President

Chris Hauer

Certified Wildlife Biologist®

Chris is a Certified Wildlife Biologist® for the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs at Fort Indiantown Gap National Guard Training Center, Annville, PA. In this role, Chris is
primarily responsible for developing and implementing monitoring and research programs for vertebrate species of greatest conservation need, including bats, Allegheny woodrats, and turtles. His research interests include understanding the impacts of forest management and diseases on wildlife populations. Chris received a B.S. in Biology from Albright College and an M.S. in Biology from East Stroudsburg University where he studied the impacts of white-nose syndrome on bats in northeastern Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey. Chris has been a member of the Pennsylvania Chapter of The Wildlife Society since 2017, previously serving as a Board Member-at-large. He is actively involved in several other organizations including the Pennsylvania Prescribed Fire Council, Pennsylvania and Northeast Bat Working Groups, and Allegheny Woodrat Working Group. In his free time, Chris enjoys hunting, athletics, cooking, and spending time with his wife and three young children.

Vice-President

Madison Davis

Madison (Madi) Davis grew up in a rural town in Saskatchewan, Canada but came to the USA for college. She attended the University of Wyoming, where she received a BS in Microbiology in 2022. With a passion for disease ecology and One Health, Madi decided to pursue her MS in Animal & Veterinary Sciences at the University of Wyoming. Her research focused on the role bobcats may play in CWD ecology – determining whether they contribute to the spread of CWD by shedding CWD prions across the landscape in their feces after consumption of an infected cervid or if they can limit the spread through consumption. Throughout her academic career, Madi had a passion for teaching and was a teaching assistant for General Microbiology, Pathogenic Microbiology, and Medical Virology courses. Besides research and teaching, Madi was involved in many involved with several trips to South Dakota where she helped wrangle bison for bacterial pneumonia testing and research. Currently, Madi is a Chronic Wasting Disease research scientist at the Wildlife Futures Program since July 2024. Her role in this position has primarily focused on optimizing and validating various cervid tissues for CWD diagnostics. In her free time, Madi enjoys the outdoors, crafting, and nerding out about wildlife disease.

Past President

Virginia Tilden

Leadership Institute Class of 2012

Virginia has a BS in Biology (concentration in Ecology and Environmental Biology from Shippensburg University and an MS in Environmental Biology from Hood College. She is a Wildlife Biologist at Fort Indiantown Gap (FIG) National Guard Training Center, Annville, PA. In this role, she supports the military mis[1]sion by managing flora and fauna and their associated habitats, working to keep common species common, and reducing the potential impacts of military training on rare species. While Virginia assists with a variety of wildlife management projects, her focus is conservation of the only remaining population of the eastern regal fritillary butterfly and the grassland habitat on which it relies. Virginia has been working on these efforts at FIG since 2006. Some of her primary duties include managing butterfly surveys, assisting with habitat monitoring and management, coordinating the annual public butterfly tours at FIG, developing and maintaining partnerships, and extensive work on rearing and reintroduction efforts. Virginia believes in the importance of collaboration and integration of multiple disciplines into wildlife management. One of the ways she executes this is through her commitment to scientific organizations. She served as PATWS VP-P-PP and Treasurer from 2010-2017 and as an Ento[1]mological Society of Pennsylvania Board Member at large and VP-P-PP from 2013-2018. In her free time, Virginia likes to hike and do all things outdoors, and spend time with her kids, family, and friends.

Secretary

Tom Keller

Certified Wildlife Biologist®

Tom Keller holds a B.S. from the Pennsylvania State University in Wildlife & Fisheries Management and an M.S. from Green Mountain College in Environmental Science & Conservation Biology. He has served both federal and state wildlife agencies in a variety of different positions for the past 19 years. Currently, he serves as the Furbearer Biologist for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, responsible for 16 furbearer species within the state. Much of his professional focus has

centered around wildlife disease, human-wildlife conflict, reintroduction, and professional development.

Treasurer

Shaniah Miller

Currently, Shaniah is the Pennsylvania Game Commissions Southwest Region Bear Technician. Prior to this position, she was a Bio Aide for two years on the wild turkey research project, and before that a biology intern with PGC. Shania attended Penn State Beaver, where she founded the Biology Club and served as President until graduation in 2022. She currently resides in Kittanning; however, she is originally from Bellwood, PA. Shania enjoys exploring the outdoors and meeting others with a passion for wildlife and conservation!

