(MISSOULA) – The University of Montana recently named Nicole Tatman the inaugural director of the new Center for Hunting and Conservation. The center builds on an existing partnership between UM’s top-ranked Wildlife Biology Program and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.
Tatman has spent the last decade as the big game program manager for the New Mexico Department of Game & Fish, where she oversaw the management and research of elk, pronghorn, bighorn sheep and other game species. She has spent 1,700 hours in small planes and helicopters conducting aerial surveys for wildlife. She facilitated regular hunter-engagement meetings across the state to communicate harvest recommendations, research outcomes and management changes to the hunting community.
“Dr. Tatman’s leadership will strengthen our ability to produce the kind of rigorous, relevant science that hunters, managers and policymakers depend on,” said Libby Metcalf, dean of the W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation. UM and RMEF established the Center for Hunting and Conservation in May 2025.
