Wisconsin Ag Connection - UW-Stevens Point CNR Dean Reappointed to State DNR Board

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UW-Stevens Point CNR Dean Reappointed to State DNR Board
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 11/04/2009

The dean of the College of Natural Resources at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point has been reappointed by Governor Doyle and unanimously confirmed by the State Senate for a second six-year term on state DNR Board. Christine Thomas served as chairperson of the panel for much of her first term, and says she is honored to be reappointed. The seven-member NRB board directs and supervises the department and acts as a formal point of contact for Wisconsin's citizens.

"My fellow NRB board members are all passionate and committed public servants and I look forward to working with them to continue Wisconsin's wonderful conservation legacy," said Thomas, who also works as a professional member of the Boone and Crockett Club and deputy chair of its Conservation and Education Committee.

Dean Thomas was the first female tenured professor in UWSP's College of Natural Resources. She is also the first woman to head the college, having served as associate dean of the CNR from 1999 until 2005 when she was named dean. Thomas founded Becoming an Outdoors Woman, an organization to promote women in the outdoors, with chapters throughout much of the United States and parts of Canada. From 1980 to 1988 she served as assistant to Dean Emeritus Daniel Trainer.

A former member of the board and past vice chair of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Thomas also serves on one committee of the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. She has won numerous national and state honors, including the National Wildlife Federation Conservation Achievement Award and Budweiser Outdoorsman of the Year. The Wisconsin Outdoor Journal named her one of the ten most influential conservationists in Wisconsin in the 20th century.

In 2006 she was named a distinguished alumna of her alma mater, Central Michigan University. Upon receiving her bachelor's degree, Thomas went on to earn a Master of Science degree in water resources from UWSP and a doctorate in land resources from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

She resides in Plover with her husband, Stan.