Sara Parker Pauley is the director of the Missouri Department of Conservation[1] and former president of the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies.[2] In each of those roles she was the first woman to serve.[3]
Education
Pauley grew up in Columbia, Missouri[4] and was interested in conservation from a young age.[5] She received her secondary education at Hickman High School in Columbia, Missouri.[6] Pauley attended the University of Missouri earning both a bachelor's degree in journalism and a law degree.[1]
In 2020 she was elected to a one-year term as president of the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies.[3][13][14]
Pauley has also served as an executive-in-residence at the University of Missouri.[15] She has spoken about water quality issues and natural areas while in that role.[16]
Pauley has talked about her work in multiple venues. In 2021, she elaborated about the collaborative effort needed for conservation efforts in an article in a Nature Conservancy publication,[5] and shared changes in how people think about conservation.[17] She spoke before the United States Senate in support of the 2021 Recovering America's Wildlife Act,[18][19][20] and has worked with Senator Roy Blunt to share the bill with people from Missouri.[21]
In 2012 Pauley was named one of two "Conservation Partners of the Year" by Bass Pro Shops.[23][24] In 2016, she received the President's Award from the Environmental Council of States.[25] In 2017, the Columbia Public Schools Foundation named Pauley as an outstanding alumni.[26] In 2019 she accepted the Governor's Award for Innovation on behalf of the Missouri Department of Conservation’s (MDC) Discover Nature Schools program.[27]