Clay Brewer
Former Desert Bighorn Sheep Program Leader for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Clay Brewer has served in various capacities for nearly 4 decades as a wildlife professional including: President and CEO of Western Conservation Professionals, LLC (2024-2025), Conservation Director (western US and Mexico) for the Wild Sheep Foundation (2016-2022), Wild Sheep Working Group Chair (2011-2016) for the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, TPWD’s state-wide Bighorn Sheep, Mule Deer, and Pronghorn Program Leader (1997-2006), Desert Bighorn Council Technical Staff Chair/member (2003-2023). Clay also served as interim TPWD Wildlife Division Director (2008-2009).
Known for his efforts in restoring desert bighorns to historic levels in Texas, Clay provided important strategic direction and leadership in improving landowner relations and working with multiple stakeholders to achieve common restoration and management goals.
Clay received a Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Management from Oklahoma State University and a Master of Science degree in Range and Wildlife from Sul Ross State University. Clay and his wife of 42 years, Helen have raised 3 successful daughters and currently reside in Placid, Texas.
Kai Buckert
General Manager of Wexford Ranches
Kai Buckert is a multigenerational ranch manager of Wexford Ranches, which comprise 7 ranches in 7 counties across south and west Texas. Although based in Victoria, Texas, Kai has a special affinity to the Lado Ranch where the Van Horn Mountains serve as desert bighorn sheep habitat. Kai serves on several conservation organizations and has been a member of the Bighorn Sheep Advisory Committee for over 10 years.
Walter Cook, DVM, PhD, DACVPM
Clinical Associate Professor, Veterinary Pathobiology, Texas A&M University
Since graduating from Veterinary School, Dr. Walter Cook has exclusively researched and managed diseases of wildlife and/or livestock.
His PhD focused on the epizootiology of brucellosis in elk. Working with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department he continued researching and managing brucellosis in elk, Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in deer and elk, and pneumonia in bighorn sheep. When he worked with the Wyoming Livestock Board, his focus was on brucellosis and preventing transmission from elk to cattle and managing the disease if transmission did occur. Dr. Cook also prevented and controlled scrapie (a disease related to CWD) in domestic sheep and managed domestic sheep to prevent transmission of pneumonia to bighorn sheep. At the University of Wyoming, he led a team tasked with training fellows from 3 east African nations about brucellosis prevention and control in wildlife and livestock.
Now at Texas A&M, Dr. Cook teaches about wildlife diseases, management and capture. His research focuses on development of prevention strategies of wildlife diseases (e.g. anthrax), evaluating risk of disease transmission (e.g. pneumonia from exotic species to native bighorn sheep), and drugs used for chemical immobilization.
He also provides services to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and private wildlife producers. Most of this is capture-related and/or related to CWD management.
In addition, he assists in teaching a course in which he takes students to South Africa and Botswana to learn about wildlife capture and management in those countries. This has also developed into collaboration with wildlife veterinarians there.
In the U.S. Army Reserved he has conducted veterinary and food safety/security missions and training in Colorado, Wyoming, Texas, California, Wisconsin, Belize, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.
Frances Cassirer
Senior Wildlife Biologist, Idaho Fish and Game
Frances Cassirer is a wildlife research biologist for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game who has been studying disease in wild sheep for 29 years as part of a collaborative effort to restore bighorn sheep to Hells Canyon of the Snake River of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Her collaborative research across agencies and with universities has provided a better understanding of the causes of pneumonia outbreaks and disease persistence in free-ranging bighorn sheep populations. Frances was named the 2022 recipient of the Wild Sheep Foundation’s Statesman Award.
Mike Cox
Statewide Bighorn and Mountain Goat Staff Biologist, Nevada Department of Wildlife
Mike Cox is currently the Statewide Bighorn/Mountain Goat Staff Biologist for the Nevada Department of Wildlife and Wild Sheep Initiative Member.
- Born and raised in South Dakota
- B.S. Wildlife & Fisheries Science @ South Dakota State University 1986
- M.S. Wildlife Biology @ Iowa State University 1989
- Data Analyst Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation – 1989
- Scientist working in Mojave Desert conducting studies of all wildlife 1989 – 1993
- Regional Supervising Game Biologist for southern Nevada, Nevada Department of Wildlife 1993-1999
- Statewide Big Game Biologist (mule deer, elk, pronghorn, bighorn, & mountain goat) 1999 – present; since 2017 just responsible for bighorn sheep & mountain goat management
- Member of WAFWA’s Mule Deer Working Group – 1999 – 2009
- Founding member of WAFWA’s Wild Sheep Working Group since 2017; WSWG Chair from 2016 – 2022; initiated the Disease Management Venture (DMV) with small group of us in 2014 to focus on learning and finding solutions to pneumonia outbreaks in bighorn sheep
- Planned, coordinated, fundraised, and participated in the capture and translocation of almost 2,000 bighorn sheep and mountain goats to Nevada; and directed the translocation of almost 600 bighorn sheep to other states
- Likely handled almost 4,000 bighorn sheep on netgun and dropnet captures.
- Passions: Backcountry skiing, backpacking, hunting, fishing, birdwatching, white-water kayaking, mountain biking, proper management of feral horses on public lands, and bighorn sheep conservation
Jose Etchart
Senior Wildlife Biologist, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
A native of EL Paso, Texas, Jose Etchart has always been around livestock, horses, and ranching. While working on his BS in Animal Science at Sul Ross State University, Jose was a wildlife technician for the Borderlands Research Institute. He then enrolled in the MS program in Range and Wildlife Management at SRSU, where he studied aoudad-bighorn sheep interactions in the Sierra Vija Mountains. He began work for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in 2014 as a seasonal wildlife technician. In 2016, Jose was hired as a full-time regulatory biologist serving El Paso, Culberson and Hudspeth counties for far West Texas. Jose currently serves as Senior Wildlife Biologist for the Trans-Pecos Region.
