Officer Nominees

I am the Associate Director of Operations for the Borderlands Research Institute (BRI) at Sul Ross State University. I serve BRI faculty, staff, and students to create operational efficiencies in support of their research, outreach, academic, and administrative efforts. My goal is to grease-the-skids so they can optimize their roles. I have been here since January and am energized by the eagerness of students preparing to professionally engage conservation stewardship.

For 20 years prior to BRI, I worked on Texas Parks & Wildlife Department WildlifeManagement Areas (WMAs). I began my career on the Panhandle Plains WMAs andtransferred to the Middle Trinity River Ecosystem WMA Project in the Post Oak SavannahEcoregion. I spent my last 16 years as the project leader for the Pineywoods EcosystemProject WMAs, where, with partner agencies, our team managed over 260,000 acres ofhabitat to benefit game and non-game wildlife, demonstrated habitat managementtechniques to constituents, taught youth and adult hunters how to hunt, and coordinatedseveral wildlife research projects.

I began TCTWS membership as a student in 1998. Beyond giving presentations as a student, I have served on several committees and chaired the Student Chapter of the Year, Activities, Local Arrangements, and Honorary Life Membership committees, but as a student and younger professional, I neglected networking and leadership opportunities due to introversion and selfishness with my time. As I’ve grown older there is nothing I look more forward to professionally attending each year than our conference. Young people, do not fear getting involved. Old(er) people, show them the way! I look forward to helping in this capacity if I am elected Vice-President of TCTWS.

Stephen Webb is a research assistant professor in the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute and the Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management at Texas A&M University. Stephen is a proud, 7th generation Texan who received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK), and Ph.D. from Mississippi State University. His research focuses primarily on the ecology and management of game and large mammal species. He uses advanced and novel tracking and sensor devices to develop behaviorally and spatially explicit models of animal movement, habitat selection, animal interaction, and changes in population demographics. He also teaches a graduate level quantitative ecology class.

Webb is a Certified Wildlife Biologist®, Certified Senior Ecologist, and the current book review editor for the Journal of Wildlife Management, and past associate editor for Rangeland Ecology and Management. After joining the TAMUK Student Chapter of TWS, where he served as Vice President and President, Stephen immediately joined TWS in 1997where he has maintained membership ever since. He is a charter member and sustaining donor of The 1,000, and is involved actively in multiple working groups.
Soon thereafter, in 1998, Stephen joined the Texas Chapter of TWS. He has contributed toTCTWS in multiple capacities, having served as chair of the Publication Awards (4x) andScholarship committees, and member for the Clarence Cottam Awards and LocalArrangements committees. He is proud to have received the Colin Caruthers Memorial andDallas Ecological Foundation scholarships as an undergraduate, and Lower Colorado RiverAuthority Graduate Research Assistance Grant as a graduate student.

Stephen is fortunate for all of the opportunities he has received, and for being part of a state chapter that shaped and developed his vision and career in wildlife management. Now, one of his primary goals is to give back in every way he can to the organizations that he knows can benefit the wildlife profession by investing in future generations and those leading, and at the forefront of, our discipline. His commitment to giving back is also evident through his service as co-advisor to the TAMU Student Chapter of TWS, and member of Texas Wildlife Association’s Conservation Legacy Advisory Committee.

Mikayla (House) Killam is a Wildlife Damage Management Program Specialist for Texas A&M AgriLife Extension. In this position, Mikayla’s primary responsibilities are managing multiple educational websites, generating educational programs, providing peer training on new content, and developing extension publications. Mikayla has been a Texas Chapter of the Wildlife Society member for 10 years. Throughout that time, she has experienced the chapter from the perspective of a student, graduate student, and an early career professional. She has made it a point to be an involved chapter member throughout the various stages of her membership. As a student, Mikayla was a student chapter officer for 3 years and competed on the Texas A&M University quiz bowl team for 4 years. When she became a graduate student, she continued to be involved in the quiz bowl contest working as a score keeper, judge, and student chapter coach over the years.

As a professional, Mikayla volunteered to judge posters and tally score totals, she helped with the photo and art contest, and joined the scholarship committee in evaluating applications.
In recent years, Mikayla has taken on even more responsibility within the chapter by participating in executive board committees. For the last two years, she has been a co-chair of the activities committee. As a co-chair of this committee, she helped to plan and coordinate the pre-conference workshops attended by close to 250 members for the past Houston meeting and for the upcoming Houston meeting. Additionally, for the last two years, Mikayla has been responsible for compiling the Chapter of the Year application that our chapter submits to The Wildlife Society. Through this responsibility, Mikayla has collaborated with all members of the executive board, and many committee chairs from multiple presidencies. Mikayla says that these responsibilities have allowed her to see just how productive and passionate the members of this chapter are, which only makes her more eager to increase her involvement and give back to the organization by acting as an officer.

