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Brenna Cassidy feels a kinship with the gray wolves which were translocated to Colorado. She is only a few months into her newly-created position with Colorado Parks and Wildlife as the Wolf Monitoring and Data Coordinator and she’s still learning her new state.
“It’s an exciting way to be introduced to Colorado. It’s kind of interesting to also be the new person coming with my background in the Northern Rockies and coming at the same time as the wolves. I get to look at it with their lens and go through the Colorado reintroduction at the same time,” said Cassidy.
While most new jobs start slowly with getting to know new coworkers and easing into an unknown role, it’s been the opposite experience for Cassidy.
“A good whirlwind,” she described. “I haven’t had a single moment of twiddling my thumbs. I have had to jump in at such an exciting and busy time. I’ve been immersed in this translocation effort.”
Her position, a first for CPW, will focus on analyzing and interpreting the data from the wolves’ movements and pack numbers. At first, the job will be aided by telemetry collars placed on the wolves during the translocation process, but once the wolves begin natural reproduction after a few years in the wild, the data will be harder to come by as the new pups will most likely not be equipped with those collars. That’s when Cassidy expects her job to become harder and more interesting.
Cassidy will closely monitor data from surrounding wolves to see who is forming a pack with who, which wolves are mating and denning together, their movements across Colorado and overall health of the species. The data gleaned and analyzed from the collars and packs will inform wildlife decisions, health management and overall success in the reintroduction process. It’s an enormous, unique effort she is ready to build from the ground up within the Species Conservation Unit, part of a priority by CPW to increase support and research for the section which will work with the wolves.
“My career mentors have been telling me incredible stories for the last 15 years about wolf reintroduction efforts in Yellowstone National Park. I’ve wanted to be a part of that. When this opportunity with CPW came up, there was no way I wasn’t going to apply for it.”
Wolves have been a part of her life for many years, starting with a technical project at Yellowstone in 2009 during her undergraduate studies at the University of Wisconsin Stevens-Point. After graduation, Cassidy returned to the national park full-time and lived on park property to monitor wolf activity there.
“When I was living in the park, I would start my days early and walk out the door to hear wolf howls. I would think ‘ok my day has started.’”
While in Yellowstone, Cassidy became increasingly curious about the inner workings of wolf populations, which led her to graduate school at the University of Montana. Her PhD thesis focuses on what drives wolf populations, and the gritty details of survival and reproduction of wolves in Yellowstone with Dr. Mark Hebblewhite.
“Studying a social species is so fascinating. Watching a wolf pack cooperate to raise litters of pups and be able to quantify how successful they are is an incredible experience, and such a treat as a scientist.”
She is excited to bring that knowledge and experience to a different landscape to study how wolf behavior may differ in Colorado.
“We’re going to be combining a lot of what other places have done and see what works best for us. We have a really large state. Because they are a social species, packs look different all over the US and world. I’m excited to see what that looks like in Colorado.”
One part of Colorado she is looking forward to exploring on her own is the Western Slope. The wilder, frontier areas of the state remind her of home.
“I grew up in a tiny, tiny farming community in the Midwest, about 1,000 people. The ranch living, small town felt familiar to me. I want to get to the Western Slope more because it feels like the place where I grew up.”
Even time zones apart, Cassidy sees the similarities between the Midwest and West in their values and spotlight on natural resources. The emphasis on wisely using the land was instilled in her at an early age, which she credits with sparking her lifelong passion for wildlife ecology. Going on those early morning hunts with her dad, having to stay quiet and very still for long periods of time not to spook their harvests gave her valuable wildlife viewing skills in the wilderness.
Her life outside of fieldwork is anything but still and quiet.
“My brain doesn’t shut off at 5 p.m.”
Cassidy describes herself as someone with a lot of hobbies. She enjoys pottery and the arts as a tool to see the science side of the creative world. She’s taken up mountain biking, as many do when they move to Colorado, and modestly says she is an “adequate” outdoor recreationalist. Cassidy can’t wait to spend more time in state parks. She has already been impressed with the beauty of State Forest and Lory in her few months here.
Most of her personal time surrounds Indy, her nine-year-old cattle mix rescue dog. Named after famed explorer and professor Indiana Jones, he also boasts a degree in “barkeology.” Cassidy defers to Indy on the majority of choices on how to spend their outdoor time.
With the biggest challenges in her job ahead, Cassidy considers herself lucky to pioneer this path within CPW and is looking forward to the opportunity to learn from the new wolf arrivals.
“If there’s anything I know about wolves is that they’ll surprise you, which makes things pretty exciting. Their lives are changing a lot and I feel the same way. My experience has been positive and I don’t foresee that changing. I have the same hope for them in Colorado.”
Written by Kara Van Hoose. Kara is the Northeast Region Public Information Officer for Colorado Parks and Wildlife.