Growing up on a small beef cattle ranch in Oktaha, Oklahoma, Matt has a passion for this landscape and an appreciation for the agricultural producers who call it home and has dedicated his entire career to restoring and enhancing the land. As Ducks Unlimited’s (DU) Manager of Conservation Programs for Kansas, he works with various partners to deliver a diverse program of restoration, enhancement, protection and acquisition projects.
DU is a nonprofit dedicated to the conservation of wetlands and associated upland habitats for waterfowl, other wildlife, and people. According to Matt, this fits perfectly with PLJV, as both organizations are committed to seeing out-of-the-box solutions to various wetland conservation issues we are facing today. Being on PLJV’s management board provides many opportunities for DU to collaborate on landscape-scale conservation efforts across the region. Matt loves the engagement and participation of everyone on the board — as well as the passion for natural resources everyone brings to the table — and being a part of the field-level program delivery that PLJV supports.
Matt started with DU as a biologist the year after completing graduate school and since then has worked on many public and private land wetland projects in Nebraska and Kansas and has been very successful in obtaining various grants for work in both states. After graduating from Oklahoma State University with a bachelor’s degree in plant and soil science and a minor in range management, he continued his postdoctoral studies focusing on wetlands enrolled in the NRCS Wetland Reserve Program and received his master’s degree in wetland ecology. Matt has also spent time working in southern Idaho as the assistant manager on the Silver Creek Preserve with The Nature Conservancy.
In his spare time, Matt enjoys hunting waterfowl and upland birds. He and his partner enjoy entertaining friends, cooking, brewing beer, and having fun outdoors. They also regularly host an eclectic array of musicians at their house concert series, “The Lair of the Swampfox,” in Grand Island.
