MSU professor earns national Excellence in Wildlife Education Award

Contact: Kaitlyn Church

STARKVILLE, Miss.—A Mississippi State faculty member and undergraduate coordinator is being recognized nationally for her distinguished career of teaching, mentoring and preparing students for success in natural resource management.

Leslie Burger, MSU Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture associate teaching professor, will receive The Wildlife Society’s Excellence in Wildlife Education Award Oct. 5 during the organization’s annual meeting in Edmonton, Alberta.

Founded in 1937, TWS is an international organization dedicated to advancing wildlife science and supporting professionals who are committed to conserving wildlife and its habitats. The award recognizes individuals who demonstrate exceptional leadership in wildlife education through teaching, advising, program development and service to the profession.

Burger has taught and mentored students across multiple levels, including youth, undergraduates and graduate students interested in conservation careers. Her teaching often emphasizes practical skills, career readiness and professional growth.

“Leslie Burger is fiercely and effectively focused on what’s best for students. She challenges minds and changes lives, one Bulldog at a time,” said Steve Bullard, associate dean and associate director of MSU’s College of Forest Resources and Forest and Wildlife Research Center. “As an educator, advisor and mentor, she brings a wealth of knowledge and practical experience to the classroom. Students know Dr. Burger cares about them and their success in their curriculum, lives and careers.”

Burger said she’s humbled by the recognition and grateful for the opportunity to help students find their path in conservation.

“I know some of the people who have received this award in the past, and they are giants in the field to me. To be included among them is hard to comprehend,” Burger said. “My career has taken some unexpected turns—leaving the field for 15 years to raise my children, then returning through education and eventually becoming a professor. This award from the professional society I first joined as an undergraduate student feels like a full-circle moment. As the saying goes, ‘Never say never.’”

For more information about MSU’s Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture in the university’s College of Forest Resources, visit www.wildlifefisheries.msstate.edu

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.