Image
Dennis Jorgensen is the first World Wildlife Fund-US (WWF-US) program officer to be based within the Northern Great Plains Ecoregion. WWF-US has placed the Northern Great Plains on its list of 19 priority places on Earth whose conservation would help save the planet’s broad diversity of ecosystems and its focal 15 network initiatives that constitute the primary focus of all of WWF-US’s current conservation efforts. Dennis is originally from Calgary, Alberta, Canada where he completed undergraduate work in Ecology and Anthropology at the University of Calgary. He then worked as a consulting wildlife biologist for government and industry for three years.
Dennis conducted his Masters thesis on the effects of human activities on the migrations of prairie rattlesnakes in southeastern Alberta. To date his rattlesnake research has resulted in the publication of a book chapter and a peer reviewed note with additional manuscripts in preparation. Dennis has also served as a rattlesnake safety consultant for government and industry, preparing a rattlesnake awareness and safety video that is used extensively in Alberta. His work has taken him to the tundra of the Northwest Territories as well as the Boreal forest, and the prairies of Alberta and Montana. In partnership with state and federal agencies, Fort Belknap and Rocky Boy Indian Reservations, local landowners and the American Prairie Foundation, Dennis is currently participating in projects involving a broad array of species including bison, prairie dogs, pronghorn antelope and mountain lions.