2010 MO AFS Elections

Please take time to vote using your code from the vote related email you received earlier.  If you did not receive such an email please contact Fantzj@socket.net.

Mark Van Patten

Mark is employed as a Fisheries Management Biologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation working as a Stream Team Coordinator for the Southeast and St. Louis region. One of his duties includes fundraising for the Stream Team Program..  As President Elect he would like to work with the Chapter President on potential fundraising opportunities for the Chapter to enhance the Student Support Trust Fund and ideas for more active member involvement in the Chapter.

 In his personal time Mark is a published author and hosts a national weekly PBS Television show on fly tying called "The Tying Bench".  www.thetyingbench.com  Fly Fishing is not only a hobby but, a passion as well.

Travis Moore

My first involvement with MOAFS was back when I was an undergrad at Mizzou.  I remember going to my first Forest, Fish, and Wildlife Conference, attending the MOAFS meeting, and deciding that I needed to be a part of this group.  My, how time flies!  That was over 20 years ago!

Since that time, I’ve stayed active with MOAFS in various capacities.  Along the way, I’ve served as Chairman of the Resolutions Committee, Student Support, and the MNRC Exhibits Committee.  I’ve also served on the Disabled Angler Committee, started the first few Student Job Fairs at the MNRC, and have served on the planning committees for the Midwest and Southeastern Fish and Wildlife Conferences as well as the AFS 130^th International Meeting when it was in St. Louis.

In my work life, I’ve been in MDC’s Fisheries Division for 18 years.  Over that time, my duties have included private land pond and stream work, managing several regional public lakes, interior streams, and aquatic education.  Most of my current time is consumed by activities related to the Mississippi River.  This work has included partnerships with other state and federal agencies and universities on both policy coordination and field studies on sturgeons, mussels, habitat, and so on.  I also finished my term as the ITC Dean in 2009.

In my private life, I spend a lot of time with my wife, Kathi, and teenaged sons, Chance and Jacob, either on the water in our kayaks, or in the woods chasing deer, turkeys, rabbits, frogs, or ducks.  I am currently a volunteer District Director for the National Wild Turkey Federation and am currently running for the Missouri Chapter’s state board.  I am currently President of the Mizzou Alumni Association’s School of Natural Resource Board.  I have served on that board for the last five years, all as the scholarship chair.

I won’t claim to have a major strategy for my tenure as MOAFS President, if I am elected.  Sometimes, the ship is already on the right course and doesn’t need a lot of adjustments.  But there is one thing that I have done with every committee I’ve ever served on, and I will strive to do the same here.  That is to leave that assignment in a better condition than when I found it.  If elected, I would follow a line of past presidents who have accomplished great things.  I will do my best to follow in their footsteps to further the interests of our natural resources, the organization, and its membership.

Treasurer:

Jason Persinger 

I am a native Missourian.  I spent much of my youth hunting, especially waterfowl, and fishing with my dad. This created a lifelong passion for the outdoors.  I earned a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri in 2000 in Fisheries and Wildlife and a Master’s degree from Virginia Tech in 2003 in Fisheries and Wildlife.  In the fall of 2003, I started with the Missouri Department of Conservation as a resource scientist stream habitat ecologist working out of the Department of Conservation’s Grassland Field Station in Clinton.

I have been a member of the Missouri Chapter of AFS since 1997 and a member of the parent society since 2000.  I served as the Secretary of the Rivers and Streams Committee in 2007 and 2008 and am currently Treasurer for the 2010 MNRC steering committee. I believe being active in AFS is important and look forward to serving if selected. I truly enjoy working on our state’s streams, which I see as some of our most valuable resources.

Andrew Branson

I am a native to southwest Missouri.  I currently work for the Missouri Department of Conservation and have been part of the Stream Team Program since October of 2007, and am responsible for Stream Team coordination in southwest and south central Missouri.  I graduated from Drury University in Springfield with a degree in Biology.  I began my career with the Missouri Dept. of Conservation in 2005 as the mobile aquarium operator.  Prior to that I was Curator of the Aquarium and Children’s Zoo at the Tulsa Zoo in Oklahoma for 13 years.  My spare time is spent with my wife and two sons on our small farm south of Jefferson City, being a Boy Scout leader, and fishing Missouri streams.  

I joined MOAFS a couple of years ago and believe the experience I gained managing my department’s budget while a Zoo Curator, as well as managing the funds of an active Boy Scout troop will be able to benefit the MOAFS Chapter.

Dear MOAFS members,

This is a friendly reminder that it is time to renew your Missouri Chapter AFS membership for the 2010 year. A membership in MOAFS keeps you connected with other fisheries and aquatic professionals throughout the state of Missouri. A MOAFS membership also gets you reduced registration rates at conferences such as the Missouri Natural Resources Conference. Support your profession and join MOAFS today!

If you don't renew through the parent society, you can print a membership form from the Missouri Chapter webpage (http://www.moafs.org/), fill it out and mail it along with applicable dues to Mike Siepker. Make checks payable to "Missouri Chapter of AFS". Life members, if your contact information has changed, please notify me as well of that change. If anyone would like a hard copy of the application, just email mike.siepker@mdc.mo.gov or write to: Mike Siepker, MO Dept. of Conservation, 551 Joe Jones Blvd, West Plains, MO 65775.

Mike Siepker

MOAFS Membership Chair

Missouri Natural Resources Conference - Purposeful Risk Taking: Making Decisions in Dynamic Times – February 3-5, 2010

Resource-management professionals who attend the Missouri Natural Resources Conference (MNRC) will learn how to take risks that help them meet challenges, grow and learn. The conference takes place Feb. 3 through 5 at Tan-Tar-A Resort at Lake of the Ozarks. MOAFS has the lead in the planning of this meeting. Michael Fraidenburg, author of Intelligent Courage: Natural Resource Careers That Make a Difference will open the conference. Ben Garber, management consultant and Theodore Roosevelt reenactor, will discuss compelling leadership principles, strategies and actions. Twenty-two additional workshops round out the conference. The MNRC is an annual meeting organized by natural resource professional societies. It provides a forum for established and aspiring natural-resource professionals to exchange information and ideas and enhance cooperation among government agencies and citizen conservation organizations. Early-bird registration must be postmarked by Jan. 6.
Registration forms and detailed information are available at www.mnrc.org .