Areas of Expertise: American bison, black-footed ferret, prairie dogs

Chamois Andersen is responsible for advancing the Defenders' conservation programs for the American bison and endangered black-footed ferret in the Great Plains. Her work involves collaborating with Native Nations and state and federal agencies, as well as conducting fieldwork. She facilitates partnerships with numerous tribes across the plains on bison recovery efforts, and with private landowners and land managers for recovery of the endangered black-footed ferret.  

Chamois Andersen has a background in natural resource science and education and worked in public affairs programs for state wildlife agencies, including the Colorado Division of Wildlife and California Fish and Game.

Andersen also worked for Island Press as a consultant on a United Nations project called the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, a global inventory of the world’s ecosystems and the services they provide to human health and well-being. She has developed conservation plans for threatened and endangered species, provided scientific comments on land management plans, and produced reports and communications for a wide array of audiences. Andersen also served as Communications Director for the Environment and Natural Resource Program at the University of Wyoming and as Executive Director of the Wyoming Wildlife Federation. Both roles involved development partnerships, participating in collaborative processes for contentious wildlife issues, and conducting government relations. Andersen believes strategic communications and tribal relations and stakeholder and government relations are key to the successful recovery of our imperiled species and the habitats upon which they depend.

Andersen has B.A. degrees in English, from the University of Arizona ('89) and Environmental Science from the Colorado College (93’).