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TWRA recognizes staff and officers with diversity, fisheries and law‑enforcement awards
Summary
The Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission on Feb. 21 recognized TWRA staff and officers with awards for biodiversity, fisheries and law‑enforcement work, including Chris Ogle (biodiversity biologist of the year) and Sergeant Dustin Burke (Wildlife Officer of the Year 2024).
The Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission used its Feb. 21 public meeting to present several employee and lifetime‑achievement awards from TWRA divisions.
Biodiversity recognition: Josh Campbell, representing the biodiversity division, presented Chris Ogle as the agency’s biodiversity Biologist of the Year. Campbell said Ogle’s work spans bog turtles, bats, salamanders, birds and snakes and praised his survey methods, collaboration with other agencies and outreach, including university teaching and hunter‑education instruction.
Wildlife officer recognition: Colonel Dale Grandstaff presented the Tennessee Wildlife Officer of the Year for 2024 to Sergeant Dustin Burke of Region 4, District 41. Grandstaff summarized Burke’s enforcement record, community outreach and leadership, noting his role in helping secure an alcohol ban on a North Cumberland wildlife management area (implemented April 15, 2024) and highlighting arrests, citations, search and rescue assistance and community programs such as ‘shop with a cop.’
Fisheries awards: Fisheries staff recognized Justin Spalding as Fisheries Biologist of the Year for work including reintroducing Southern Appalachian brook trout to several streams and coordinating projects delivering infrastructure and water‑quality improvements. Jessica Matoy of Tellico Hatchery was named Fisheries Technician of the Year; staff credited her for hatchery leadership, training interns, maintaining stocking databases and delivering more than 100,000 trout statewide during a period of construction and logistical challenge. The fisheries division also presented lifetime achievement acknowledgements to Paul Shaw (37 years of service) and Ernie Poor (48 years of service).
Why it matters: The presentations highlight agency scientific, enforcement and hatchery work that supports fisheries restoration, endangered‑species surveys and public outreach. The commission used the public meeting to recognize specific staff accomplishments and to underscore partnerships with agencies including U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service.
What commissioners said: Commissioners applauded the honorees; the director and commission noted how awards reflect years of service, interagency cooperation and community engagement.
