CHUCK ANDERSON JOINS COUGAR NETWORK BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Cougar Network News, 8/20/07
The Cougar Network announced today that veteran cougar researcher Chuck Anderson has joined its Board of Directors. Director Harley Shaw stated, "We are extremely pleased that Chuck has agreed to join the Board. I cannot think of anyone better-suited to help guide the organization. The son of Chuck Anderson Sr., a highly respected outfitter and cougar houndsman, he literally grew up with cougars and has a depth of knowledge at the practical level that most of us had to learn after we became involved with the species. Over the past two decades, Chuck has worked with three different western state wildlife agencies, so he brings to The Cougar Network a unique understanding of cougar management practices. He also has a firm grasp of the difficulties inherent to cougar politics. Add to that his academic work, and you have a combination of credentials that are very hard to find."
Chuck Anderson received his B.S. in Wildlife Biology from Colorado State University in 1990 and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Zoology and Physiology from the University of Wyoming in 1994 and 2003, respectively. During his Master's work, he developed and evaluated helicopter sightability models to estimate moose and elk population parameters. Dr. Anderson's dissertation research involved a number of projects, which included: (1) evaluation of cougar prey selection and predation rates from GPS collar locations, (2) evaluation of helicopter probability sampling to estimate cougar population size, (3) monitoring cougar population trends from changes in sex/age structure of harvests, and (4) cougar population genetics in the central Rocky Mountains. He worked as a seasonal employee for the Colorado Division of Wildlife from 1988 to 1990. During this time, his seasonal projects addressed vegetation sampling elk winter range, elk-cattle competition, bighorn sheep reproduction/survival, and investigating lynx presence in Colorado.
Dr. Anderson was a Large Carnivore Biologist for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department from 1994 to 1997 and from 2004 to 2006, where he directed research evaluating grizzly bear-cattle interactions and application of DNA-based mark-recapture methods for estimating black and grizzly bear populations. Additionally, he analyzed annual harvest data and prepared annual management recommendations for cougar and black bear populations. During 2003 and 2004, Dr. Anderson was a Research Biologist with Arizona Game and Fish Department, where he investigated pronghorn migration patterns and a disease outbreak in desert bighorn sheep. Since December 2006, he has worked in the Mammals Research Section for the Colorado Division of Wildlife. In this capacity, he has focused on ungulate research and is developing a landscape scale research project to address mitigation methods and development practices that benefit mule deer populations in areas experiencing extensive energy development. His professional interests focus on large mammal ecology and management (emphasizing population estimation techniques, population dynamics, and genetics).