Zachary Lowe’s, primary career responsibilities have been to develop partnerships, identify key conservation needs, and deliver results-based programing. Dr. Lowe has a diverse professional background within the disciplines of land management, wildlife science, conservation education, and program administration. His early career started as an Extension Habitat Specialist, and he was the Director of the Conservation Leaders for Tomorrow Program at the Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation for over a decade prior to joining the team at WAFWA. He holds B.S. degrees in Wildlife Science and in Fisheries and Aquatic Science and a Ph.D. in restoration ecology from Purdue University. Zach and his family enjoy a life of hunting, self-sufficiency, and outdoor pursuits as they balance a busy 2 career, 3 kid household.

Cortney joined WAFWA team in 2021. As Director of Operations, she works directly with the Board and other agency staff to meet strategic goals. Her efforts focus on administrative management, logistical planning, and communications. Cortney spends a great portion of her time planning the next (and the next, next) WAFWA meeting. Her skill sets include project management, natural resources education, human dimensions research, and making colorful spreadsheets to organize thoughts. Cortney loves spending time with her family and their pets, and she enjoys meeting the native herbaceous flora of the places she visits.

Jenna is a dedicated administrative assistant with a passion for adventure and love for the great outdoors. Raised and residing in the beautiful state of Wyoming, she has a deep appreciation for the mission-based work WAFWA accomplishes. When she is not assisting in the office, she finds solace and joy making memories in the breathtaking mountains with her three adventurous sons and loving husband. They enjoy all the seasons Wyoming has to offer; camping, fly fishing, and paddle boarding in the summer, and ice fishing and skiing in the winter.

WAFWA welcomed Stacie Brew as Director of Finance in mid-2022. Stacie started By the Book Consulting in 2001 after having worked in the accounting sector for the past 10 years.

During her 30-year career, she has become an expert in accounting systems and developing financial reporting systems to both improve existing procedures and to explore ways new technology can streamline day to day tasks. She currently holds certifications in many accounting & business operation related software programs.

Stacie has worked with 20 non-profit organizations with budgets that range from $250k-$5M annually. Work for these organizations has included everything from day-to-day operations to managing the annual audits as well as everything in between. This work afforded her the unique experience of understanding a 365 view of accounting and business operations systems from inside an organization.

Stacie lives with her husband and 2 dogs in south central Idaho, is an avid craft abuser (no craft left behind!) as well as a lifelong lover of the outdoors.

Cathy joined the WAFWA team in June 2015 as the Grants and Contracts Manager for WAFWA and its affiliates. In this role, she works closely with WAFWA Initiative Coordinators, federal and state partners and affiliates and federal aid coordinators. Cathy studied at Boise State University and is a business professional with over 25 years of management and accounting experience; developing and mentoring agency staff; developing and administering budgets; financial management of state and federal grants; 2 CFR 200 compliance regulations and contract management. She project lead the implementation of accounting systems, expense tracking and reporting through Commercial Card Services program, Grant Management Reporting and assisted with budget software implementation. When she is not working, Cathy enjoys traveling, white water rafting, scuba, camping, music and spending time with friends and family. Cathy is also an amateur back-yard beekeeper.

Tim Griffiths was raised in Oregon and earned his B.S. in Wildlife Science from Oregon State University. Tim’s former position as Western Lead for USDA’s Working Lands for Wildlife allowed him to lead major conservation efforts and pioneer the Sage Grouse Initiative and Migratory Big Game Initiatives as well as Frameworks to conserve Sagebrush and Great Plains Grassland biomes. Tim earned the Secretary of Agriculture Honor Award (2011) and the Abraham Lincoln Award (2016) for his leadership. His partnership-driven approach has conserved 13.6 million acres with over 4,500 landowners involved. He lives in Three Forks, Montana with his wife and children and enjoys hunting, camping and long-distance running through the mountains.

Anne Justice-Allen earned a DVM from the University of California, Davis in 1986 and a MS degree from Utah State University in 2010. Her interest in wildlife conservation and veterinary medicine began at a very early age as she worked with her dad in the field (he taught at the University of California Irvine and studied woodrats). She began working for Arizona Game and Fish as the Department Veterinarian and Wildlife Health Program Supervisor in 2009. She works on infectious and noninfectious diseases of wildlife, directs animal care during wildlife captures, and participates in endangered species reintroduction projects. Anne trains and competes with her dogs in agility, retrieving, dock diving, and nose work. Anne is the Regional Wildlife Health Coordinator for WAFWA.

