Teddy Fisher is a 2014 alumnus of Penn State’s wildlife and fisheries science (WFS) program, with deep roots in PSU from his childhood. Having received a master’s degree from Clemson University in wildlife and fisheries biology, he has worked for several notable organizations such as the Montgomery County Parks Department and the National Deer Alliance. Fisher is currently the assistant director of York County Parks. He remains involved in the University as vice president of the Penn State Forest Resources and the Ecosystem Science and Management (ESM) Alumni Group Board of Directors. 

(This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.) 

Why did you choose Penn State as an undergraduate? Why move to Clemson University for your master’s?

I grew up in Central PA and my family was very much interested in the college football scene. When I was three years old, we went out to the 1995 Rose Bowl, when Penn State played Oregon, and then we went to the 1997 Fiesta Bowl, when they played Texas. My dad has had season tickets since 2006. And so, I was brought up around Penn State. We spent a lot of time when I was in high school going there almost every weekend. It developed a love and passion for Penn State. I loved the State College University Park area, and so my ultimate goal was getting to PSU and being able to be a student. It was just a dream of mine to be able to go there.

After undergrad, I wasn’t sure if I was going to go for a master’s or not, and Clemson just kind of fell in my lap. They had an online wildlife program, and I was accepted to that before I ended up going there. Then, I was accepted into the project that I was interested in, which was related to human dimensions of hunting. We’re losing a lot of hunters, and the numbers are declining. And with that, we’re losing a revenue stream. So, I had a big interest in trying to introduce people to hunting and get them involved.

Part of me wanted to go back to Penn State for a master’s degree. But I heard a lot about the importance of diversifying and getting experience with other individuals who work in another part of the country that has different issues or ways of going about things. It helps to broaden the way you think about things.

Why did you pursue a wildlife and fisheries science degree at Penn State?  Why not veterinary science or biology?

Studying wildlife and fisheries science on the wildlife track really came from growing up hunting and fishing and spending time outdoors here in York County. When I realized that major would allow me to get paid to spend time outdoors, helping to preserve and conserve these resources for the future, it was a no-brainer for me. I discovered that and fell in love with it, and the rest is history.

You are part of the Penn State forest resources and ESM alumni group board of directors. What convinced you to stay in touch with Penn State in this way?

Ellen Rom, the advisor for the wildlife and fisheries science major, reached out to me in 2019 or 2020 with an opportunity to potentially join the board. I always try to be involved and help with the future of that program. I wanted the opportunity to give back, and I was fortunate enough to be elected to the board.

I think it’s important that we have students who are coming into this field and studying these things, because it’s certainly the future. And being able to still connect with the department and have a small part in that future is very important to me.

You are currently the assistant director of York County Parks. What does your day-to-day workload look like?

I like to say it’s a jack-of-all-trades kind of position. I wear a lot of hats in this role. I had originally applied for the manager of natural resources position, which focuses solely on the natural resources that we have in our park system. And then, through the interview process, they gave me an assistant director position, which was a great opportunity. It’s really an all-encompassing role. I deal with the natural resources side of things, so everything from deer hunting permits, to goose management and goose hunting. Pretty much anything related to natural resources.

I also deal with our many volunteers. We have about 300 volunteers, mostly through our nature center. But I still have a hand in working with anyone, whether it’s someone interested in trail monitoring or folks at a corporate agency wanting to do some volunteer work. And then the Eagle Scouts gold awards is a big part of our work, as well. We do between 10 to 15 scout projects each year, which is a huge help for our park system.

We also have about 80 miles of trails, a lot of which are natural surface trails. We have sports fields, some soccer fields, and some softball fields, too. So, I also manage the different aspects of that, plus about 10 seasonal staff that I employ in the summertime.

The role also involves a lot of administrative work, dealing with a lot of the technological side of things like our reservation system. We have 11 county parks, and it’s about 4,500 acres of land.

I never know what a day could hold. It’s a dynamic environment that keeps every day interesting. And that’s what I love about it.

How has your WFS education from Penn State helped you throughout your career?

It’s been huge. I still rely on classes I took at Penn State now, especially with tree identification. Granted, I haven’t used all that knowledge all the time, so I lost a little bit of it. But I have a good base of knowledge that has really helped me in in every role that I’ve had. So, I can go out and be able to identify trees or look at things and have an idea of what’s invasive or what’s not. And the education I got from Penn State really built that foundation that I can rely on. I still have several of the textbooks on my bookshelf from when I was at Penn State.

But even more than that, it has been the connections that I got at Penn State, and the networking, that have gone a very long way.

Since the alumni network is so huge and Penn State is such a well-known name, everywhere I go someone has some sort of affiliation with the University. It’s a conversation starter. At conferences or on trips, I wear Penn State shirts and all of the sudden I’m talking to someone and realize they have some sort of connection to the University. And so, it really helps to jump-start things. Those connections are just kind of the Penn State way.

Throughout your work with the National Deer Alliance, Wildlife Leadership Academy, and the Penn State Deer Research Center, you’ve had a focus on deer. Why focus on mammals? On deer? 

My goal going into Penn State was to become a deer biologist. I grew up hunting and that was the main species that I hunted. I always had a fascination with them. I would say they’re my favorite animal. I’ve always enjoyed getting to work with them at the Deer Research Center at Penn State, and that motivated me to continue to work directly with these animals. It really gave me an even better appreciation for them.

I worked as an intern at Wildlife Leadership Academy and then I was the coordinator of the deer side of the program for about a year. Afterward, I came back occasionally to help at a couple of the camps.

We have only three deer biologists at the state level in Pennsylvania. It’s a competitive field, and I always wanted to be close to home. So that’s where the shift to the park side of things kind of came in because I get to work at the park system in my hometown. So, I’m 25 minutes away right now from my parents’ house. I transitioned to still working in conservation but not necessarily directly with deer.

Sustainability is no exception to the need for connections. Knowing people and what they’re researching can help people find their place. What advice would you give to a student who is struggling to make those key connections as they try to enter the field?

I think the biggest thing is getting involved wherever you can. Whether that’s with a club at the University or a local group. It could be your local Audubon Society. It could be anything related to the field that you want to go into. Get involved and start to put yourself out there and just keep trying. Those connections do come, the more you’re involved with things. You volunteer and get to know people. Attend conferences, do whatever you can. Just get out there and among the people that you want to work with, or the people who are in the field that you want to be in.

Once you start that process, it really picks up. And those people introduce you to other people who might introduce you to someone else. It’s a kind of snowball effect.

If you could give any piece of advice to a current undergraduate student who wants to be like you, what would you say?

Just networking, in a lot of ways, is one of the biggest things you can do. Your degree shows that you learned a certain amount of a skill set. You have that base and that knowledge. But to me, experience and networking are the two important things you need to advance in your career. It’s a field where you must have that experience to really keep growing. So be willing to go out and get as much diverse experience as you possibly can.

I really struggled with that idea of getting out of Pennsylvania and going somewhere far away, because I wanted to be close to family and friends and close to my home. But while that was hard for me, it really helped me grow.

So many things can be applied to almost any job opportunity. Having diverse experiences gives you that opportunity to speak about many different things. And that’s really what I feel employers are looking at, too. You want to set yourself apart from all those other people who are also going through the same degree program as you. Just being willing to go to different areas or expand where you’re willing to learn.