Where Are They Now? Bob Welsh

Bob Welsh makes a direct link between his service in Minnesota Conservation Corps in 1987 and his long career with the Minnesota DNR, culminating in his recent selection as manager of the state’s wildlife habitat program. He will oversee the agency’s recently realigned forest, wetland and prairie-farmland habitat programs.

In December 1986, Welsh was hired to work as a Conservation Corps research aid at the Farmland Wildlife Population & Research Group in Madelia, Minn. He helped develop a pilot project to improve wild turkey population surveys, enlisting deer hunters to count turkeys. The successful project led to a masters’ study on the subject, and subsequently to a number of positions with the DNR.

Did his Corps experience impact his career? “Absolutely,” Welsh says. “It not only gave me time to consider my options but gave me connections to people in the field. And that gave me such valuable experience, knowledge and credibility going forward.” Read his full profile.