The Wildlife Professional May/June Issue
May 5, 2025
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Susan (Su) Jewell retired in 2024 after 31 years with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a wildlife biologist. For the first 6 years, she was the Senior Biologist at the A.R.M. Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in the Everglades where she oversaw the management of natural resources, including controlling invasives species. Then she spent 11 years working on endangered species for the same agency. From 2009-2024, she coordinated invasive species issues on a national scale to prevent the importation of high-risk wildlife designated as “injurious” for the USFWS. She is an authority on the history of injurious wildlife since 1900 and on John Lacey, author of “the Lacey Act of 1900” and known as “the father of conservation legislation.” Before the USFWS, Su spent 2 years at Everglades National Park doing fieldwork on alligators, wading birds, and fisheries. She also did wading bird research for the National Audubon Society in the Everglades. Other previous fieldwork species include wood storks, Atlantic puffins, bobcats, and gopher tortoises. Su is also a freelance writer of environmental subjects for newspaper and magazine articles and has published three books. She is focusing on writing in her retirement. She has a B.S. in Wildlife Biology from the University of Vermont and M.S. in Systematics and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Connecticut and is a Certified Wildlife Biologist®.
Dr. Jane Anderson is a wildlife biologist working at the interface of One Health, invasive species, and the wildlife trade. She has held positions in the public, private, academic, and non-profit environmental sectors. Jane’s specialty is charismatic invasive species and the unique social challenges of managing these populations. She previously studied and developed management plans for invasive monkeys in Florida and parakeets in Hawaii. She holds a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Ecology from University of Florida, as well as a B.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences and a M.S. in Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology from North Carolina State University.
Jenny Ketterlin is an invasive species biologist with a federal agency where she is responsible for coordinating regional invasive species management activities in California, Nevada, and part of Oregon. Prior to this position, she worked on invasive species issues in Florida for over 17 years with the National Park Service, University of Florida, the Miami-Dade County Environmentally Endangered Lands Program, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Her experience is in wildlife and habitat management with a wide variety of species and ecosystems, especially nonnative plants and animals. Some significant projects she has been a part of include restoration of Brazilian pepper-infested tree islands in the Everglades to native trees and shrubs, control and assessment of Argentine black and white tegus in south and central Florida and the development and implementation of the 2013 and 2016 Python ChallengesTM. Jenny serves with TWS in her personal capacity, not as a representative of her agency.
Jeffrey (Jeff) Herod was recently selected to be a Program Coordinator with Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, Fisheries Division. He has extensive experience on natural resources issues at all levels of the Federal Government across the contiguous U.S. and Pacific Islands. Jeff was a biologist with U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), U.S. Navy, and Bureau of Land Management. In his career he has served on over 30 technical committees. Jeff served as Secretary in 2004 for the American Fisheries Society Southern Division Non-game Aquatics Technical Committee, and served in 2018 on the AFWA Invasive Species Subcommittee, as well as the Department of Interior Invasive Species Task Force. Jeff’s work is summarized in agency documents, technical reports and peer-reviewed journal articles. In his various roles, Jeff has served as program and regional coordinator for teams to prevent and suppress invasive species populations, and reduce the negative impacts to native species. He holds an Associates of Science from Hocking College (Nelsonville, OH), a Bachelor of Science from Arkansas Tech University (Russellville, AR), and graduate work toward a Master of Science from Murray State University (Murray, KY). Jeff has been a CWB® since February 2022.
Mary Jo (MJ) Mazurek is a wildlife biologist currently employed as the Brown Treesnake (BTS) Program Coordinator for the Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office in Honolulu, Hawaii. Previously MJ worked for five years in Guam on BTS management for USGS and the Department of the Navy and for two years in Hawaii developing invasive vertebrate eradication plans for Island Conservation. Prior to her time in the Pacific, MJ worked for a variety of federal agencies and private firms in northern California on wildlife management projects related to wildlife habitat selections in managed forests for Spotted Owls, Marbled Murrelets, bats, amphibians, and small mammals. MJ received a B.S. in Biology at the University of Central Florida and a M.S. in Natural Resources Management from Humboldt State University.
Pete Caldwell is a Biosecurity Consultant and Project Manager for a leading environmental planning and design firm in New Zealand. His work involves managing various landscape-scale projects controlling invasive plant and animal species. Pete works closely with national and regional agencies and councils, and has previously worked for the New Zealand Department of Conservation; the Invasive Species Branch of Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment in Tasmania, Australia, among others. Pete has experience managing numerous invasive mammalian species, including mustelids, wild pigs, rabbits, possums and wallabies and also frequently carries out recreational management activities on several ungulate species, including feral goats, red and fallow deer and Himalayan tahr. Pete has a Postgraduate Diploma in Wildlife Management, a BSc in Zoology/Ecology and is a Certified Environmental Practitioner (CEnvP).
Kodiak Hengstebeck is a PhD student in the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Florida, where he works in the Florida invasion ecology lab. His research interests lie within the fields of invasion ecology and evolutionary ecology, with particular focus on reptiles and amphibians. Currently, his research centers around the evolutionary and ecological impacts of snake invasions, focusing specifically on adaptive morphological changes and zoogeochemical impacts of invasive Burmese pythons. He also obtained his M.S. from the University of Florida, during which he researched Burmese pythons in southwestern Florida and their interactions with gopher tortoises and gopher tortoise burrows. When he’s not working, Kodiak enjoys kayaking, scuba diving, or taking his dog, Gus, hiking on some of the many trails around Gainesville.
Scott Goetz is a biologist with the USDA National Wildlife Research Center conducting studies on wildlife pathogens. Throughout most of his career, Scott has conducted research on invasive reptile and amphibian species, primarily bioinvasions in Florida and on the Marianas archipelago in the Pacific. His work takes an applied approach – attempting to better understand the natural history and ecology of invasive species in service of improving methods to contain and minimize the impacts of already established non-natives. Scott is also interested in refining early detection and rapid response networks, in particular, applying decision science principles to help determine the best use of limited response resources. Scott’s dissertation research focused on Cuban treefrogs, invasive to Florida at the time and now found in multiple locations throughout the US southeast. This work included investigations of immunological tradeoffs as one possible mechanism to explain the rapid range expansion observed in many bioinvasions. Over the past six years, Scott has worked as a herpetologist/invasive species ecologist for Auburn University, the National Wildlife Research Center, and the US Geological Survey. Recently, most of his time was devoted to studying aspects of invasive brown treesnake ecology on the island of Guam, specifically assessing approaches to suppress their abundance to facilitate possible native species reintroductions.
Dr. Natalie Claunch is a Wildlife Biologist at the USDA APHIS Wildlife Services National Wildlife Research Center Florida Field Station, where she conducts research on human-wildlife conflict management focused on invasive reptiles and birds. Additional research interests are the intersections between invasion ecology, herpetology, and eco-physiology, such as how the physiological responses to novel or stressful environments that accompany introduction to new areas or exposure to diseases influence success of invasion or resistance to novel pathogens. She has worked with invasive pathogens (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and Batrachochyt
Grant Sizemore has earned B.S. degrees in Zoology and Environmental Science from Miami University and an M.S. in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation from the University of Florida. He is a Certified Wildlife Biologist and has worked in wildlife conservation for approximately 15 years, including roles in field research, education, and policy. Grant is currently the Director of Invasive Species Programs at American Bird Conservancy, where he has worked for over 10 years on invasive species policy, education, and outreach, particularly in relation to the organization’s Cats Indoors program. Grant has published peer-reviewed articles, technical reports, and popular articles associated with invasive species management and is a former secretary of the Virginia Chapter.
