TIMOTHY DAVID WILLIS
Madison
Summary
Highly interested in the Managing Director of Conservation Programs position in Ridgeland, MS. Offers unique qualifications and firsthand knowledge of challenges and opportunities within Ducks Unlimited's conservation footprint. Currently serves as the Director of Conservation Programs, cultivating strong relationships with counterparts in Development, Grass Roots, and Policy. Familiarity with specific duties required for this position ensures a smooth transition. Excited to contribute leadership skills to the Ducks Unlimited Southern Region Conservation Team.
Overview
25
25
years of professional experience
Work History
Director of Conservation Programs
Ducks Unlimited
08.2022 - Current
- Implemented strategic initiatives for enhanced market positioning.
- Implemented performance metrics for consistent evaluation and improvement.
- Cultivated high-performing teams by implementing leadership development programs.
- Engaged teams in change processes to minimize resistance and promote acceptance.
- Developed high-performing teams by providing mentorship, guidance, and opportunities for professional growth.
- Enhanced team collaboration through regular communication, goal setting, and performance evaluations.
- Managed budgets effectively to ensure optimal use of resources while maintaining financial stability.
- Implemented innovative solutions to solve complex problems, resulting in increased productivity and streamlined operations.
- Proactively identified potential risks and implemented mitigation strategies to minimize negative impacts on projects or business operations.
Manager of Conservation Programs
Ducks Unlimited
12.2014 - 08.2022
- Managed budgets for various departmental initiatives.
- Coordinated recruitment efforts to attract top talent.
- Streamlined communication processes to foster transparency among departments.
- Conducted performance evaluations to identify areas for employee growth.
- Managed and motivated employees to be productive and engaged in work.
- Accomplished multiple tasks within established timeframes.
- Resolved staff member conflicts, actively listening to concerns and finding appropriate middle ground.
- Maximized performance by monitoring daily activities and mentoring team members.
- Controlled costs to keep business operating within budget and increase profits.
- Built high-performing teams through effective recruitment, onboarding, and talent development initiatives.
- Managed budgets effectively, ensuring optimal financial performance while investing in necessary resources for business growth.
Manager of Land Protection
Ducks Unlimited, Inc.
10.2013 - 12.2014
- I provide program oversight for DU’s Lands Program throughout the MAV
- Duties include maintaining our existing conservation easement portfolio and approving appropriate management requests on our easements
- Focusing on the future of our Lands Program consumes a large portion of my time as well
- I work with our Planning staff to identify priority tracts of land within our Land Protection Priority Area and plan to proactively engage select landowners to discuss our Lands Program
- Working with the GIS staff reviewing easement boundaries and ensuring that our maps and files are accurate is also a very important part of my job
- I supervise a Regional Biologist that is responsible for all of the monitoring and reporting on our easements throughout the MAV
- We also have easements in Oklahoma and Texas that we have to monitor, and I work with the Texas Regional Biologist to make sure we take care of all monitoring responsibilities associated with those properties
- Land Gifts, Revolving Lands and Landowner development are also parts of my responsibility
- Our goal is to build a comprehensive Lands Program that contains donated Land Gifts, an active Revolving Lands Program, conservation easements, and utilizes our existing easements and landowners to raise non-traditional revenue
- I work closely with Development Officers on securing easement endowment payments, identifying major donor prospects and participating in major donor meetings to discuss our Lands Program and funding needs
- We also work together to submit funding proposals to foundations and individual donors for our Lands Program (Orin Ingram, Walker Foundation, Walton Foundation, etc.)
- Managing the Lands Program budget is also my responsibility
- I work closely with the Director of Conservation Programs and Director of Conservation Services to ensure that the Lands Program meets budget and becomes more revenue neutral as we move forward
- Working with the Director of Land Protection and other National Headquarters staff is also an important part of my job, especially as it relates to donated land gifts, revolving lands and our current easement portfolio issues
Regional Biologist II
Ducks Unlimited, Inc.