Martin earned a BS in Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology from the University of California Davis, and an MS in Fisheries Biology from Utah State. Martin brings a huge passion for wild trout, having first began working with Cutthroat Trout in 2003 as a graduate student on the Teton River, Idaho. Soon after, Martin began working as a biologist with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. During his 19 years with Idaho Fish and Game, he’s worked in a variety of fisheries research and management roles, as well as serving on WNTI’s Steering Committee since 2018. He is currently the Sportfishing Program Coordinator, focusing on native trout range-wide conservation agreements, interagency conservation teams, status assessments and management plans. Martin currently lives in Boise and fulfills the coordinator role under a shared personnel agreement with WAFWA. When he’s not at work, Martin likes to spend time outdoors with his wife and 2 active kids, enjoying fishing, rafting, and hunting and is looking forward to achieving the first level of the Western Native Trout Challenge (once he figures out where to start!).  

Daryl became the Wild Sheep Working Group (WSWG) Chair in December 2022. He went to the University of Wyoming and Humboldt State University. Daryl has been a biologist for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department for a bit over 3 decades as a Habitat Biologist, Wildlife Biologist, and now a Wildlife Management Coordinator – and continues to serve in that capacity as he chairs the WSWG. He has been heavily involved in mule deer and bighorn sheep management throughout his career. Daryl led Wyoming’s Mule Deer Working Group and represented Wyoming on the WAFWA's Mule Deer Working Group for over 20 years since their inception in 1998/99. He has also co-chaired Wyoming’s Bighorn Sheep Working Group the past several years. Daryl was raised as a hunter, fisherman, and outdoorsman in Colorado and Wyoming. He and his wife raised their two kids the same way and are now working on their 5 grandkids.

Denise joined the WAFWA team in 2024. As a Grant Specialist, she will work with Grants and Contracts Manager and other key staff to deliver various operational and financial/accounting-related services to support the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. She comes with 30+ years of experience in various accounting positions, including a background working with contractual documents. Denise enjoys being in nature, camping, traveling, listening to music, and hanging out with friends, family, and her dogs. She also loves planting her yearly salsa garden and enjoying the fruits of her labor.

Jen Newmark works for the Wildlife Management Institute and began working with WAFWA in March 2024 as the Landscape Connectivity Coordinator. In this role, Jen is working on connecting existing WAFWA conservation projects and initiatives to highlight landscape conservation accomplishments, identify new priorities and opportunities, elevate state species and habitat priorities, and enhance and align inventories and assessment tools to meet the needs of states. Prior to joining WMI and WAFWA, Jen was the Wildlife Diversity Division Administrator for the Nevada Department of Wildlife – overseeing terrestrial non-game management and implementation of the Nevada State Wildlife Action Plan. Jen lives in Nevada and enjoys anything outdoors with her husband and two grown boys including birdwatching, hiking, camping, skiing, and traveling the world.

Chanda joined the WAFWA team in 2019 as the coordinator for WAFWA’s Crucial Habitat Assessment Tool (CHAT) and now manages the Lesser Prairie-Chicken (LPC) Program. Her key role is to promote the efforts of state fish and wildlife agencies in delivering science based, data driven solutions for landscape-scale, conservation across the West. As a wildlife ecologist with 20 years of experience on interagency project management for landscape-scale conservation efforts, she brings a biological background to program coordination.

George Schisler joined WAFWA as the YY Fish Program Coordinator in 2025, and is the head of Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s aquatic research program. He received dual B.S. degrees in Biology and Fisheries Science from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, as well as M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Fish and Wildlife Biology from Colorado State University. His 36 years of fisheries experience at Alaska Fish and Game, Colorado State University, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife have been focused primarily on salmonid species, although he has interest in all fisheries-related topics. He has worked extensively with angler satisfaction surveys, fish disease, aquatic nuisance species, and development of hatchery brood stocks. He is an avid hunter and angler, and enjoys spending time in the outdoors with his wife and two daughters.

