United States Fish and Wildlife Service
Refuge Staff and Career Pathways Interns
Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge is staffed by a small team of federal employees and support staff from the Friends of Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge Career Pathways Program. To learn more about how FONWR works to mentor future conservation leaders, click here.
Staff Directory at Ottawa NWR staff may be reached at 419-898-0014 Jason Lewis, Refuge Manager Karl Fleming, Assistant Refuge Manager Ron Huffman, Refuge Biologist Jeff Finn, Private Lands Biologist Rebecca Lewis, Visitor Services Specialist Chuck Shier, Maintenance Mechanic Courtney Lopez, Wildlife Refuge Specialist ----------------------------------------------------------------- Josh Booker, Zone Biologist Brandon Giesler, Maintenance Worker Troy Atkinson, GAOA Maintenance Worker Keith Findlay, GAOA Maintenance Worker Trevor Zook, FONWR Wetland Technician Phoebe Jackson, FONWR Biology Intern Basia Gawin, Visitor Services Specialist Jessica Duez, FONWR Community Engagement Coordinator Puddles the Blue Goose, Refuge System Mascot Employment Opportunities Federal jobs at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge are posted on the usajobs.gov website. Open positions: Visitor Services Specialist |
Jason Lewis, Refuge Manager
Jason Lewis has served as the Project Leader at the Ottawa Refuge Complex since 2011. Prior to coming to Ottawa, Jason worked at Mingo National Wildlife Refuge in Missouri, Big Oaks and Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuges, both in Indiana, primarily as a wildlife biologist. He got his start in federal service through the Student Career Experience Program while in graduate school at Ball State University, Ohio. Lewis spends most of his time working with refuge staff and partners restoring, enhancing and protecting fish and wildlife habitats through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. He grew up in southern Indiana hunting, fishing and trapping. He owes his passion and appreciation for the outdoors and the natural world to his parents. Hunting, gathering and raising a garden was part of the daily living for the Lewis family. He is the second youngest of five brothers. He and his brothers spent every available moment roaming the hills and hollows of southern Indiana. When Lewis was not roaming the forests of southern Indiana, he was pursuing his passion for sports by playing basketball or running cross-country and track. Lewis is married to Gwen, who he met while working at Big Oaks refuge. He and his wife have two children, Willow and Wren. Lewis enjoys birdwatching, family camping, hunting and coaching various youth sports during his free time. Ron Huffman, Refuge Biologist
Ron Huffman has been the Wildlife Biologist for the Ottawa Refuge Complex since 2001. He started with the Service as a summer undergraduate researcher at Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge, Minnesota, in 1992, working on golden-winged warbler surveys, then bird surveys and finally on a master’s research project on songbird use of aspen clear-cuts in 1995. In 1997, Huffman was hired as the first biologist at the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge, California, working on both wildlife surveys and on an extensive land acquisition expansion for the new refuge. At Ottawa Refuge Complex, he oversees the refuge’s biological program, conducts water management across the refuge’s 38 wetland units and has assisted in the implementation of more than $9 million dollars of Great Lakes Restoration Initiative projects. Huffman has a B.S. from Lake Superior State University, Michigan, and an M.S. from West Virginia University. Outside of work he enjoys spending time with family, camping, fishing, disc golf and reading. |
Jeff Finn, Private Lands Biologist
Jeff Finn was born and raised in Hinckley, Ohio…yes, where the buzzards are. He was lucky enough to grow up where there wasn’t anything fun to do inside, so he and his brother spent most of their idle time outside doing what young boys do, or rather, what they should be doing and that is catching anything that crawls and trying to light whatever will burn, on fire. He said that it seemed like a good transition from there to working for the Service. Finn had some stops in between, like graduating from Ohio Wesleyan and Hocking College, a brief 4 years with Natural Resource Conservation Service in Pennsylvania, before arriving at Ottawa Refuge where he has served as the Private Lands Biologist since 2006. Finn openly admits he is still trying to catch things that crawl and lighting whatever will burn, but now he is being paid for it. It does not get much better than that. Finn has two young boys, Walker and Sawyer who make him proud to be a dad, and he cannot forget his wife Angela who lives with three boys (him included) and two male dogs. The woman is a saint. |
Rebecca Lewis, Visitor Services Specialist
Rebecca Lewis is the Visitor Services Specialist for Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. She has worked at the refuge since 1996 and has been with the Service since 1990. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, she began her career as a Co-op Student with the Litchfield Wetland Management District in Minnesota. She discovered her love of visitor services while working at the Seney National Wildlife Refuge in Michigan. Some of her favorite aspects of her job have been working with the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Program, sharing her love of birds with many visitors to the refuge, and the many volunteers she has had the pleasure to work with over the years. Lewis is originally from Wisconsin and has always enjoyed spending time outdoors. Rebecca has two teenagers, a son and a daughter, who are active in band, drama, writing, Girl Scouts and cosplay. She enjoys birding, traveling, her two teenagers, volunteering and time with family and friends. |
Chuck Shier, Maintenance Mechanic
