Eugene "Gene" Decker

Eugene "Gene" Decker earned a B.S. In Forestry in 1952 and an M.S. in Forestry (Wildlife Management) in 1955. After various positions in Pennsylvania, New York, Georgia, Montana, and California, he joined the College of Natural Resources at Colorado State University (CSU) in 1967. He was professor of wildlife biology for more than 31 years in the Department of Fishery and Wildlife Biology at CSU where he taught courses in natural resources public relations, wildlife management, and international wildlife resources. He retired from CSU in January 1999 and was honored with emeritus professor status.

Decker spent a considerable amount of time serving as a mentor to international graduate and undergraduate students from Africa, Egypt, Iran, Indonesia, Australia, and Nepal. His international efforts in wildlife conservation included work in Iran, Egypt, and Africa. He has received many awards including The Wildlife Society Conservation Education Award in 1983 for the Colorado wildlife education program developed under his direction, and the Best Teacher Award from the CSU Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society in 1999. He has spent extensive periods of time developing, coordinating, and conducting training programs in conservation and in communications/public relations. This includes the well-known, weeklong Wildlife Management Short Course at CSU; ecology study tours of east, central, and southern Africa; and a course in effective personal presentations offered annually for The Wildlife Society.

Decker's community service includes being the founding director of the Rocky Mountain Bighorn Society, a citizen conservation group, in 1977. He has also served as member and chairman of the City of Loveland Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. His military service includes active duty in 1952 and active reserve duty from 1953 to 1960; he was honorably discharged as captain in 1962.

Through his teaching, Decker has changed the way natural resource professionals make presentations. He has also helped federal agencies develop protocol for public input. A whole generation of professionals will work with the public in a more realistic and meaningful manner because of his teaching.