Welcome to the Pennsylvania Chapter of The Wildlife Society

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE- July 2009

I recently had to put my Samoyed canine companion of 14 years, Zoe, to sleep.  I was heartbroken to lose her, but her health had been steadily declining over the last year and a half. After a warm late spring day, she somehow managed to invert her stomach, the same condition that affected Marley of “Marley and Me” fame, and I knew her time had come to an end.  After arriving home from the vet I couldn’t sleep.  I decided to look through some photo albums and reminisce about our younger days.

Before I bought Zoe, I had just moved to the Harrisburg area after completing an internship with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C.  I was starting a job as an environmental consultant with an engineering firm.  I was fresh out of graduate school, thought I knew everything, and was going to change the world. Today well over 15 years later, I realize how little I really knew.  It has taken me all this time to just scratch the surface of what I should know about Pennsylvania’s wildlife species and their habitats.

Currently, as a wildlife biologist with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, I have had the opportunity to work with many species including rattlesnakes, woodrats, bats, turtles, owls, songbirds, and salamanders.  Throughout my career, I am grateful for the people who took time out of their busy schedules to “show me the ropes.”  One mentor who helped me early on was Dr. Athleen Stere.  As an undergraduate biology major at Penn State Altoona, Dr. Stere helped me to realize that I should pursue a career as a field and not a laboratory research biologist.  After a 45 -year teaching career and at 88 years young, Athleen is now semi-retired from teaching.  I say “semi” because she will still be teaching a class or two this fall.  Her willingness to give of her time and always be available for her students is something I will never forget.  She gave me guidance at age when I was young, vulnerable, and had no on else to turn to.

As a professional society, we are made up of members of various ages.  The PA Chapter has always done an exceptional job in encouraging students to present papers at our annual conference.  Our Chapter also sponsors the Felbaum Scholarship for students. We need to think of new ways to get students more involved and to help mentor them.  They are, after all, our future.  Perhaps the PA

chapter board members could solicit more feedback from our student chapters?  Perhaps we could start a mentoring program?  As the new president, I welcome your thoughts.

Thanks for listening!

Aura Stauffer, CWBPresident, PA-TWS 

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