By Ronica Stromberg
Cornhusker Scott Glup worked in wildlife management almost 40 years and advises students eyeing the field to work hard, get along with others, be open to lesser positions to get a foot in the door and be willing to move.
He learned the truth of these lessons after earning his bachelor's and master's degrees in wildlife management from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, his final degree in August 1987.
"When I came out of college, I envisioned crawling into bear dens and putting collars on bears or being out in the field doing research on ducks," he said. "What I ended up doing the last 25 years of my career is managing people and money, and I didn't leave the office, except to go to meetings. I wasn't out in the field doing that, but I still loved my career."
He had come to the university a shy kid from Tekamah, Nebraska, who liked to hunt, fish and trap and thought he wanted to be a game warden. It was the only profession he knew of working with wildlife. Howard Wiegers, a longtime professor and founder of the fisheries and wildlife program, introduced him to the many different careers in the fisheries and wildlife area and pushed him to get involved in college.
Glup took part in several student organizations and did his master's research at Valentine National Wildlife Refuge in Nebraska, working temporary jobs with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He served two summers as a biological technician for the federal agency and two years as a wildland firefighter. A work contact referred him after graduation to another temporary job, as a biological technician doing a duck survey at the Waubay National Wildlife Refuge in South Dakota.
He was still seeking a permanent position and, on the advice of contacts, applied for a clerk typist position. The position was a downgrade in pay, but it allowed him to receive training as a refuge manager at the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge in Kansas. As part of this work, he took federal law enforcement training in Glynco, Georgia.
After two years in Kansas, he moved to Devils Lake, North Dakota, and worked for a wetland management district, managing three counties along the Canadian border. He spent much of his three years there as a law enforcement officer managing public lands, dealing with easement violations and acquiring additional public lands and easements.
Next, he took a position at the Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge in South Dakota, managing the eight-county wetland management district. He worked there 10 years before taking his final position, as a project leader for the Litchfield Wetland Management District in Minnesota. He worked at the district almost 23 years before retiring in November 2024.
Read more about Scott and see more pictures at https://snr.unl.edu/aboutus/what/newstory.aspx?fid=1316