07.2010 - 10.2013
- I served as the Regional Biologist for a four state region, including Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee
- I provided program management for the delivery of conservation programs in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee and generated significant public and private revenue to accomplish DU’s mission
- My conservation leadership role in Mississippi grew to include state grant program management
- I also served as the NAWCA coordinator for proposals submitted in the South Mississippi Flyway
- These responsibilities allowed me to work closely with state/ federal partners and the Manager of Land Protection regarding conservation easement match and documentation
- In addition to coordinating and administering NAWCA grants, I was also responsible for ensuring that the appropriate NOGR’s were filed and all necessary easement substantiation (yellow book appraisals, USPAP appraisals and/or review appraisals) were completed to satisfy NAWCA requirements
- Monitoring and tracking our conservation easement match for future NAWCA proposals was also one of my responsibilities
- This responsibility allowed me to work with various project officers, Manager of Conservation Services and Manager of Land Protection to track current and future easement match for our NAWCA proposals
- This has helped resolve our current NAWCA match shortfalls and will help prevent similar issues from happening in the future
- My responsibilities increased over time to include assisting with the monitoring of the Southern Region’s conservation acres to ensure that they were entered accurately into the conserv database
- Providing program leadership for the Tennessee Partners Program and giving direction to other Biologists to ensure successful project delivery was a large part of my responsibilities as well
- I also provided program leadership for the MS Wetlands Reserve Program and gave direction to other Biologists for all project delivery activities
- During this same time frame, I was also responsible for the administration of the reforestation component of the Louisiana Wetlands Reserve Program and provided oversight for all procurement items
- I represented DU on the MS State Technical Committee, MS Partners for Wildlife Committee, MS Conservation Coalition and served as the Chair for the LA/ MS CDN Delivery Planning Working Group
- One of my primary responsibilities was the budget management for Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee
- It was my responsibility to develop those conservation budgets and ensure that all budgeted projects were delivered on time and within budget
- A large percentage of my time was spent on coordinating with partners and engineering staff to keep the workload full a couple of years in advance
- When I changed positions in October 2013, we had public land work lined up for Indianola WMA (two full NAWCA grants approved), Morgan Brake (Teddy Roosevelt III NAWCA), Mahannah WMA (MS Delta I NAWCA), Yazoo NWR and St
- Catherine Creek NWRs (MS Wetlands II NAWCA)
- This was probably one of the most important roles I had
- I worked closely with the Directors of Development (Chad Manlove, Chris Cole and Shawn Battison) on philanthropic activity for Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee
- Some of my experiences included assisting with major donor events (Dean Spradling event and dedication, Legacy Green-wing dedication, etc.) and preparing proposals for submittal to donors and/or foundations (Jim Ayers, Orin Ingram, Will Walker, Maddox Foundation, Walton Family Foundation, etc.) to secure philanthropic revenue to support DU’s mission
Regional Biologist
Ducks Unlimited, Inc.
08.2003 - 07.2010
- My responsibilities included the supervision of day to day delivery of Ducks Unlimited’s conservation programs in Kentucky and Tennessee
- I served as the Project Coordinator for the Tennessee Partners Program (TPP)
- Under my leadership, the TPP conserved over 10,000 acres of privately owned wildlife habitat
- Working extensively with private landowners to help them better manage their properties for waterfowl and permanently protecting those properties through our conservation easement program were part of my responsibilities
- I also performed several preliminary property inspections (PPI’s) for interested landowners
- My PPI’s directly lead to the enrollment of over 8,000 acres into our conservation easement program
- Another significant responsibility was overseeing all of the monitoring for our easements in Kentucky and Tennessee and preparing annual monitoring reports
- All environmental, legal and economic aspects were carefully included in my reports
- Writing and administering NAWCA proposals for my assigned states were also significant responsibilities
- As Regional Biologist, I worked closely with our communications specialist on press releases, magazine articles, and radio/TV segments to illustrate DU’s work in my assigned states
- My job duties allowed me to work closely with DU Regional Directors in both states on many events and serve as the Jackson-Madison County Chair for two years
Project Biologist
Ducks Unlimited, Inc.