Newsletter Editor

​Emily Sandly

Associate Wildlife Biologist®

Emily Sandly is a 2020 graduate of Keystone College with a Bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Biology and is an Associate Wildlife Biologist. She has held a variety of seasonal positions, from a

songbird field technician with the University of Montana, to seabird research assistant with the National Audubon Society’s Seabird Restoration Program. She was a member of the Visitor Ser-
vices team at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary from 2021-2023 and in 2025 in Kempton, PA, which is the first raptor migration count site in North America. In the fall of 2023, she was a seasonal
Hawk Counter for the Sanctuary at Little Gap and Route 183 hawkwatches, and at Route 183 in the fall of 2025. She has worked as a Deer Biologist Aide with the Pennsylvania Game Commission for the winter 2024 trapping season. She has also
been employed as a Naturalist with Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory in Duluth, MN during the fall migration season of 2024. Emily has recently accepted a position with USDA APHIS as a Wildlife Technician working in the Wildlife Biosecurity Assessment program aimed at helping poultry producers in the state monitor and protect
their flocks from high-path avian influenza.
She has been a member of The Wildlife Society since 2016, and has served on the Pennsylvania Chapter board since 2021 as both a board member at-large and the Newsletter Editor for her fifth year. Emily is an avid outdoorswoman and can always be found birding, hunting, fishing, hiking or camping in Penn’s woods in her free time with her partner around Berks county, or enjoying some downtime with her bundle of fur,
Susan.

Digital Media Manager/Student Liaison

Terra Haines

Associate Wildlife Biologist®

Leadership Institute Class of 2026

Terra is a graduate of the Wildlife Technology program at Penn State DuBois and is currently pursuing her Master of Wildlife & Fisheries Resources degree through Clemson University’s award-winning remote program. Before she transitioned into a career in wildlife, Terra built a successful career as a Registered Nurse. Throughout Terra's nursing career, she volunteered with various agencies to contribute to wildlife conservation and worked as a seasonal timber rattlesnake construction monitor for two environmental consulting firms. Currently, Terra works full-time as a Rabies Technician with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In addition to her professional role, she is a permitted educator of timber rattlesnakes, delivering hands-on presentations to diverse audiences across Pennsylvania to foster awareness and appreciation for this often misunderstood species.

Northeast Section Representative

Tammy Colt

Tammy Colt has been a Regional Wildlife Diversity Biologist for the Pennsylvania Game Commission since 2005, covering the ten counties of PA’s Southwest Region. As an RWDB, her primary duties involve the management of Pennsylvania’s bird and mammal species of greatest conservation need—approximately 100 species. She works with public and private landowners to develop habitat management plans and provide guidance for habitat improvements that benefit declining species. Tammy has a B.S. in Animal Bioscience from Pennsylvania State University and an M.S. in Biology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She studied temporal changes in herpetofaunal populations at Powdermill Nature Reserve (Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s biological field station) for her Master’s thesis. Before graduate school, she worked as an environmental educator at Powdermill Nature Reserve for five years. During that time she was Project Coordinator and co-author of Pennsylvania Amphibians and Reptiles: A Curriculum Guide (PA Fish and Boat Commission, 2001). A Loyalhanna Watershed Association volunteer since 2003 and a current member of the board of directors, Tammy serves as project coordinator for Loyalhanna Turtle Watch and coordinates hellbender e-DNA monitoring within the Loyalhanna Watershed, while also serving as the Land Committee Chair. With a passion for land conservation, she also serves on the board of the Westmoreland Land Trust and chairs their Stewardship Committee. Tammy has served as President of the PA Chapter of The Wildlife Society and Treasurer for the Northeast Section of TWS; she is serving her first term as treasurer for PATWS. Having held multiple board positions in the PA Chapter and NE Section, Tammy understands the importance of subunit governance and coordination with our parent organization, The Wildlife Society. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking, kayaking, owning and riding horses (including an adopted American Mustang), and growing vegetables on her family farm.

