 Wildlife habitat is where an animal needs to live to get all of its food, water, shelter needs met so it can grow and reproduce. One of the issues is that habitat loss and fragmentation is a serious threat to wildlife, not just in Alabama, but around the world. In terms of biodiversity, Alabama ranks fourth in the country. If we just consider states east of the Mississippi, though, it ranks first. So then when we break it down a little bit more, talking about freshwater turtles, fishes, mussels, snails, and crayfish, it's actually first in the entire country. So there are two reasons for that. One is the diverse geologic history of the state, so we have many different habitats here in Alabama, and besides that are all the aquatic resources. So if you think about the species that I mentioned, many of those live in water. And it's to the point where some people call Alabama America's Amazon. Conservation science allows us to better sustain our wildlife because it really provides that road map as to how we should manage it, whether it be something like the red-hell salamander, which you can't find anywhere except a tiny portion of the state, or things like white-tailed deer or turkey. Not all land is created equal, so some land will have higher conservation value, and by using that science and doing that research, we can determine where. But also for people that like to hunt, you know, game species, they need to be studied. We need to know how many we can take from the population. So the state can set bag limits and set seasons and allow us to go enjoy the outdoors. It's important to conserve and protect wildlife habitat for a couple reasons. One is that we have incredible biodiversity. We have species that are found in Alabama that you can't find anywhere else in the world. Another reason is to keep common species common. So it's hard to think of an Alabama where deer didn't used to exist on the landscape, but that was the case about 100 years ago. There's so many ways that farmers and just the general public can help manage wildlife habitat on their lands. If you have the chance, getting some fire back on the landscape through prescribed burns is a great way. If you're planting trees or shrubs, go native. If there are aquatic resources on the land, remember there's so much aquatic biodiversity here. So instituting some best management practices or BMPs that prevent erosion and other contaminants from getting into the water is a great way. So planting things like trees and shrubs to stabilize the bank, that not only benefits the aquatic habitat, but it also provides a corridor for terrestrial wildlife to travel along. The future of wildlife and the management of wildlife habitat, it's looking bright in Alabama. It's looking much better than it did even 20, 30 years ago. A huge part of that has to deal with education. So education is crucial until somebody understands something. They're not going to care about it, let alone try and protect it. I grew up spending a lot of time outside. I was fascinated by the creepy crawlies, so the snakes, the turtles, spiders, things like that. But as I got older, I started studying biology and went to college for biology. But after that, I realized I could just spend the rest of my career in wildlife sciences working with the animals that I love so much. But as I got older, I also started to care a lot about the public, about people, and about how we related to the environment. So by staying in wildlife sciences, getting involved with extension, I still get to work with those animals that I love so much, but I also get to work with people, and that's been super rewarding.