Winning Reno logo joins fauna of water and land

As the American Fisheries Society and The Wildlife Society prepare to come together in Reno, Nevada for a joint annual conference, Lee Neighbors’ winning conference logo reflects this marriage of organizations.

Neighbors’ winning logo depicts Nevada’s state fish, the threatened Lahontan cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii henshawi), and the desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis nelson), which is native to the state. A silhouette of the highest peak of the Sierra Nevadas, Mount Whitney, is in red in the background.

Neighbors said he wanted “to represent both societies’ missions and try to spotlight some endangered or threatened species that might need a little help in the future.”

Neighbors, who earned a degree in digital media at East Tennessee State University in 2015 and went back to school the following year to study wildlife biology, won the contest logo for the second year in a row. Last, year, his Cleveland logo reflected the conservation success story theme of this year’s TWS conference.

“I was very happy and very excited to learn I had won again,” Neighbors said.

Neighbors’ latest winning logo also pulls in some elements from the Nevada state flag, including the ribbon and floral design and the orange and blue colors. He said he hopes to continue putting together his talent for digital design with his passion for wildlife.