Wildlife Services’ Larry Clark earns Presidential Rank award

TWS member Larry Clark, director of Wildlife Services’ National Wildlife Research Center, has been named a 2019 Presidential Rank Award recipient.

Clark will receive a Meritorious Executive award, the second highest annual President Rank award given to selected career senior executive service members, at a ceremony hosted by the Senior Executives Association in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 17.

“The Presidential Rank Awards represent the top awards a civilian federal employee can receive,” said Kevin Shea, administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which oversees Wildlife Services. “It is an honor to work alongside dedicated civil servants, such as Dr. Larry Clark, and I’m excited to see his excellent work recognized.”

Each year, the president of the United States recognizes a small group of career senior executives with the Presidential Rank Award for exceptional professional, technical or scientific accomplishments on a national or international level.

Clark was recognized for his work at the NWRC in Fort Collins, Colorado, which applies scientific expertise to resolve human-wildlife conflicts related to agriculture, human health and safety, property damage, invasive species, and threatened and endangered species.

Since becoming NWRC Director in 2008, Clark has increased and promoted NWRC’s impact as an international leader in wildlife damage management research. He encourages the center’s experts to work across multidisciplinary teams to find innovative solutions. These teams unite traditional expertise in wildlife biology, disease, chemistry, toxicology, animal ecology and animal behavior, with cutting-edge fields, tools, technologies and social sciences, such as human dimensions and economics. The result provides policy- and decision-makers with a complete picture of a wildlife damage issue; its biological, economic and social impacts; and recommended science-based solutions.

In 2013, Clark initiated the development of a robust technology transfer program, creating the center’s first Office of Research and Technology Applications and Technology Transfer to coordinate intellectual property creation, protection and transfer. Although NWRC only employs about 30 PhD research scientists and 130 other support scientists, it collaborates with some 140 entities each year. The ability to leverage the NWRC’s scientific resources has expanded the impact of NWRC. Since 2013, NWRC has entered into nearly 400 intellectual property agreements including 27 cooperative research and development agreements. In total, these agreements and three patent licenses have yielded more than $4.5 million in extramural funding for the center.

Clark also serves as the chair of the APHIS Science Committee and as the APHIS scientific and research integrity officer. The APHIS Science Committee was established in 2016 to facilitate and coordinate the dissemination of APHIS scientific information among agency units, department officials and other entities. The committee’s work includes providing guidance and direction to APHIS management on the use of science and technology in meeting APHIS’ mission.

The Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious award may be given to no more than 5% of the members of the SES in any given year. Executives from across government are nominated by their agency heads, evaluated by citizen panels and designated by the president.

Wildlife Services is a Strategic Partner of TWS.

Header Image: TWS member Larry Clark, director of Wildlife Services’ National Wildlife Research Center, performs field work in Guam. Courtesy Larry Clark