Doug Morin spent much of his youth hiking the White Mountains of New Hampshire. He remembers being in the woods thinking , I don’t know what trees these are. Over time, he filled the gap by learning the plants and animals of the northeast and their characteristics.

Likewise, a class in evolutionary biology sparked Morin to wonder how birds evolve to have such diverse and unusual traits. He pursued a degree in environmental science at Skidmore College, immersing himself in studies of birds, from common yellow-throated warblers to acorn woodpeckers. And he spent two years at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, working both in the field and in the lab.

“What drew me to birds was their sheer diversity--their myriad songs, ornamentation, and complex behaviors,” he notes.

But Morin says he was interested in more than diving deep into one aspect of bird biology; he wanted to explore the connection between birds and the broader habitats they inhabit. After completing the Field Naturalist master’s program at UVM, he found an opening at Fish & Wildlife that allowed him to combine his interest in birds with an opportunity to think big: he created the new West Mountain Wildlife Management Area management plan, a complex and sometimes controversial project. Working with the public on West Mountain and other planning projects gave Morin an appreciation for the role citizens play in conservation planning.

When the bird project manager position came open, Morin saw it as an opportunity to expand on his interests in bird conservation and help shape statewide policies to protect the more than 200 species that nest here.

“Birds touch on every acre of Vermont. Protecting the special areas they need to survive and thrive, is both the Department’s mandate and our responsibility. But we can’t do it alone. I look forward to working with the many people who know and love the state’s birds, learning from their shared perspectives, and creating a community that celebrates and protects birds across the region.”

Luke Groff saw the ad for the Vermont Fish & Wildlife position on his birthday in 2018 and thought it was a good omen. Now a year later, he’s still enjoying getting his feet wet as the new reptile and amphibian biologist/state lands manager out of the Rutland district office. Groff, who grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, spent his summers as a kid in the woods and creeks near his home searching for frogs and snakes. “I appreciate that reptiles and amphibians are a bit secretive and require a bit of extra effort to experience. You have to know where they are likely to be in order to see them.”

After graduating from King’s College and Penn State, Groff worked on a master’s degree at Humboldt State in California creating predictive models to guide field surveys for a federally threatened frog. He followed that with a doctorate from the University of Maine where he evaluated pool-breeding amphibian habitat selection in alpine and subalpine ecosystems.

Groff previously worked with the Minnesota DNR where he studied amphibians and reptiles, as well as beetles, pollinators, and birds. He has been getting familiar with timber rattlesnakes in Vermont, hiking the talus slopes where they like to sun, and learning about the work done by his predecessor, retired biologist Doug Blodgett. Groff hopes to build on Blodgett’s work with these state endangered reptiles. He will also be working to manage the wildlife management areas in the Rutland district, and will take on turtles and amphibians in the months ahead.

“In the last couple weeks, I’ve walked through some amazing habitat and spied several rare species,” notes Groff. “I’m excited to learn more about Vermont’s snakes and turtles and help conserve all of the state’s reptiles and amphibians.”

A workshop participant learns to identify different nighttime insects with Biologist Mark Ferguson and State Game Warden Kelly Price at Dead Creek.