Chuck Shier has been the Maintenance Mechanic at Ottawa Refuge since 2014. Prior to coming to Ottawa, Shier worked at Mingo National Wildlife Refuge, Loess Bluffs formally known as Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge, Missouri, and Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Minnesota. He started his career in 2010 in the Student Temporary Employment Program and then was accepted into the Student Career Experience Program. Shier has had some fantastic mentors throughout his career to get him to where he is today. He enjoys working on Maintenance Action Team projects and was fortunate enough to run his first project this summer. Shier grew up hunting, fishing and trapping with his father, two brothers and sister. He and his siblings would go on daily adventures or visit the local watering hole on their neighbor’s 40 acres to explore and swim. He owes his passion for the outdoors to his dad who took the time to teach him all about the outdoors and hunting activities. He now finds himself exploring some of the western states looking for adventure. Shier normally brings his side kick Willow, a fur ball of adrenaline and drive. She is primarily a waterfowl dog but has no problem flushing the occasional rooster. Shier looks forward to continuing his career with the Service and taking advantage of exploring all of the bottomland hardwoods, prairies, swamps and mountain ranges he can. He will leave you with these closing remarks “One can stand proud and tall like the oak, take root and never see past the next hill top or take flight and migrate the world to see all of its natural wonders.” This world is yours, take care of it and enjoy it. |
Joshua Booker, Zone Biologist
Joshua Booker has been a Zone Biologist in the Inventory and Monitoring branch of the Division of Natural Resources and Conservation Planning since February 2016. His role is to provide science support to over 25 national wildlife refuges, wetland management districts and private land offices in the Great Lakes and Eastern Broadleaf Forest Ecoregions of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. This includes helping field staff develop their inventory and monitoring plans, designing survey protocols, assisting with data analysis and using structured decision making to work through hard conservation problems. He also coordinates the Forest Invasives Adaptive Management (FIAM) project, and serves as the refuges Invasive Species Coordinator for the Midwest Region. Booker grew up in inner-city Milwaukee and moved across the pond for college at the University of Michigan where he earned B.S. degrees in Environmental Science and Anthropology-Zoology, and then Michigan State University where he earned an M.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife. He joined the Service in 2010, working on fish habitat restoration projects and aquatic invasive species management as a fisheries biologist at the Texas Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office, Texas. In 2012, Booker transferred to the Ecological Services office in Texas to work on listing packages, species status assessments, recovery plans, five-year reviews, scientific permit application reviews various consultations. Outside of work, you can usually find Booker in a movie theater, in front of a Milwaukee Bucks game, birdwatching, cooking for his wife and two children. |
Basia Gawin, Visitor Services Specialist
My name is Basia Gawin, and I'm the newest term Park Ranger at the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. I'm originally from Chicago where I grew up and attended Northwestern University. My degree was in Environmental Science with minors in Earth & Planetary Science, Spanish, and Slavic Studies. After college, I worked at a few different places while trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I ended up interning at Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and it was the best few months of my life! I had found my path! At the end of the season, I applied to over 80 different parks because I was willing to go anywhere to be a Park Ranger. I ended up at Mammoth Cave National Park where I was supposed to give cave tours as a seasonal Park Guide, but the pandemic started right as the season did. Instead of cave tours, I worked on lots of other projects like research and trail work. Slowly the park reopened, and I ended up accepting a permanent position where I guided cave tours through the world's longest cave system, did programming for kids in environmental education, and worked at the visitor center. On days off, I volunteered with the scientists in the park on a variety of projects both above and below ground. In my spare time, I love hiking, baking, reading, thrifting, playing hockey, and spending time with my dog Echo. I'm excited to return to and explore the Great Lakes, learn about birds and wetland ecosystems, and spend some more time above ground in the sun. |
Jessica Duez, FONWR Career Pathways - Community Engagement Coordinator Jessica Duez is a graduate of the University of Toledo, earning her Bachelor of Science in Biology, with a concentration in Organismal Biology and Ecology. She attended Clay High School, and was enrolled in the Environmental and Agricultural Technologies program. While at Clay High School, Jessica and her Ag class volunteered at Ottawa NWR, helping with invasive species control. For the last few years, Jessica has enjoyed going to Ottawa NWR for her early May birthday, which coincides with the Biggest Week in American Birding. She loves hiking the trails, driving the Wildlife Drive, and viewing the wildlife and habitat of the refuge. |
Puddles the Blue Goose, Refuge System Mascot
Puddles has been part of the National Wildlife Refuge System since 1936, making him the oldest member of the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge staff. Puddles is part of the Visitor Services team and his main job at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge is to spread the message of conservation by attending refuge, school, and community events. He is technically a Canada goose, though he identifies more as a blue goose. Despite the fact that his feet are built for water, Puddles is an avid runner and has participated in a handful of 5K events in Ottawa County and at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. He is also a voracious reader in his spare time, particularly enjoying John Juriga's Bob Hines-National Wildlife Artist and anything he can find about cartoonist and friend Jay Norwood Darling. A typical Friday night includes watching Fly Away Home and snacking on smartweed with friends. His favorite thing about Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge is seeing flocks of his kind use the refuge marshes as stopover habitat during spring and fall migration. He sure is proud to be a part of the refuge staff and support conservation in the Lake Erie marshes. Puddles loves attention, so be sure to say hi if you see him out and about! |