For more than 50 years the Wyoming Game and Fish Laboratory in Laramie has provided top-notch services to the department as well as other state and federal agencies. The main focus of the laboratory is fish health and wildlife forensics. Additional duties include aging of big game teeth using a technique called cementum annuli analysis. The laboratory is one of the few state laboratories in the country that is both a full service fish health and wildlife forensic laboratory. Both programs are recognized nationally.
The Wildlife Forensic and Fish Health Lab includes the following positions and opportunities:
Laboratory Director
Applicants will be interested in this type of position because of the wide diversity of duties and knowledge base, and the high level of responsibility and expectations this position has on a daily basis. This position requires a high degree of expertise in numerous areas including forensics, bacteriology, fish health and big game tooth aging. This position works every day towards the department’s mission of Conserving Wildlife, Serving People.
There are many rewards that come with the Laboratory Director’s position. This positions works at a national and international level to protect the resources of not only this state but much of the western United States by assisting with forensics, fish health and tooth aging. The position includes watching your staff grow and expand to their greatest potential on a daily basis. You are also able to be hands-on throughout the three areas of the laboratory so this person is not relegated to being behind a desk all day.
Duties of this job include supervising the maintenance, operation and functions of the Wyoming Game and Fish Wildlife Forensic and Fish Health Laboratory, according to the strategic plan, and guiding the work flow throughout the entire laboratory. Duties also include supervising and approving activities of technical experts, biologists and lab technicians in the fish health, forensics and analytical services. One of the more interesting duties includes working with law enforcement officers to make a case against suspected poachers using advanced DNA technologies for matching and minimum number of animals.
The duties of this position also include being an American Fisheries Society certified Aquatic Animal Health Inspector. This includes going to all the state, private and wild aquaculture facilities and identify them as being disease free. It is also necessary for the person in this position to prepare, implement and monitor annual budgets; review and approve payment vouchers, requisitions, annual work plans, project funding requests, job descriptions, and performance appraisals; and conduct all hiring, supervising and training of laboratory specialists, biologists, forensic scientists and technicians.
Wildlife Forensic Program Coordinator
Applicants will be interested in this position because of the uniqueness of the job and the ability to assist with conserving the resources using science. This position comes with the responsibility of running the wildlife forensics program for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. The Wildlife Forensic Program Coordinator is a person that is very active in all aspect of a national wildlife forensic science field.
Rewards are great in this position and come in the many forms, such as completion of a very difficult case, or assisting with a local investigator. This job is extremely rewarding in that the person in this position works closely with law enforcement and the judicial system to insure that the convicted poacher gets his just reward. This position brings satisfaction when you mentor an undergraduate/graduate student to give them experience in the forensics world.
Job duties of this position include the following: Identifying blood, meat and biological fluids collected in wildlife law enforcement and other biologically oriented cases for the department and other state wildlife agencies. This includes maintaining evidentary chain of custody and storing, inventoring and returning evidentary items and determining family and/or species level identification based on enzymatic and serologic analyses. To determine if an animal is poached often requires determining the gender of submitted samples using genomic DNA and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and performing microsatellite DNA testing of blood, tissue, horn/antlers, bone, feathers and hair for matching and minimum number of animals present for mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk, pronghorn, turkey, moose, bighorn sheep and mountain lion.
One important aspect of the job is to provide training to other laboratory personnel and law enforcement personnel in areas of expertise, including sample submission, analyses and crime scene investigations and travels to testify in court as needed.
Fish Health Program Coordinator
Applicants will be interested in this position because they work very closely with fish health and disease control problems and solutions. This position comes with many responsibilities and expectations in the area of fish health on both a state and national level. The position is very hands-on and includes work in the field as well as in the laboratory.
This job is rewarding because you are working closely with the resources to insure the health of Wyoming’s fish meets preset requirements of the department. Rewards include but are not limited to the knowledge that you are helping to make the waters and fish in Wyoming healthy for the anglers who enjoy fishing our waters. There is also the reward of knowing you have the skills to diagnose the different types of diseases that come through the laboratory.
