At their annual conference held in Augusta, Georgia December 9-13, 2024, the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (SEAFWA) recognized Dr. W. Daryl Jones, Extension Professor of Wildlife Sciences at Mississippi State University, as the recipient of their most prestigious award, the C. W. Watson Award.
The C.W. Watson Award is presented to the individual who, in the opinion of the C.W. Watson Award Selection Committee, has made the greatest contribution to fish and wildlife conservation during the previous year or years. This award is presented jointly by the Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society, the Southeastern Section of The Wildlife Society, and the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (SEAFWA).
Dr. Jones is recognized as a national and international expert in natural resource enterprises development and wildlife conservation on private lands. Through his Natural Resource Enterprises Program (NRE), Dr. Jones has hosted more than 250 in-person invited workshops in the U.S. and internationally, attracting 12,000 private landowners and agricultural/forestry producers. His webinars have trained 2,000+ participants in land management practices, while his online programming – via website engagements and educational videos – has been viewed by more than 1M users. As stated by Dr. Mark Smith, W. Kelly Mosley Environmental Professor and Extension Specialist at Auburn University, “The first of its kind, the NRE program under Dr. Jones' leadership has helped countless landowners to understand, value, and therefore take an active role in the management of their natural resources. Dr. Jones was the right person, with the right background, with the right vision, at the right time to spearhead this much needed landowner-focused program to the success that it is today with a lengthy list of substantial contributions to the conservation of fish and wildlife resources.”
Landowners who received training at Dr. Jones’s events have initiated 2,500 natural resource enterprises on 2.5 million acres and earned $39M in annual income, while simultaneously implementing conservation practices on 3.4 million acres in 28 US states. “Through Dr. Jones’s leadership, establishing the linkage between economics and conservation through NRE has allowed conservation educators, biologists, and advocates to reach a new sector of rural landowners and producers who would not normally consider implementing conservation on their properties” said Dr. Curtis Hopkins, former Secretary of SEAFWA, who nominated Dr. Jones for this award. “Dr. Jones’s ability to demonstrate this impact at such a large scale is remarkable.”
Jones has been an active member and served in leadership roles in The Wildlife Society (TWS) at the state, regional, and national levels. He has received other prestigious awards, including the 2024 National Excellence in Extension Award for an Individual from the National Cooperative Extension Service System and the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities; 2022 Fellow Award and 2013 Special Recognition Service Award from TWS; 2017 Wildlife Conservationist of the Year from the Mississippi Wildlife Federation; and numerous honors at Mississippi State University (MSU), including the 2024 Mark E. Keenum Outstanding Extension Faculty Award.
Dr. Jones received a Bachelor of Science in plant pathology (Summa cum Laude honor graduate) from MSU in 1984; a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from MSU in 1985; Master of Science (MS) in Oceanography from Old Dominion University in 1995; and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Public Policy and Administration with a minor concentration in Forestry from MSU in 2002.