USFWS Chelsea McKinney, -ScienceWoman (16532442259)

March is Women’s History month, and we want to highlight some of the amazing women here at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on our social media sites.
Name: Chelsea McKinney
Title: Biologist
Duty station: National Conservation Training Center
Where did you go to school: University of Maine for BS, and Minnesota State University for MS
What did you study: Wildlife Ecology for undergrad and Experiential Education for grad
How did you get interested in conservation? My interest for conservation started through the Student Conservation Association in high school. After being in the back country for 6 weeks in the San Bernardino mountains and the high sierra Nevada’s doing trail maintenance, I would have gladly traded that very first shower in six weeks to be right back in the woods again! There was no wondering what my career would be after that. I knew!
What’s your favorite thing about working for FWS? My favorite thing about the Fish and Wildlife Service is that I believe in the mission whole-heartedly. I know the work I do makes a difference. It takes special people to work here, and honestly, I don’t know of better people I would want to work with.

What’s your favorite species and why? My favorite species are probably terns, in part, because it was the very first species I worked with in the Service. My first internship was on Metinic Island, 12 miles off the coast of Rockland, Maine studying the Roseate, Arctic, and Common Tern. I remember calling my mom from the bird blind telling her my counts for the morning, watching “my” eggs hatch as I identified fish being fed to the chicks for productivity data, and whispering “I can’t believe they’re actually paying me to do this!”