. He had the ability to focus in on the key elements of a problem and a willingness to speak with forceful honesty. Charlie was interested first and foremost in the wildlife resource and his energy and enthusiastic dedication was always directed toward increasing our knowledge for the benefit of that resource.

The O.C. “Charlie” Wallmo Award was established by the family of Charlie Wallmo after his death in 1982. Presented biennially in association with this workshop, the award recognizes outstanding contributions to knowledge and improved management of mule and black-tailed deer. Beginning in 1987, the list of recipients of this award has become a “who’s who” list of mule and black-tailed deer ecologists which includes: Dick Tabor, Richard Mackie, Les Robinette, Ian McTaggert-Cowan, Phil Urness, Fred Bunnell, Paul Krausman, John Kie, William Longhurst, Richard Bartmann, Len Carpenter, Dale McCollough, Jim Heffelfinger, Dave Pac, Terry Bowyer, Mark Hurley, and most recently Gary White.

2021 Wallmo Award Recipient: Dr. Kevin Monteith, University of Wyoming

Kevin is an Associate Professor and Wyoming Excellence Chair in the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources and the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology at the University of Wyoming. Before his stint in Wyoming, Kevin received his BSc and MSc in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences from South Dakota State University, and his PhD in Biology from Idaho State University in 2011. Notably, Kevin has been blessed to work with many generous and impactful mentors that provided numerous opportunities and support for growth and development as a scientist. And along the way, Kevin has had the sincere pleasure to work with a cadre of dedicated and skillful collaborators and graduate students, and receive support from a broad range of agencies, nonprofits, foundations, and other partners that have made a meaningful body of work possible. Today, Kevin leads a team of researchers, the Monteith Shop, at UW where their program is focused on addressing big-picture issues associated with the management and conservation of large ungulates, often through individual-based research and intensive field studies to gain a mechanistic understanding of what influences large mammals and how they cope with a changing world. Though their work crosses multiple species of large mammals, a centerpiece of their efforts focuses on mule deer. Some of their long-term, cross generational work has been a focal point for understanding effects of human disturbance and changing environmental conditions, to various aspects of their life history including ontogeny of migration, resource allocation and reproductive chronology.