Justin French, Ph.D.
Big Game Specialist and Assistant Professor, Borderlands Research Institute, Sul Ross State University
Justin’s research focuses on the spatial ecology of pronghorn, mule deer, and bighorn sheep in the Trans-Pecos in order to bolster ongoing restoration efforts for all three species. Prior to his position with BRI, he graduated in 2012 with a BS in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences from Texas A&M University. During his undergraduate career, Justin was employed by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, where he began his research career evaluating field methods for vegetation sampling. He earned his MS degree from Sul Ross State University in Range and Wildlife Management in 2015, studying pronghorn foraging ecology. He completed his PhD in Wildlife and Fisheries Science from Texas A&M University in 2019 studying coyote movement ecology, linking their territorial behavior to population dynamics. At BRI, his research program seeks to link basic science with practical application in order to develop more robust management strategies. He has a strong interest in movement and population ecology, statistical methods, and applied wildlife management.
Froylan Hernandez
Desert Bighorn Sheep Program Leader, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Froylan Hernandez grew up on a ranch near Brackettville, where his father was a ranch foreman. Right out of high school, he joined the Marine Corps and served his country from 1986 to 1990. After his discharge, he returned to ranch work but then pursued a BS in Wildlife Science from Texas A&M University, which he completed in 1999. After finishing his MS in Range and Wildlife Management from Sul Ross State University in 2005, he was hired by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department as Assistant Area Manager of Elephant Mountain Wildlife Management Area. In 2010, he was selected as Desert Bighorn Sheep Program Leader for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and has served in that role ever since. Through his leadership, the desert bighorn sheep program has seen many successes in restoration and management.
Hollie Miyasaki
Wildlife Staff Biologist, Idaho Department of Fish and Game
Hollie Miyasaki earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the College of Idaho in 1993. She then successfully completed a Master of Science program in Wildlife Resources at the University of Idaho in 2001. Hollie started working for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game in 1998. Since then she has worked with a variety of species including mountain goats, bighorn sheep, mule deer, elk, moose, pronghorn, mountain lions, black bears, grizzly bears, and three species of grouse. She was a member of the statewide capture and survey teams which meant she spent a considerable amount of time in helicopters catching and counting animals. Hollie has been in her current position at Idaho Department of Fish and Game since 2014. She oversees statewide management of bighorn sheep, mountain goats, moose, and pronghorn.
When Hollie is not working, she loves spending time with her family. Some of the activities she enjoys include fishing, hunting, playing soccer, mountain bike riding, and hiking. She also enjoys traveling in the United States and abroad.
Rusty Robinson
Species Coordinator and Wildlife Program Manager, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
Rusty Robinson grew up in central Arkansas where he gained a love for wildlife and the outdoors. After attending BYU-Idaho and graduating with a B.S. in Biology, he earned a Master’s Degree in Wildlife and Wildlands Conservation from BYU, where he conducted polar bear research in the southern Beaufort Sea. He then left the freezer and jumped into the oven, studying desert bighorn sheep in the San Rafael Desert of Utah for his Ph.D. fieldwork. He has worked for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources since 2015 as a bighorn and mountain goat biologist, district biologist, regional wildlife manager, and currently the 0nce-in-a-lifetime Species Coordinator, overseeing the bighorn, mountain goat, bison, and moose programs at a statewide level. He loves hunting and fishing and sharing the outdoors with his three kids and wonderful wife of 17 years.
Allen W. Smith
Member of Borderlands Research Institute’s Advisory Board and Lifetime Member of the Texas Bighorn Sheep Society
Born and raised in Austin, Texas, Allen W. Smith found his love for wildlife and the outdoors at a young age, learning from experience on his family’s ranches across the state. After graduating from St. Edward’s University with a Bachelor of Business Administration, Allen worked as a petroleum marketer for Triple S Petroleum Company in Austin for 17 years before starting his own fleet card company, Texas Fleet Fuels, in 2006.
Allen is a lifetime member of the Texas Bighorn Sheep Society and recently completed the Grand Slam of North American Wild Sheep in 2018. Also, he is currently a member of Borderlands Research Institute’s Advisory Board and the TPWD Bighorn Sheep Advisory Committee. He brings in personal knowledge bighorn sheep from his family’s property, Reagan Canyon Ranch, in south Brewster County, Texas.
Allen’s uncle, Harvey Smith Jr., was one of the early supporters of the desert bighorn sheep restoration in Texas. Allen, along with his family, works diligently to maintain the habitat on their ranch in south Brewster County for the benefit of the desert bighorn sheep population.
Peregrine (Peri) Wolff, DVM
Executive Manager, Wildlife Disease Association
Peregrine (Peri) Wolff has worked with captive and free-ranging wildlife throughout her 40-year veterinary career. After receiving her DVM from Cornell University, she has worked as a wildlife veterinarian in private practice, for city, state and corporate-owned zoological gardens as well as state fish and wildlife agencies. Since 2019, Peri has held the position of executive manager of the Wildlife Disease Association, an international wildlife health and conservation organization.
During her 13 years as a veterinarian for both the Oregon and Nevada fish and wildlife agencies, she was heavily involved with bighorn sheep disease investigation programs as well as trap and transplant and test and remove efforts.
She served on the board of the Wild Sheep Foundation for eight years and as chair of the board for two. She remains active as co-chair of the Conservation Committee and Disease lead for North American Sheep.
When away from her computer, she is outdoors walking her dogs, bird watching or planning another adventure.