Job duties of this position include: Planning, coordinating, and executing the fish disease prevention and control program for the department by providing legally mandated veterinary disease inspections for hatcheries, free-ranging broodstocks, quarantine units and private aquaculture facilities. Necessary duties include consulting and advising Fish Division administration, hatchery superintendents and fish culture personnel on fish health concerns and testing results to minimize disease impacts and to prevent the spread of pathogens. While not a major part of the job, an important task provided by this position includes providing all aspects of veterinary diagnostic services for investigating fish disease problems and fish kills at hatcheries and for field operations and performing the appropriate diagnostic tests to determine the cause of fish disease or death and making chemotherapeutic recommendations to hatchery managers.
The person in this position also conducts in-service training to educate hatchery and fish managers about proper fish disease prevention and control strategies. This aspect of the job is important to try and decrease losses in the hatcheries due to treatable disease conditions.
The Fish Health Program Coordinator will represent the interests of the department at national fish health policy meetings and is required to network nationally with other fish health professionals to determine disease status of fish stocks and to establish standardized sampling protocols.
Forensic Analyst
Applicants will be interested in this position because of the dynamic work flow. You can do the forensics work first hand with the guidance of the Forensic Program Coordinator. You have the opportunity to use your schooling, knowledge of forensics and skills first-hand. This position is great for experience in the field of forensic science and introduces you the judicial aspect of the forensic world.
This job is rewarding for numerous reasons. These reasons include learning how to apply forensic techniques to a case, working in a positive, encouraging work environment and watching yourself improve and learn over time.
Job duties for this position include: Independently conducting analysis on blood, meat and biological fluids collected in wildlife law enforcement and other biologically oriented cases for the department and other state wildlife agencies. This includes maintaining evidentiary chain of custody and storing, inventoring and returning evidentiary items. The person in this position will also perform analyses that will determinate family and/or species level identification based on enzymatic and serologic analyses as well as determination of gender of submitted samples using genomic DNA and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). This analyst is expected to independently set up microsatellite DNA testing of blood, tissue, horn/antlers, bone, feathers, and hair for matching and minimum number of animals present for mule deer, white-tailed deer, elk, pronghorn, turkey, moose, bighorn sheep and mountain lion and interpret those results.
Aquatic Animal Health Inspector
Applicants will be interested in this position because they will work directly with the Fish Health Program Manager to learn the areas of fish health and disease. This position will learn to independently process, examine, extract and analyze fish samples. This position requires field work as well as laboratory work, so a person can experience both areas of expertise.
This position is rewarding because you gain the knowledge and experience to conduct fish health inspection throughout Wyoming. You gain experience and confidence in your disease diagnostics with the help of the program manager and mentor.
Job duties for this position include: Processing, examination, extracting and analyzing fish tissues as well as assisting with organizing and conducting fish health inspections at state and private hatcheries and wild brood stock sites in Wyoming. An inspector conducts field sampling and laboratory necropsies of fish and applies standard microbiological techniques including: microscopic examination of tissues; cell culture; virus assays; staining and biochemical testing methods for the identification of pathogenic bacteria; parasite identification; histological specimen preparation; and DNA preparation and testing necessary for the disease certification of fish and gametes.
Position responsibilities include: maintaining inventory and maintenance of laboratory equipment and supplies; directing and training of laboratory technicians, students and field personnel in sampling procedures; writing technical reports, articles and procedures; attending agency activities and meetings; presenting disease information to public and department personnel; assisting with literature reviews; developing and conducting research projects on fish diseases; and frequently traveling to fish culture facilities. Position responsibilities also include recognition of aquatic nuisance species and bringing new DNA procedures on-line for testing confirmation of bacterial, viral or parasitic organisms of interest to the fish health pathologist.