Meeet Our Contributors

Jan. 2001 - Vol. 62, No. 1

Bill Anderson Bill Anderson is a 28-year veteran of the Conservation Department and is also well versed in the eating habits of smallmouth bass on Table Rock Lake, especially those pertaining to artificial lures. He's been a fisheries biologist since 1986 and helps manage fish populations in numerous waters in southwest Missouri.
Dennis Figg Dennis Figg is the Natural History Division's Missouri River unit chief. He lives with his two sons on a small farm near the Missouri River, which he describes as "a mile away as the crow flies, but only a few feet away as the log floats." A frequent contributor to the Conservationist, Dennis writes often about insects, birds, bats and other wildlife.
Bob Hrabik Bob Hrabik is the team leader at the Open (Mississipi) River Field Station in Jackson. He and his family live in Cape Girardeau County, where he is restoring an old lodge located on Apple Creek. Bob describes himself as a "recreational seiner" who travels thorough the Midwest to sample fish using a seine.
Paul Lamble Paul Lamble and his family live near Kansas City, minus their daughter who is finally off to college. They also run a 40-acre "tick ranch" in Benton County that is chock-full of cloning blackberries. Paul has written for the Conservationist on a variety of subjects, including crows, hiking trails, mistletoe, urban deer, and most recently, bird nests.
A.J. Pratt An avid bass angler, A.J. Pratt is a fisheries management biologist whose territory includes Bull Shoals and Norfork lakes and the North Fork River. He's been with the Conservation Department since 1991 and lives in West Plains with his wife, Melissa, son, Ryan, and daughter, Hayley.
Dr. Lon Wilkens Dr. Lon Wilkens, a resident of St. Charles, is a biologist at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. In addition to our native Missouri paddlefish, or "antennaefish," he has studied animals as diverse as bioluminescent Bermuda fireworms and giant clams from the Australian Great Barrier Reef. With his wife and family, he enjoys vacationing in Florida, where he "surveys" any fish willing to take a baited hook.