Large-mammal specialist fills Boone and Crockett Chair

An accomplished educator and scientist who studies elk, bighorn sheep and other large mammals has been hired to fill the prestigious Boone and Crockett Chair at UM.

Paul Krausman comes from the University of Arizona, where he worked in wildlife research and taught almost continuously from 1978 to 2007. During that period he also served part time as a visiting professor at the Wildlife Institute of India.

“We are thrilled to have a wildlife biologist of Paul’s stature join us at UM,” said Dan Pletscher, director of UM’s Wildlife Biology Program. “Endowed chairs – a partnership between private entities and the University – help us attract the best and brightest faculty members to UM.”

The Boone and Crockett Club established its endowed chair in wildlife biology at UM in 1992 to teach classes and conduct research at the Missoula campus and the club’s 6,000-acre Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Ranch near Dupuyer. Funding a matching endowment to support graduate students of the Boone and Crockett Chair is a priority of UM’s ongoing “Invest in Discovery” campaign coordinated by the UM Foundation.

Krausman is the third person to hold the endowed chair. The first was Hal Salwasser, a former U.S. Forest Service scientist now serving as dean of Oregon State University’s College of Forestry and director of OSU’s Forest Research Laboratory. The second was Jack Ward Thomas, the former chief of the U.S. Forest Service who retired from the Boone and Crockett Chair in December 2005.

Krausman earned his wildlife science doctorate from the University of Idaho in 1976. He also worked at Aeromedical Research Laboratory in Alamogordo, N.M.; Environmental Systems at Brooks Air Force Base in Texas; the Welder Wildlife Foundation; and Auburn University before joining the University of Arizona in 1978.

He has won a slew of educational and research awards over the years, including the prestigious Aldo Leopold Award and Medal from The Wildlife Society in 2006 for “distinguished service to wildlife conservation.” His major areas of study are large-mammal ecology, conservation and management, as well as habitat evaluation, international wildlife management and wildlife education.

Pletscher said UM still is fundraising to support the graduate students and research of the endowed chair. Those wishing to contribute should call Pletscher at 406-243-6364 or Lisa Lenard, UM Foundation development officer, at 406-243-5533.