Bio

A native St. Louisan, Christopher J. Kennedy graduated from Cardinal Ritter College Prep in 1991 and began obtaining his degree in Fisheries Biology at the University of Arkansas. During that time, he completed many internships with the US Fish & Wildlife Service that allowed him to assist with stream and fish community research on Indian Reservations in Kansas, the bayous of Arkansas and swamps of Louisiana. After completion of his degree he immediately began working for the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC). He began his career as a Fisheries Management Assistant and after 5 years of service he was promoted to Fisheries Management Biologist and began managing public impoundments, assisting private land owners with fisheries management, and coordinating the regional aquatic resource education program. During this time, he also created and coordinated the Alligator Gar Restoration Project and the MDC Youth Conservation Corps program and began intensively exposing diverse groups of high school and college students to the world of aquatic resource conservation; while, reintroducing Alligator Gar to the State. Chris has also spent his career assisting MDC with its workforce diversity initiatives which has included; recruitment, facilitating diversity training courses, and assisting with the MDC’s internship program. He continues to serve MDC now as a Fisheries Regional Supervisor, leading and supervising 7 Fisheries Management Biologist while managing the aquatic resources a 16-county region located in the SE portion of the State. He is also currently assisting with a MDC reorganization, by serving on Organizational Modeling and Implementation Teams that are responsible for initiating and implementing a new organizational structure.