Kwami Pennick
Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission

 

Bachelor of Science, 1999
Major: Wildlife Ecology and Conservation

 

My time spent at UF was exciting! I gained a greater appreciation of Florida's many ecosystems and the conservation issues that face them. The WEC program is flexible enough to allow students to follow their interests and still come out well rounded. By the time I graduated I had taken classes in GIS, Forestry, Conservation Biology, Wildlife Management, and Landscape Ecology, to name a few...and gained valuable field experience. My education from UF has allowed me to apply education to many pursuits. I have led ecological tours for children, conducted baseline ecological studies on newly acquired state lands, managed Red-Cockaded Woodpecker populations on a state forest, and conducted studies of environmental awareness in Florida.

 

Currently I am a Wildlife Biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. This job entails a great variety of activities. Within our fourteen county region, I provide technical assistance to the public on issues or questions relating to non-game species, issue take permits for protected species, as well as participate in multiple statewide research projects. Two of the current projects are a study monitoring dispersal and habitat use of great egrets with satellite transmitters and studies of the reproduction of kestrels in nest boxes. These studies will provide valuable information to better understand and manage for these species.

My advice to current and prospective WEC students... "Never pass up an opportunity to use what you have learned and to learn something new!"

 

Kwami Pennick
FL Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Assistant Regional Biologist
Bureau of Wildlife Diversity Conservation
Northeast Region
1239 10th St. Ocala, FL 34474
352/732-1225
pennick@fwc.state.fl.us