Northeast Regional Fish and Wildlife Health Coordinator

Application Deadline

September 4, 2026

Position Duration

Three years

Introduction

The increasing threat of wildlife-related emerging diseases affecting the health of our valued fish and wildlife resources demonstrates a critical need for Regional Fish and Wildlife Health Coordinators to serve each of the regional fish and wildlife associations (i.e., NEAFWA, Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, Midwest Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, and Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies). These positions serve their respective regional associations and work with the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) to coordinate their efforts regionally and nationally. The coordinator serves as an essential liaison to the fish and wildlife health community, including state, tribal, federal, non-governmental, and university partners.

Overview and Job Duties

• Serve as primary Points of Contact for NEAFWA on matters relating to fish and wildlife health issues, along with NEAFWA’s Fish and Wildlife Health Committee.
• Support NEAFWA’s Fish and Wildlife Health Committee, other NEAFWA committees, and NEAFWA technical committees through staffing and coordination of meetings, agenda development, and supporting collaborative work on cross-committee issues and initiatives.
• Coordinating the response to emerging wildlife health threats.
• Work with and serve as primary Points of Contact for AFWA’s Fish and Wildlife Health Coordinator, support AFWA’s National Fish and Wildlife Health Initiative (NFWHI) and other fish and wildlife health efforts and help inform critical fish and wildlife health management decisions, policies, and actions.
• Encourage and support communications and collaborations among all partners to address emerging fish and wildlife health issues more effectively, including disseminating timely information to all NEAFWA jurisdictions, the FWS, other Federal agencies, and stakeholders through e-mails, listservs, quarterly newsletters, and/or other outlets to ensure coordinated communication.
• Maintain effective relationships and act as a liaison for NEAFWA with state, federal, regional, tribal, territorial, and university fish and wildlife health programs within the NEAFWA region to identify and prioritize short-term and long-term needs and resources related to wildlife disease management, surveillance, education, communication, training, and research.
• Work closely with state and tribal fish and wildlife health personnel within the NEAFWA region to assist with and coordinate the identification, planning, writing, and submission of multi-agency grant applications for fish and wildlife health funding.
• Develop strategies to meet the fish and wildlife health needs of the individual NEAFWA member agencies (e.g., identify the availability of diagnostic laboratory support, skilled personnel, training needs, outstanding research questions to improve disease management, etc.) and provide guidance on where appropriate necropsy and diagnostic centers exist or are needed.
• Retain a repository of various disease management and response plans within the Northeast to assist with future plan development and regional coordination of these efforts.
• Provide technical assistance to NEAFWA states in the development and updating of wildlife disease surveillance strategies and the preparation of appropriate wildlife disease management plans.
• Assist in the development and update of available spatial databases that NEAFWA states can use to document emerging disease issues at regional and national scales.
• Coordinate with NEAFWA states and Federal agencies to develop regional strategies for preventing, detecting, managing, and potentially eradicating diseases to minimize impacts to wildlife, livestock, and people.

Minimum Qualifications

• This position requires a Ph.D. or DVM with evidence of expertise in fish and/or wildlife health and/or disease management. Candidates with one or more years of related work experience are encouraged to apply. Other combinations of education and experience will be evaluated on an individual basis.
• The applicant should have in-depth experience working with North American wildlife management agencies.

Selection Criteria

• Knowledge of and demonstrated experience in wildlife management and wildlife disease management principles and methodologies, pathology, diagnostic testing, principles, and research methodologies for disease investigations with population level impacts.
• Extent of experience working with free-ranging wildlife populations and issues related to their health.
• Relevance of experience in facilitating collaborations amongst individuals from multiple organizations, government bodies, non-governmental organizations, universities and national programs related to fish and wildlife health programs.
• Quality of both oral and written communication skills on technical issues.
• Demonstrated ability to develop/design/administer grant proposals, manage and coordinate multi-state projects, track budgets, monitor progress, and review and approve final reports at the completion of projects.
• Demonstrated ability to be an effective decision maker and negotiator, with proficiency in conflict resolution.

Deliverables

• Provide detailed documentation of the achievements resulting from this position to the FWS Wildlife Health office, Northeast FWS regional programs and NEAFWA.
• Support the NEAFWA Fish and Wildlife Health Committee and maintain a broader regional network of fish and wildlife health practitioners.
• Maintain communication plans, multi-jurisdictional management plans, and structured information sharing mechanisms.
• Provide, support, and/or arrange shared, multi-agency fish and wildlife health training.
• With partners including FWS, support NEAFWA states as they make progress toward addressing capacity issues related to fish and wildlife health programs.
• Develop and coordinate management practices for addressing wildlife health issues across jurisdictions.
• In collaboration with the NEAFWA Fish and Wildlife Health Committee, prepare and coordinate document development involving comments, responses, resolutions, and position statements regarding proposed federal rules, regulations, and legislation dealing with fish and wildlife health issues or other actions for consideration by the NEAFWA President and NEAFWA Executive Secretary, when appropriate.

Application Procedures

Email applications are preferred. To apply via email, send a cover letter outlining your interest and qualifications and a resume to:

Gordon R. Batcheller, Executive Secretary
Northeast Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies, Inc.
Gordon.batcheller@neafwa.org
518-650-5442 (text/mobile)

Applications via mail are accepted and must be received before the application deadline of September 4, 2026, to be considered. Mail applications should be sent to: 

Gordon R. Batcheller
Northeast Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies, Inc.
250 Rabbit College Road
Petersburgh, NY 12138