Scot J. Williamson

Scot J. Williamson earned a B.S. in Forest Science at Penn State in 1979 and an M.S. in Wildlife Science at the University of Vermont in 1983. His master's thesis, "Evaluation of even-aged reproduction cuts as deer habitat in Vermont" examined the effect of a common forest management practice on deer utilization.

Following graduate school, Scot served as a Deer Management Technician for the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department and as an Extension Wildlife Specialist for the University of New Hampshire. Between 1986 and 1992, Scot was the White-tailed Deer Project Leader for the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. In 1992, Scot became the Big Game Program Director for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

In 1994 Scot accepted the challenge to serve as the Wildlife Management Institute's (WMI) Northeast Field Representative and in that capacity has worked diligently to assist Northeastern states and conservation groups nationwide on a multitude of wildlife and land management initiatives that have restored and enhanced wildlife populations and their habitats across the region and nation. Since 2000, Scot has also served as Vice President of WMI.

Founded in 1911, WMI is a non-profit scientific and educational organization dedicated to providing leadership to conserve, restore, and enhance North American wildlife and its habitat. WMI conducts reviews of wildlife and natural resource agency programs and functions at the request of the agencies or their governing bodies. During Scot's tenure, WMI reviews have been conducted in ten states, including reviews of Pennsylvania's pheasant restoration program and its deer management program.

Scot is the organizer, facilitator, advocate, and leader for several regional and national conservation and restoration initiatives. He is heavily involved in coordinating and facilitating multi-state habitat conservation initiatives dedicated to conservation and restoration of shrubland-dependent wildlife, and advancement of landscape level science collaboratives (Landscape Conservation Cooperatives).

As an example, Scot has worked with a variety of federal and state agencies, wildlife interest groups, municipalities and land trusts, private companies and individuals to develop and implement a Woodcock Conservation Plan that is creating habitat for woodcock, a federal trust species, and other young-forest wildlife in eastern North America. Since the project (www.timberdoodle.org) began, more than 100,000 acres of young forest and scrub-shrub habitat have been created, restored, or improved using contemporary management techniques to boost populations of woodcock, golden-winged warblers, New England cottontails, and more than 50 other species of mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. Scot played a vital role in organizing and managing funding for this initiative and facilitating plan implementation.

Scot has played a key role in the development and implementation of the Northeast Regional Conservation Needs Grant Program designed to address landscape-scale, regional wildlife conservation issues by combining resources across agencies, leveraging funds, and prioritizing conservation actions identified in State Wildlife Action Plans. These plans identify a variety of actions aimed at preventing wildlife from declining to the point of becoming endangered. Since many of the conservation needs identified in the plans are best addressed at a landscape-scale, conservation actions can be developed and implemented that benefit the entire region. By combining financial resources, the Northeast states have created an efficient and effective mechanism to address landscape scale or regionally applicable issues.

Scot plays a vital role representing WMI on the coordinating committees of Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units across the Northeast (including the Pennsylvania Cooperative Unit at Penn State), and on the Wildlife Diversity Conservation and Funding and Bird Conservation Committees of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. Scot provides advice, counsel, and service to the directors of the Northeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies as well as the Northeast Association of Wildlife Administrators and the Northeast Fisheries Administrators. As Vice President of WMI, Scot serves a pivotal role as a strategic and operational planner, funding and financial development supporter for WMI staff, and oversees dozens of competitive grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements worth more than $4 million per year.

Scot authored the WMI publication, "Feeding Wildlife, Just Say No!" and received The Wildlife Society's Conservation Education Award in 2003. Scot also has been primary author, contributing author, and/or editor for a variety of publications including "Implementing the American Woodcock Conservation Plan" (July 2010), the national "Ruffed Grouse Conservation Plan" (2006), and the "Spruce Grouse Continental Conservation Plan" (2008).

Scot is a Certified Wildlife Biologist and served as chairman of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Woodcock Task Force, chairman of the Northeast Section of The Wildlife Society Forest Plan Review Committee, member of the Future of Waterfowl Hunting Strategy Team, and contributed to many other state and regional conservation efforts. He has authored numerous publications and presentations addressing state, regional, and national issues.

In 2013, Scot Williamson received the John Pearce Memorial Award from the Northeast Section of The Wildlife Society. The award recognizes members for outstanding professional accomplishments in wildlife conservation in the Northeast. Scot was also awarded the USDA Two Chiefs Partnership Award, The William T. Hesselton Award, and in 2007, the Cooperative Conservation Award from the Secretary of the Interior.

Having spent nearly an entire career advocating for the biodiversity benefits of early successional habitats, Scot is a firm believer in the role that sustainable forest resource management plays in ensuring habitat benefits to both common uncommon species of wildlife. Penn State played an important role in allowing both disciplines to be jointly pursued.