LIFE MEMBERSHIP FUND SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

The Life Membership Fund Scholarship is awarded to students in a field related to the Wild Sheep Foundation’s endeavors. Specifically, degrees in wildlife management, wildlife biology, and wildlife pathology. An area of focus on wild sheep is preferred but not necessary. This year, four scholarships were awarded. Two went to graduate students and two went to undergraduates.

The top recipients in each category were awarded a $5000 scholarship for schooling. Additionally, travel to the Wild Sheep Foundation’s national convention, the Sheep Show® in Reno, Nevada will occur to gain valuable knowledge on the economic side of wildlife conservation, networking in their field, and assist with running the Youth Wildlife Conservation Experience (YWCE), including being a keynote speaker during the youth event. The runner up in each category received $2,500 to help with schooling.

This year, the top undergraduate was Julien Gullo. Julien is in the process of finishing up a Bachelors of Natural Resources Science degree at Thompson Rivers University in

Kamloops, BC, Canada. He is also planning on starting a Master of Science degree in biology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, AB, Canada next fall where he will focus a thesis on nutritional and migration ecology of Stone’s sheep in British Columbia.

Along with volunteering with fisheries research in his early career, Julien has also conducted nocturnal owl surveys for Birds Canada since 2018. He has taken on significant volunteer roles as a board member of the Kamloops District Fish and Game Association, and volunteer

NEED ONE MORE SHEEP TO COMPLETE YOUR F.N.A.W.S.?

Bernie Fiedeldey has once again generously offered to match donations (up to $25,000) to the “1 MORE FOR 4” drawing for a FREE sheep hunt of qualified individuals needing one more ram to complete their Four North American Wild Sheep (F.N.A.W.S.)

2023 1mf4 Sponsors

Kris Kohlhoff

Renee Snider

Darin & Tonya Fiedeldey

Charles & Denise Swanson

Midwest Chapter

Ed Pabst

Kevin Gilbert

Jeff Haynie

Washington WSF

Darin & Tonya Fiedeldey

Darla Fiedeldey

Richard Pierce

You can help keep the tradition going for the 2024 Convention “1 MORE FOR 4” Drawing and have your contribution matched by Bernie (up to $25,000.)

Our sincere appreciation to Bernie Fiedeldey and the “1 MORE FOR 4” participants for making this drawing and hunt of a lifetime possible!

For more Information Contact: Paige Culver: 406.404.8758 • PCulver@wildsheepfoundation.org coordinator for a regional mule deer research program (SIMDeer project). Julien recently secured grant funding to put on a free public screening of the Wild Sheep Society sponsored documentary “Transmission” for students and public, which was presented in February of 2023. Julien is invested in a path focused on ecological research and community engagement.

The top graduate scholarship was awarded to Jeff Nishima-Miller, who is working towards a PhD in wildlife management and conservation planning at the University of British Columbia Okanagan. He is concurrently working as a contractor for BC Fish and Wildlife, and the Okanagan Indian Band on developing an invasive species and species at risk management plan for a local Wildlife Management Area.

Jeff has spent four seasons working on a unit crew (BC version of a ‘hotshot’) for the BC Wildfire Service. He has served on the leadership team of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers (BHA) on their first collegiate club in Canada at UBCO. He is part of the Okanagan Regional Wildlife Advisory Committee on behalf of the BC chapter of BHA. Jeff helped establish the UBCO BHA student club “sky to skillet” initiative, which is a duck hunting mentorship program and is an active member of the ‘BC All Breed Pointer Club’ promoting the hunting and training of pointing dogs.

Jeff has a master’s degree focused on natural resource management and planning for large-scale development projects. His PhD research is applied, supporting Xeni Gwet’in (a remote First Nation’s community) in the development and implementation of a regional wildlife management strategy for keystone species, including bighorn sheep, mountain goats, mule deer, and moose. In this research, they work to implement key management actions, such as a predator management plan for ungulate recovery, wild (feral) horse stabilization for ungulate habitat revitalization, prescribed burning in key winter ranges, road restoration, and a prospective reintroduction of elk into the region. In addition to these management actions, they are building a dedicated funding system for wildlife management, which will integrate funding mechanisms generated (in-part) by guide outfitting and other wildlife tourism throughout the region. When finished with his PhD, he plans to transition into full time work in the wildlife management and conservation sector in either the public or private sector.

Joseph Espinosa was awarded the $2,500 undergraduate scholarship. Growing up in Nevada, he was exposed to the outdoors at a young age and those experiences put him on a path working towards a degree in Conservation and Natural Resources with a minor in criminal justice at the University of Nevada, Reno. An active hunter and involved with lacrosse, Joseph has been involved with multiple different charities such as Nevada’s Children’s Cancer Foundation and volunteering at the Youth Wildlife Conservation Experience. He has also assisted with a wild sheep capture in Nevada. After graduation, his plan is to become a game warden and work in a state or federal wildlife agency somewhere in the western states.

Nicole Ballard was awarded the $2,500 graduate scholarship. She received her B.S. in Wildlife Biology with a minor in nonprofit administration and a certificate in global leadership in 2021 from the University of Montana. After graduating in 2021 and working a year and a half at the Teller Wildlife Refuge, Nicole realized that the largest way she could make an impact in the realm of wildlife conservation was through education, driving her to pursue her Master’s degree at University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point where she is currently working towards a Master of Natural Resource degree and graduate certificate in Environmental Education/ Interpretation.

Nicole worked as an educator, guide, and animal handler at Reptile Gardens in South Dakota. She worked at the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation located in Missoula, MT from 20182020 as an educator/visitor center staff working with kids and interning with the Lands and Conservation department at RMEF. In 2020 she also interned as a zookeeper with the Dakota Zoo located in Bismarck, ND. While at the University of Montana, she was both the Vice President and the President of Student Recreation Association, and was involved with the UM Backcountry Hunters and Anglers as the Treasurer. In the next five years Nicole wants to finish her master’s degree, continue to grow the Teller Wildlife Refuge conservation education program, and form further partnerships with conservation education programs to strengthen both the refuge’s programs and the conservation groups she works with. WS