The NDA is proud to announce the hiring of five new DMAP biologist positions through a partnership with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. The biologists will support Arkansas deer hunters and assist the AGFC with facilitation of the state’s deer management assistance program (DMAP). They will also provide harvest recommendations, management plans, and habitat recommendations on lands enrolled in Arkansas’s DMAP program; provide guidance to hunters on deer population and habitat management; promote hunter recruitment and mentoring initiatives; and more.
Three of the new staff started March 11 including Raul Quebrado. Raul graduated from Auburn University where he majored in wildlife ecology and management. While at Auburn, he collaborated on multiple research projects ranging from trapping small mammals and chemically immobilizing deer to collecting data for an endangered species action plan and leading a disease surveillance project. Raul covers nine counties as the Arkansas Central Region DMAP Biologist.
Eric Tobey graduated from Arkansas Tech University with a bachelor’s degree in fisheries and wildlife science. Eric worked with graduate students from the University of Georgia as a white-tailed deer research technician in Newton County, Arkansas. He performed camera trapping, captured deer and attached GPS radio collars, and helped researchers learn more about deer survival and mortality in a high-prevalence CWD zone. Eric covers nine counties as the Arkansas West Region DMAP Biologist.
Clayton Thompson graduated with a bachelor’s in fisheries and wildlife science from Arkansas Tech University and worked as a wildlife conservation technician for AGFC for three years. Clayton focused on habitat restoration for local wildlife species and removed invasive species such as feral hogs. He is well versed with all forms of wildlife found in Arkansas and covers 10 counties as the Arkansas North Central Region DMAP Biologist.
Two new staff are finishing school and will start in May. Christin Moeller has a bachelor’s in agriculture from Texas A&M University–Kingsville and is completing her master’s in range and wildlife management at the same school. Her graduate project is determining whether translocation is a viable management option for Texas tortoises, and she’s studying the prevalence of selected diseases within the species. Christin will cover nine counties as the Arkansas East Region DMAP Biologist.
Colton Morris will graduate from Arkansas Tech University in May with a bachelor’s in fisheries and wildlife science. Colton has worked for AGFC as a waterfowl hunter survey technician and a research technician and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a forestry technician. Colton is an honors student in the Arkansas Tech University honors program, an ATU Fish and Wildlife Society member, and a member of The Wildlife Society. He will cover 10 counties as the Arkansas Northeast Region DMAP Biologist.
