Before moving here, Kris Inman had never been to Alaska. But when the supervisory biologist position opened up at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge …
“Well, I saw the job announcement and thought, ‘What a fantastic job,'" she said.
Inman joins the refuge staff by way of Montana, where she worked for the nonprofit Wildlife Conservation Society. She’s replacing John Morton, who was supervisory biologist at the refuge for almost two decades.
"Wildlife biologists collect information about species and their habitats," she said. "And then they take that information and make it actionable by partnering with decision makers.”
There are some differences in the wildlife Inman studied in Montana and the species she’ll study here. To state the obvious, there’s no marine life in Montana.
“But you know there’s actually quite a number of similarities," she said. "I studied wolverines in Montana and wolverines are here and are little studied. I also was working on a beaver research project before coming here.”
Inman has a bachelor’s degree in wildlife management and a master’s in wildlife ecology. She grew up in Maine.
“One of the things that’s interesting to me and why I came here is that the issues are the same in a lot of places where we come from," she said. "But in a place like the Kenai, it’s something that we are uniquely positioned to do something about. And so those changes are climate change and more and more people in the landscape. That’s especially true with COVID-19 and people rethinking things and knowing that we get our sense of well-being from being outdoors, and that’s really important."
Inman’s husband and three kids haven’t joined her in Alaska yet. But she said they’re excited to come up soon.
"They have a good sense of adventure," Inman said.
She said she’s looking forward to exploring the refuge as a recreationist, too. Recreating, she said, is partly what got her into wildlife in the first place.