Membership Coordinator

Dr. Lillie Langlois

Certified Wildlife Biologist®

Lillie Langlois is Director of the online Master of Wildlife and Fisheries Resources program and Senior Lecturer at Clemson University. She teaches a variety of courses including Mammalogy, Ornithology, Wildlife Behavior, and

Geographic Information Science, where she strives to connect with and inspire students using engaging and comprehensive instruction. As advisor to more than 100 graduate students, Langlois is deeply committed to helping students

grow academically and professionally. She has strengthened Clemson’s nationally recognized online MWFR program through innovative approaches that include virtual field experiences, expert guest lectures, and mailed lab materials
that bring experiential learning to distance students. Langlois received her PhD from Penn State University and previously taught at

PSU and the University of Pittsburgh. Her current research is focused on landscape-level changes associated with shale gas development and the effects on forest bird populations, intertwining ecology, ornithology, and GIS. Her previous research investigated avian exercise physiology and migration at the Max Plank Institute for Ornithology in Germany and Advanced Facility for Avian Research in Canada. She has conducted field work on birds and mammals in diverse ecosystems including the tundra of Alaska, temperate forests of New Zealand, and landscapes of central Europe. Outside of academia, she enjoys traveling, hiking, biking, and gardening. She lives in central Pennsylvania with her two adorable children, 7 and 10 years old.

Board Member at Large

Dr. Aaron Haines

Certified Wildlife Biologist®

Dr. Aaron Haines is a Professor of Biology at Millersville University. His professional research interests involve identifying more effective approaches to implement on-the-ground

conservation strategies to benefit species of conservation concern. Conservation strategies may include the use of spatial models to identify priority areas in need of protection, evaluation of field techniques for conservation research, and evaluation of recovery efforts for threatened and endangered species. Dr. Haines involves undergraduate students in his research through the Applied Conservation Lab. In the past, Dr.

Haines has served as President of PATWS, Co-Chair of the Pennsylvania Mammal Technical Committee, and soon will be President of the Pennsylvania Biology Survey.

Board Member at Large

Grace Lewis

Growing up, the fields, forests, and Appalachian ridges of eastern Pennsylvania composed the landscapes Grace called home. In more recent years, she has lived in central Pennsylvania, Alaska, and central New York. Her undergraduate degree is in wildlife conservation from Juniata College, and since then she has gone on to work with the PA Game Commission, Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, and Lime Hollow Nature Center in various roles. This year, she returned to Penn's Woods, where she has started the pursuit of a dual master's degree in Forest Resources and Transdisciplinary Research on Environment and Society through a research assistantship at Penn State. Hiking, biking, birding, backpacking, hunting, skiing, and taking photos are some of her most favorite things to do in her free time, and she is so excited to be reconnecting with her connections here in Pennsylvania (PATWS included)!

Board Member at Large

Alissa Serro

Alissa Serro has been a wildlife biologist aide with the Pennsylvania Game Commission since 2023. She was hired for wild turkey trapping efforts as well as Chronic Wasting Disease management in white-tailed deer in Southcentral Pennsylvania. Through her time with the Game Commission, Alissa has participated in various projects and has worked with white-tailed deer, wild turkeys, black bears, songbirds, ducks, geese, mourning doves, bats, and Alleghany woodrats. She graduated from Shippensburg University with both her B.S. and M.S. in Biology with a concentration in Ecology, Environment, and Conservation. For her Master’s Degree, Alissa focused on the ecology of several tick species within Southcentral Pennsylvania. Alissa has been an avid outdoorswoman from a young age and enjoys hunting, fishing, hiking, and gardening in her spare time.

Board Member at Large

Matthew Williams

Associate Wildlife Biologist®

Matthew Williams is a Wildlife Habitat Group Manager with the Pennsylvania Game Commission in the Northeast Region. He received a B.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife Science from Paul Smith’s College, where he also fulfilled the requirements of Associate Wildlife Biologist® from The Wildlife Society. Matthew later went on to receive a M.S. in Biology from Western Illinois University. His career path has been diverse and taken me around the country working in 9 different states including: Black bear in Florida, Fishers and Marten in the Pacific Northwest, Sharp-tailed Grouse in Montana, and waterfowl and fish in Illinois to name a few. These positions had been with Universities, State, and Federal Agencies offering insights into working with and alongside multiple agencies and partners. This has eventually led him back to Pennsylvania where he currently manages approximately 67,000 acres of State Game Lands in Pike and Monroe Counties.