Jon joined WAFWA in December 2024 as the Coordinator for the Desert Fish Habitat Partnership. He retired in 2021 from the Nevada Department of Wildlife after a 41-year career where he served as Chief of Fisheries, Regional Fisheries Manager in Southern Nevada, and native fish field biologist among other roles. Jon was one of the original organizers of DFHP in the late 2000s and has served on the Steering Committees for both DFHP and the Western Native Trout Initiative, and on multiple Recovery Teams and Conservation Teams for southwestern desert fishes and other aquatic species. Jon has a BS degree in Wildlife and Range Management from the University of Nevada, Reno. Fish Habitat Partnerships have been very effective processes to improve the status of aquatic systems across diverse landscapes and he looks forward to working with WAFWA and our many DFHP partners and cooperators, focusing on the needs of desert aquatic systems and desert fish species throughout the Southwest and Great Basin.

Sean joined WAFWA in 2024 to assist with managing the SARS-CoV-2 in cervids disease surveillance project. Based in Fort Collins, CO, he collaborates closely with the USDA’s APHIS National Wildlife Disease Program at the National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC). Sean oversees the distribution of supplies to state, federal, and tribal partners, manages field and laboratory data, and serves as the WAFWA representative at the NWRC. His interests are in using research and novel technology and methods to inform conservation and wildlife management strategies. Sean holds a B.S. in Zoology from Colorado State University and an M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Sean began his wildlife career with Colorado Parks and Wildlife and spent much of his time working with disease, conservation, and management of prairie dogs. As a graduate student, he studied landscape and population genomics of Gunnison’s prairie dogs and investigated using remote sensing and drones to monitor populations. Sean enjoys getting outside and spending time mountain biking, hiking, skiing, and wildlife photography.

Noelle Thompson joined WAFWA in 2024 as WAFWA’s Interagency Wildlife Health Specialist. She earned her PhD at Michigan State University with a concentration in Fish and Wildlife Health and Conservation Medicine. She has experience working in both academia and state government. Noelle was the Wildlife Disease Biologist and the Deer and Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Program Coordinator for Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. She also worked for Colorado State University as a postdoctoral research fellow. During her postdoc, she assisted western state agencies enhance their CWD surveillance programs through structured decision-making. Noelle enjoys spending time outdoors with her family and 5 rescue dogs, particularly spending summers in their remote cabin outside of Gunnison National Forest.

After graduating Iowa State University in 1991, he was contracted as a bald eagle nest watcher by the Arizona Game and Fish Department and was assigned to Alamo Lake.  Upon completing his assignment, he was hired by the Department to conduct the biological evaluation of the Aubrey Valley for a black-footed ferret reintroduction. Bill was promoted to Nongame Birds and Mammals Program Manager in 1996 and was able to not only release black-footed ferrets, but Mexican wolves, California condors, and black-tailed prairie dogs too.  In 2008, with a sudden departure of the Western Association’s Grassland Coordinator, Bill was asked to step into the role, which is the position he still holds today. As Coordinator, Bill continues conservation efforts for grassland species such as prairie dogs, ferrets, swift fox and lesser prairie chickens. Outside of work, Bill stays busy with his wife Lola taking their four children to various school and sporting events. To escape the Phoenix heat, the family heads to the mountains to fish and camp.

Jeff has a B.S. in Zoology from Southern Illinois University, an M.S. in Environmental Biology from Eastern Illinois University, and is a certified wildlife biologist (The Wildlife Society). He began his career in 1979 as a District Wildlife Manager for the Illinois Department of Conservation (now the Department of Natural Resources). He served as the agency’s Wildlife Chief from 1990 to 2001. In 2001, he joined the Colorado Division of Wildlife (now Colorado Parks and Wildlife) as the Terrestrial Section Manager and in 2003 began serving as an Assistant Director. He retired from Colorado Parks and Wildlife in the spring of 2023. He was active in the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, the Midwest Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, the Mississippi Flyway Council, the Central Flyway Council, and the Playa Lakes Joint Venture, among others. Jeff coordinates WAFWA's SARS-CoV2 testing in Cervids with APHIS.