Bridget has worked for the Fish and Wildlife Service since 1998. During Bridget’s 25-year career with the Service, she has worked at all levels of the agency – from field biologist to acting Assistant Director of International Affairs – in four regions and across multiple programs. Her current position is as the Deputy Regional Director in the FWS’s Pacific Region, which covers Washington, Oregon, Idaho and the Pacific Islands.

In this position, she oversees the day-to-day operations of the region, which spans six times zones and includes almost 1,000 employees. Previous to this position, Bridget oversaw the Endangered Species Act listing and delisting process in FWS Headquarters for 8 years, worked on ESA implementation for the Mountain-Prairie Regional Office in Denver, Colorado for 11 years; and six years at the Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office in California and with the California Condor Recovery Program. She started with the Federal government as a Student Conservation Association intern for the BLM in Klamath Falls, Oregon, and started with the Service working for Refuges as an archeological technician in Alaska.

Bridget has a BA from Bucknell University in biology and anthropology, spending a semester in Kenya, Africa studying wildlife management; and an MS in conservation biology from the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan.

When she’s not working, Bridget and her husband Matt love to grow, cook, eat, and talk about food. Then they head outdoors to hike, camp, and paddle to work off all that food. They are a little ridiculous about their two cats, Pixie and Schmoopy.

Favorite SFS Memory: One of lasting impressions that Kenya made on me was the challenges around water– running water, hot water, flush toilets were all such a luxury, which I hadn’t experienced yet in my 20-year-old life. Once on our way back from safari, we stopped to refresh at a place that had a pool — many of us jumped in, dirty and grimy after several nights sleeping in tents. The water felt amazing, we celebrated feeling refreshed and clean. Then one of my classmates looked around and said: “Guys…we’re IN SCHOOL right now.” Then we celebrated the additional feeling of being in a pool halfway across the world while our schoolmates back home were in class.