Midwest Fish & Wildlife Conference 2016

AUTHORS: Daniel Hayes, Dept. of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University

ABSTRACT: The Department of Fisheries and Wildlife was born in a split from the Department of Zoology at Michigan State University over 50 years ago. Initial growth in number of faculty was slow, but accelerated in the 1990s, largely due to the leadership of Bill Taylor. During his tenure as chair of the department, the Partnership for Ecosystem Research and Management was created. Initially this partnership was with the Fisheries and the Wildlife Divisions of the DNR, but grew to include the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. There are now more than 45 faculty in the department, spanning a wide range disciplinary topics within the large umbrella of Fisheries and Wildlife, but all touching on the animals, habitats and people that make up fishery and wildlife systems. Beyond being a recounting of history and applauding the leaders the department has had, there are organizational lessons to be learned from the success of this department. In particular, the importance of real relationships between faculty and resource managers is shown to be a critical ingredient in keeping the research, teaching, and outreach components of the department relevant to solving real-world problems. Also of critical importance is the sense of identity and the focus of the mission of the department as a whole, which lead to a sense of a community with high standards and a tradition of excellence.