My name is Jennifer (Jen) Schmidt and I live in Anchorage, Alaska. I moved to Alaska in 2002 to pursue a PhD. in Wildlife Biology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The outdoors has always been an interest of mine spending lots of time outside of the house as a kid. I enjoy triathlons, hunting, fishing, hiking, and exploring new places.

I work at the University of Alaska Anchorage as an Associate Professor of Natural Resource Management and Policy. I teach classes related to public policy and spatial analysis. Mapping and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has been a passion of mine for decades and I enjoy using it and teaching people this valuable skill. I was trained in an interdisciplinary program where it became apparent very early that people are an important part of wildlife management. So I became more and more interested in social and environmental issues. To do work that matters I listen to residents of Alaska and attempt to align their interests with funding opportunities.