About Wyoming Wildlife Federation

Joy grew up in Iowa where she gained her appreciation for nature through the backwoods and farms of Sioux City. After studying agriculture at the University of Iowa, she received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Wyoming through an inter-disciplinary program in Environment and Natural Resources as well as Political Science. Joy is a policy advisor, analyst, and advocate for wildlife, habitat, and outdoor recreation throughout Wyoming. She has worked for Wyoming Wildlife Federation since 2007, and is dedicated to conserving landscapes and waterways for hunters and anglers. As a sportswoman and a mom, Joy enjoys sharing the great outdoors with her children through hunting, long hikes, camping, fishing, rock climbing, skiing, and relishing in nature’s diversity.

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(307) 335-8633

Jess Johnson leads Wyoming Wildlife Federation's efforts to advocate on behalf of wildlife and wild places through policy and local advocacy. She works hard all session long at the Wyoming State Capitol in Cheyenne to help pass good bills for wildlife and ensure those that are not good for wildlife do not become state statute. Jessi grew up ranching in Montana, Northern California and Wyoming. She has a deep appreciation for wildlife and wild lands. Since moving back to Wyoming in her early 20's, she has spent most of her free time exploring our public lands and she is an avid archery hunter. Jess's love for conservation spans beyond WWF, as well. She's a co-founder and advisory board member of the NWF initiative, Artemis Sportswomen, and serves as the policy seat on the board of directors for 2% for Conservation.

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(307) 335-8633

Andrea has been the Federation's Administrator and jack-of-all-trades since 2017. Originally from Wisconsin, Andrea received her BS in Animal Science with minors in Chemistry and Biology from the University of Wisconsin at River Falls. From there, she moved to Iowa to get her MS in Wildlife Biology from Iowa State University working on elk feedgrounds and calving site selection. She did her course work in Iowa, and her field work was in and around Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks in Wyoming. It was a great place to get her feet wet in the field, and, as it happens, a great place to meet her husband. Life after graduation has included work in wildlife and fisheries biology, working with everything from prairie dogs to wolves to cutthroat trout. Outside of work, she enjoys a variety of outdoor pursuits including hiking, camping, rock climbing, and horseback riding.

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Jaden Bales is WWF’s Communications Director. He ensures our membership is up to date on the latest Wyoming wildlife issues and keeping our lines of communication humming digitally and in print. Jaden was raised on farm in rural Northeast Oregon before moving to Wyoming and learning of all the hunting opportunities that exist here. He enjoys a good and heavy packout with friends and is always eager to explore new parts of the state with a big game tag in his pocket.

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(541) 910-1482

A lifelong Wyomingite from Kemmerer and long-time habitat biologist for Wyoming Game and Fish, Sam Lockwood joined the Wyoming Wildlife Federation staff to spearhead our habitat projects in the summer of 2020. If you have ideas for habitat projects around Wyoming, please reach out at [email protected]

After growing up in Northern New Jersey, Nat attended St. Lawrence University in upstate New York and graduated with a BA in Environmental Studies. He moved to Jackson, Wyoming after college and quickly fell in love with the landscape and wildlife of the mountain west and developed a passion for public lands. He decided to turn his passion into his career and attended the Masters of the Environment program at CU-Boulder where he received a master’s degree in Environmental and Natural Resource Policy. In his free time he enjoys spending time outdoors with his wife, Kathryn and son, Redford.

Justin was raised with the utmost respect and appreciation for wildlife and wild places. After witnessing a rapidly changing landscape for wildlife and as sportsmen's access to those resources change, too, he feels strongly about protecting them and ensuring a strong future for all wildlife and the people who live their lives close to them. Justin is a bowhunting addict who dreams of September in the elk woods, but he also spends a lot of time fly fishing, shooting archery, and shooting rifles. He believes practice and training are key to finding success in the field. He enjoys “type 2 fun” and loves the pursuit, challenges and rewards that hunting, fishing and the outdoors provide. If there’s anything related to policy surrounding Wyoming’s wildlife or wild places that you would like to make sure is on WWF’s desk, please contact him.

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Joe Spence is WWF’s new Outreach Coordinator. A recent graduate from Montana State University, Joe will be working with our conservation ambassadors, helping plan WWF sponsored events, and aiding in communication with our members and other people in the conservation community. Joe was raised in Northern Colorado and is a passionate angler, upland bird, and waterfowl hunter. In his free time, Joe enjoys chasing birds around the American West and floating the world-class trout rivers that Wyoming has to offer.

Chris moved to Centennial, Wyo after years of enjoying Wyoming’s vast wide open spaces as a visitor. He earned a BA from Yale University and an MBA from the University of Virginia leading to a career in marketing and financial services. Chris also formed and directed an industry-shaping fuel distribution business aimed at minimizing impact of diesel fuel delivery at environmentally sensitive construction sites. Chris comes from a long line of outdoor enthusiasts and raised three children with these values. His love of outdoor lifestyle began with fresh and salt water fishing adventures, and annual trips to Canada’s remote backcountry wilderness, public land which was later mismanaged by the provincial government and no longer provides the same recreation opportunities. Today, Chris divides his spare time exploring our state’s vast public spaces for fishing, skiing, hunting and camping adventures.

