Dr. David Dahlgren

Biography

My professional pursuits focus on providing science-based information concerning wildlife habitat conservation and management on working landscapes and western ecosystems. My role is a faculty member in the Department of Wildland Resources and an Extension specialist where I am fortunate to interact with our many stakeholders, from local to statewide and national communities. As part of my Extension programming, members of my lab and I conduct applied research often focused on avian species such as native grouse, other galliforms, songbirds, corvids, and wetland birds. Our research helps support better conservation and management of these species and their rangeland habitat and related systems. After working for a state wildlife agency (i.e., Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks), I appreciate the need for applied research to inform decision making by managers and policy makers. I am particularly interested in the interaction of livestock grazing and wildlife and finding compatibility on working lands that support our rural local communities and provide critical ecosystem services. I believe our society has an abiding need to better understand that sustaining life, including our own, ultimately depends on healthy ecosystems. I particularly enjoy working with local producers, private landowners, and state and federal agency managers. I strongly feel that cooperation with local people working on the ground and integration with state and national conservation efforts is key to the future conservation of wildlife on both public and private working lands. I see the role of hunting in conservation as foundational and the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation as our endowed American inheritance that can support us as we evolve to meet the future challenges of all our wildlife resources.