07.2000 - 08.2003
- My responsibilities included assisting the engineering technicians with WRP survey and construction inspection
- I also assisted with the delivery of the MS Partners Program (MPP)
- Through the MPP, I worked with several landowners, providing them with technical assistance and enrolling them in the program to enhance their property for waterfowl
- Assisting with MS WRP tree planting and managing temporary field technicians to ensure proper planting were also significant aspects of my job responsibilities
- My WRP duties also included the inventory and tracking of seedlings on site
- The majority of my time was spent managing the Mississippi 319 project
- This was a MDEQ/EPA grant that provided water control structures to landowners to improve water quality
- Through the 319 program, I provided over 15,000 acres of technical assistance to landowners and conserved over 7,000 acres of wintering waterfowl habitat throughout the MS Delta
- I relied heavily on Arc Map (GIS) imagery to track my projects and report the accomplishments to EPA
Assistant Area Manager
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
09.1999 - 07.2000
- Dave Donaldson is a 28,000 acre waterfowl management area
- My responsibilities included the oversight of all contract work on levees, water control structures, timber management, flooding and de-watering of 8,000 acres of Green Tree Reservoirs
- I also performed aerial waterfowl surveys for the eastern half of Arkansas
- Managing Lake Ashbaugh (500 acre fishing lake) was also part of my responsibilities
Education
Master of Science - Biology
Arkansas State University
Jonesboro, Arkansas08.2002
Bachelor of Science - Zoology
Arkansas State University
Jonesboro, Arkansas05.1997
Skills
- Effective Relationship Management
- Long-Term Planning
- Effective Communication Skills
- Strategic Decision-Making
Affiliations
- The Wildlife Society
- Society of Wetland Scientists
- Mississippi Chapter, The Wildlife Society
Careerinterest
Manager of Conservation Programs (MAV), Ridgeland, MS, I am interested in the Manager of Conservation Programs (MAV) position opening in Ridgeland, MS. This position has considerable appeal to me. My firsthand knowledge of the challenges and opportunities that exist within the Mississippi Alluvial Valley, my relationships with most of the state and federal partners, and the various conservation programs that are utilized will enable me to effectively transition into this position. Working with our public and private partners and assisting them with conserving critical wildlife habitat that meets DU’s mission is something that I truly enjoy. As a professional, I want to expand my conservation knowledge and become an effective leader for DU’s conservation programs throughout the MAV. I look forward to the challenges and opportunities that would come from helping lead DU’s conservation programs in the MAV.
Presentationspapers
- Thesis project, Texas Waterfowl Conference, Wharton, TX, 02/99
- Seminar on the benefits of flooding rice fields for waterfowl, Northeast Arkansas Rice Festival, Pocahontas, AR, 11/99
- Poster given at the Society of Wetland Scientists meeting, New Orleans, LA, 06/03
- Water quality presentation, Hunters and Anglers Water Quality Summit, Louisville, KY, Date not provided
- Presented DU conservation message, Bass Pro Shops Land and Wildlife Expo, Nashville, TN, 2012
- Land Protection presentation, Partners for Conservation (Private Lands Partner Day), Mississippi State University, MS, 09/14
- Various DU State Convention presentations, AL, AR, KY, MS and TN, Date not provided
Continuingeducation
- GIS Mapping Course, Mississippi State University, 12.5 CFE Hrs, 03/01
- Forest Management Course, Mississippi State University Extension Service, 7.5 CFE Hrs, 10/00
- Inland Aquatic Plant Course, Mississippi State University, 10.5 CFE Hrs, 08/00
- Waterfowl Habitat Management Course, Mississippi State University, 7.5 CFE Hrs, 10/01
- Arc View Certification Course, DU National Headquarters, 08/01
- Ecology, Siviculture and Management of Bottomland Hardwoods Workshop, Louisiana State University, 10/02
Research
- Thesis research, Controlling Red Rice (Oryza Sativa L.) Invasion Through Waterfowl Management, 1998 - 2002
- Independent Study Project, Impacts of Ingested Lead Shot on Wood Ducks (Aix sponsa) and Mallard Ducks (Anas platyrynchos), 11/98 - 05/99
Timeline
Director of Conservation Programs
Ducks Unlimited
08.2022 - Current
Manager of Conservation Programs
Ducks Unlimited
12.2014 - 08.2022
Manager of Land Protection
Ducks Unlimited, Inc.
10.2013 - 12.2014
Regional Biologist II
Ducks Unlimited, Inc.
07.2010 - 10.2013
Regional Biologist
Ducks Unlimited, Inc.
08.2003 - 07.2010
Project Biologist
Ducks Unlimited, Inc.
07.2000 - 08.2003
Assistant Area Manager
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
09.1999 - 07.2000
Bachelor of Science - Zoology
Arkansas State University
Master of Science - Biology
Arkansas State University
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