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Mark is the Chief Operating Officer for UK Elite Soccer, a company owned by Steel Sports. Prior to joining Steel Sports, Mark was the Executive Director of Aspen Valley Ski/Snowboard Club for 15 years. The non-profit focused on developing “Great Athletes, Great Kids” including many Olympians, Paralympians and X-Games athletes. The club was the United States Ski and Snowboard Association’s National Club of the Year in 2011 and twice during his tenure was recognized as the Aspen area Non-Profit of the Year.

Mark also spent 17 years with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), considered the gold standard in teaching wilderness skills and leadership. Over the years Mark taught backpacking, rock climbing, and winter courses. He oversaw the hiring and training of field staff and also served on the director team for 8 years, as Finance Director and Alumni & Development Director.

Mark holds a BS in Mathematics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and an MA in Mathematics from the University of Washington.

Temple is an associate professor at the University of Wyoming with a dual appointment in the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources and the College of Law. Her academic scholarship and teaching focuses on wildlife, public lands, NEPA, and natural resource law and policy. Prior to her appointment at UW, Temple served as a natural resource policy advisor to former Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal, worked for Shell International BV at their world headquarters in the Netherlands, and was the Wyoming County Commissioner Associations natural resource attorney. Temple and her family are Wyoming outdoor enthusiasts, enjoying hiking, biking and camping in the summer, and skiing in the winter. She is an expert fishing line knot un-tier, as her two young children are expert fishing line knot makers; sometimes she even gets to toss a fishing line in the water herself.

Levi was born and raised on a family cattle ranch in south central Montana where clean water, bountiful fish and wildlife, and fresh air were part of his everyday life. He was exposed to fishing, hunting, and the wilderness at a very young age, cultivating a desire to continue gathering those experiences and sharing with others the divine beauty of the outdoors. Levi moved away from the ranch to get an Environmental Engineering degree from Montana Tech in 2005. It was there that he started to appreciate and understand the impact and interaction of the human environment with natural.

Levi has been in Gillette since graduating college, working for several years for an environmental consulting firm, and for the last ten years for the City of Gillette. Even though he and his family live a life in the city, his mind and his passions are on the adventures of the outdoors: hunting, fishing, skiing, hiking, mountain biking, climbing, and gardening. Levi has gained an understanding that those things of his childhood that seemed to be just part of life aren't just there; they need people that care to learn about them, to advocate for them, and to literally and figuratively get their hands dirty caring for them.

Lew Carpenter is the National Wildlife Federation's Director of Conservation Partnerships in the Rocky Mountain region and also works directly with National Wildlife Federation affiliates in Wyoming, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Nebraska. He also maintains a moderate role working with the National Wildlife Federation’s Austin office on restoring Louisiana wetlands.

His primary role is to advise the affiliate board directors in WY, NV, CO, NM, AZ, and NE on leadership cultivation, capacity building, and programmatic work (policy advice on regional and national issues)—where these groups should weigh in politically in their region to effect results.

At the end of the day, Carpenter’s job is about ensuring the long-term effectiveness of the National Wildlife Federation and its affiliates by building strong organizations, developing and supporting effective leadership, and creating strong networks of influential people to achieve national and regional conservation victories.

Biography coming soon.

Diane was born and raised in the beautiful state of Wyoming. She received a bachelor’s of science from the University of Wyoming with a minor in Geology. Diane was raised with a love for the outdoors – the landscape, the backcountry, the hunting, and the fishing. Hunting was a necessity growing up, now it’s a passion she shares with her family, friends’ other women and children. Diane is active in the local chapter of RMEF, has served as Secretary, Treasurer and Vice President of High Plains Archery Club helping to organize shoots, membership and various fundraisers. She is a founding member and instructor of Albany County 4H Survival Club which includes a six-month survival course ending with a survival camp. She is a certified Wyoming hunter’s education instructor, as well as the Wyoming state coordinator for Prois. Her passion is getting women and children involved with the outdoors through hunting, fishing, camping, hiking and to make sure that our beautiful state continues to be passed down and understood for all generations.

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Tom grew up in Rock Springs, enjoying the public lands and checkerboard of southwestern Wyoming, chasing cottontails with a bow in the winter, hunting Little Mountain and Pine Mountain for grouse and mule deer, and catching brook trout on grasshoppers wherever possible. As a boy, he worked on Bill Taliaferro’s sheep ranch on Slate Creek for a number of iconic summers—docking, haying, supplying camps and counting sheep (poorly) in the northern Wyoming range. A family medicine physician, he has lived and worked in Casper since graduating from Creighton University School of Medicine in 1999, and now enjoys a career in drug and alcohol addiction medicine. His wife, Tori, grew up in Cody, and together they - now, empty nesters (mostly) - ski, garden, climb, run, hunt, fish, and play pond hockey as much as the regular duties of life allow.