New Mexico Department of Game and Fish
Public contact: Information Center (888)-248-6866
Media contact: Karl Moffatt, (505) 476-8007
karl.moffatt@state.nm.us

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Feb. 26, 2016:

Game and fish biologist featured in New Mexico Women of STEM calendar

SANTA FE –New Mexico Department of Game and Fish trout biologist Jill Wick is one of 17 New Mexico women featured on a calendar distributed statewide to encourage girls to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.

About 3,000 of the 16-month calendars recently were delivered to middle and high school math and science teachers for display in classrooms around the state. Wick is featured in the month of May.

Wick, 36, is the department’s Gila trout biologist. She credits her dad for instilling in her a love of nature and wildlife by taking her hiking, camping and fishing while growing up in Two Rivers, Wis. She later discovered she was interested in the sciences after taking an extra biology class as an elective in high school.

Wick earned her bachelor’s degree in wildlife ecology from the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point. She holds a master’s degree in natural resource and environmental science from Alabama A&M University.

She said it is an honor to serve as a role model for young girls. “It’s great to be able to show them that there really are cool jobs out there that they’re capable of doing,” she said.

Game and fish biologist Jill Wick featured in New Mexico Women of STEM calendar

The calendar is distributed by the New Mexico Supercomputing Challenge, a nonprofit educational organization that sponsors an annual computational science competition for New Mexico middle and high school students. To learn more about the Supercomputing Challenge and order a calendar, please visit their website at www.supercomputingchallenge.org.

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