Rangeland hires new professor

CSC’s rangeland management program recently ‘wrangled’ in a new assistant professor.

Jonathan Spiess recently became the Agriculture & Rangeland Management Assistant Professor. 

He attended Texas Tech University, earning a degree in Natural Resource Management with an emphasis in Rangeland Conservation.

After that, he worked for Fish and Wildlife in Indiana.

He then attended North Dakota State University in Fargo, SD (NDSU) for range science for his master’s degree. There he preformed research on oil field traffic and the dust that blows off of roads used by oil field workers. 

He is currently working towards a doctorate in natural resource management from NDSU. His research project is on patch grazing with prescribed fire, he said.

“I stuck around  NDSU” Spiess said. “To do a patch grazing project using prescribed fire to balance out livestock production and wildlife habitat type stuff.”

Spiess is originally from Texas, where his family raises a small herd of hobby cattle.

He says that his family’s cattle operation is what sparked an interest in rangeland management. 

Spiess is teaching introduction to plant science and habitat inventory and analysis this semester. Both of these classes are requirements for rangeland management majors. 

“I want to get my office set up and get used to campus life,” Spiess said speaking about his goals for the semester.

Spiess says he enjoys hiking and exploring and has made it one of his goals to get to know the Chadron area. 

“I go hiking with my dog a lot,” he said. “So we’ve been checking out a lot of the state parks and national forest areas.”