I am the Oaks and Prairies Joint Venture Science Coordinator for American Bird Conservancy, where my work involves collaborating across organizations and agencies to perform bird conservation in Texas and Oklahoma. My co-workers range from American Bird Conservancy, Quail Forever, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and many more. I design and implement monitoring programs to assess the effectiveness of our partnership’s habitat programs, identify science priorities and decision support tools that help further bird conservation in Texas and Oklahoma, and set bird population and habitat goals for our region. Our bird conservation partnership works at the gap between habitat/conservation delivery and scientific research, giving me the opportunity to dabble in both worlds and identify opportunities to bring these two critical pieces together.

As part of my role, I often work with young professionals and recent graduates via field positions that are part of our monitoring programs and undergraduate research projects. My own experiences as an undergraduate at the University of Minnesota’s wildlife program and as a Master’s student at Texas State University made it clear to me the importance of dedicated mentors, the critical role that young professionals play in uplifting students, and the value of connections made in places like the Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society. As many of us realize, that one graduate student or agency supervisor taking a chance on you and providing that first field job, connecting you with a volunteer experience, or taking the time to provide advice can change the course of your career. Thus, it’s part of my mission to not only do my best by the birds that I’ve dedicated my career to, but to also do my best by the young professionals that come through my door and pay forward the opportunities given to me. This mission was only enforced and strengthened by my experience with the James G. Teer Conservation Leadership Institute, and today I’ve implemented activities through my work with American Bird Conservancy and through Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society.

A few of the things I have already been proactive with include setting up “meet-and-greets” for my field crews with professionals who have careers they’re interested in, working on year-long programs with undergraduates on research projects, and co-chairing Texas Chapter’s Webinar Series and designing episodes such as the employer panel held this past spring.

As Secretary of Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society, I hope to continue this work and identify how we as a chapter can continue to serve our students and help them succeed as early professionals. I plan to not only do my utmost best while recording and issuing minutes, but also to use my unique position of bridging the delivery and research worlds to identify how the Texas Chapter can assist with filling the gaps that exist between the information our students learn in class and what they need to be successful in their careers. Wildlife conservation is only possible if we support and uplift the people who make it happen, and I hope that our chapter can continue to be a leader in this aspect. I’m proud of our conservation community and our organization, and I hope that I have the opportunity to serve the society in this role.

Chris Farrell is a Project Leader for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, overseeing seven wildlife management areas (WMAs) with 10 staff in northeast Texas. Prior to this, he was a WMA biologist on the Old Sabine Bottom and Tawakoni WMAs. He decided he wanted to work for TPWD after interning on a WMA the summer after his freshman year of college. Chris has a passion for the outdoors and conservation with a goal to leave the places he manages in a better state for future generations.

Chris earned his bachelor’s degree in wildlife and fisheries management from Texas A&M University, and then his Master’s of Science in Forest Resources, with an emphasis in wildlife ecology, from the Warnell School of Forestry at the University of Georgia. Chris studied the effects of biomass harvesting on reptiles, amphibians, and small mammals in Georgia and North Carolina for his research. He has served on several committees in both the Texas Chapter and the national chapter of TWS. He most recently was the program committee co-chair in 2022 and is a TWS Certified Wildlife Biologist®.
Chris lives in east Texas with his wife, Annie, his 2-year-old twin daughters, Eva and Ashlyn,and his yellow lab, Otter.

He enjoys experiencing the outdoors with his family and showing his daughters the world around them. Chris’s hobbies include smoking meats, hunting, fishing, watching college football, and spending time with his friends and family.

Adam Terry is the Forest Wildlife Biologist and Wildlife Program Manager for the National Forests and Grasslands in Texas (NFGT). On the NFGT, he leads a team of 6 biologists and 8wildlife technicians. He oversees wildlife management and biological resource issues over675,000 acres of public land. Adam has extensive expertise in threatened and endangered species, game and non-game species management, habitat restoration, East Texas ecology, forestry, and fire management/ecology. His experience spans wildlife management processes, from project design to implementation to policy issues. During his tenure, the Sam Houston National Forests Red-cockaded woodpecker population reached its property recovery goal of350 breeding groups and over 100% population increase across the NFGT. He is also responsible for day-to-day operations for a partnership with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) on the state’s largest Wildlife Management Area (WMA) program. Previously, he worked in the private sector as a forester, wildlife biologist, and WMA biologist for TPWD.

Adam has been a member of TCTWS for 10 years and has served on the Program Committee and as a poster judge. Adam has also been a member and attendee of the national TWS for 10years. He is a Stephen F. Austin State University graduate with a major in forestry and wildlife and a minor in biology.

A 6th generation Texan, Adam is a TWS Certified Wildlife Biologist® and SAF Certified Forester® currently living in Diboll, Texas with his wife, son, and 1 dog.