John Lee Thomson is the Trout Stocking Coordinator for the State of Georgia and he will be presenting an overview of the Georgia's Trout Stocking Program at our meeting in May. John Lee grew up in Northern Virginia and graduated from Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax County. While earning a B.S. degree in Aquacultue, Fisheries and Wildlife Biology from Clemson University, he worked at the University's experimental catfish facility. After graduation in 1999 he moved to West Palm Beach, Florida to pursue a career as a fisheries biologist with a private environmental consulting company. Over 8 years, he learned about private business sector and aquatic ecology.

In 2006, he and his wife decided to move back to Georgia to start their family. He applied for a technician position at Lake Burton Fish Hatchery and has been working there since. He performed the duties of the Assistant Hatchery Manager for over two years, when he was asked to act as the interim manager. In August 2012 he was officially promoted this position. As the manager at Lake Burton Fish Hatchery, he also serves as the Statewide Trout Stocking Coordinator. This position requires him to work with all the government trout hatcheries to achieve the goal of over 1 million catchable trout stocked in Georgia each year.