Billy Minser
Instructor
Minser is a Research Associate/ Instructor in Wildlife and Fisheries Science. He has a 90% research appointment from the Agricultural Experiment Station and a 10% appointment from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Billy has been with the Department of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries since 1972.
Minser is a native of Tennessee. He received his B.S. degree in wildlife management from Tennessee Tech in 1966, and M.S. in forestry/wildlife management from the University of Tennessee in 1968. Billy served as an officer in the U.S. Army which included a tour of duty in Viet Nam (1969-70).
Minser began his career with the Georgia Game and Fish Commission as the wildlife biologist/manager for the R. J. Reynolds Wildlife Refuge on Sapelo Island, Georgia. His duties included management of waterfowl, wild turkeys, alligators, sea turtles, and deer, as well as controlled burning for habitat management.
Billy joined UT in 1972 to assist with a long-term cooperative research project with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources agency directed primarily at small game management on private lands in Tennessee. Over the years, his research involvement, primarily with Dimmick, Pelton, and Buehler, have involved bobwhite quail, ruffed grouse, cottontail rabbits, wild turkeys, raccoons, mourning doves, woodcock, wood ducks, songbirds, furbearers, and wetland and farmland management for wildlife.
Billy developed and began teaching Field Techniques in Wildlife Management in 1979. Working with student wildlife professionals, both in and outside of class, have grown to be one of his most gratifying opportunities.
Minser has been involved with several professional organizations. He has served as an officer with The Southeastern Section of The Wildlife Society (TWS), Tennessee Chapter, TWS, Natural Resources Conservation Societies of Tennessee, the National Wild Turkey Federation, and The Foothills Land Conservancy. He has also been advisor or co-advisor of the UT Student Chapter of the Wildlife and Fisheries Society since 1983. Billy has worked with these organizations to help ensure that wise use and management of natural resources are applied wherever possible to management of public and private lands of the state and the U.S.
Billy and his family live on a 135 acre farm in the foothills of the mountains in south Blount County.
