Kelsey Brasseur, fresh from the Alaskan research fields, has signed on to coordinate the FSPW rare carnivore study for the 2011-12 winter season. Working with Idaho Department of Fish and Game and partner Idaho Conservation League, Brasseur will coordinate volunteers and help track data from bait stations around northern Idaho and western Montana.
“I’m thrilled to be on board with FSPW and this project,” Brasseur says, “and looking forward to meeting the FSPW volunteer corps as well as getting to know the community and the wild spots around it.”
A recent transplant to Sandpoint, ID, Brasseur hails from the south shore of Lake Superior, where she received her BS in Biology from Northland College in 2009. During her undergraduate studies she served as the campus’ Community Garden Coordinator as well as the Food Systems Educator and Outreach Coordinator. Following graduation, she worked with the University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension Service as the Research Specialist for the Hazelnut Improvement Program. Her love of wild places and the creatures that call them home eventually led her to wildlife studies. As a Research Technician for Oregon State University in 2011, Brasseur studied the breeding population of Kittlitz’s murrelets in Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. After three months observing seabirds in the backcountry of Glacier Bay, her passions for both wildlife and wilderness were cemented.
An avid outdoors woman and climber, Brasseur spends most of her free time scaling rock faces from the deserts of Utah and Nevada to the Red River Gorge of Kentucky. Thanks to a dedicated partner, recent adventures have included Mt. Gimli in the Valhalla Range of British Columbia and Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park. She is thrilled to have settled in a place with such a rich diversity of recreational opportunities, and looks forward to exploring the vast ranges of the Idaho Panhandle as well as continuing her education in Telemark skiing.
“I knew we had found the right woman for the job when I found out that a lot of the fun-hog community already knew her,” said FSPW program coordinator Sandy Compton. “We had a horrible time making up our minds from a whole slew of great applicants, but we’re really pleased that Kelsey has taken the job.”
Brasseur began work on November 21, and will work through the spring on the project. Friends will be able to put a face to the name on Monday, November 28th at the FSPW Sip-and-Shop at the Pend Oreille Winery (4:30 to 8:30 pm) or at the volunteer training on December 3rd. More about the training day will be announced soon.
