Several past and present California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) employees recently received top awards from the Wild Sheep Foundation and the Desert Bighorn Council. Steve Torres, retiree Bill Clark and Dr. Ben Gonzales of the Wildlife Investigations Lab (WIL), Dr. Dave Jessup of the Oil Spill Prevention and Response team (OSPR), and retiree Dr. Vern Bleich of the Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Recovery Program were recognized for their work in the field of conservation of wild sheep in North America.
Torres accepted the 2007 Desert Ram Award from the Desert Bighorn Council on behalf of the WIL for contributions to desert sheep conservation in addition to improvements in capture training. Clark received an award for his career contributions to the safe handling and capture of desert sheep.
Torres received a master’s degree from University of Arizona, Tucson, for research on desert bighorn in 1983.
Clark received a bachelor’s degree from California State University, Sacramento in 1972.
Gonzales received a doctorate from University of California, Davis in 1982.
Jessup received a doctorate from Washington State University in 1976.
Bleich received a doctorate from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks in 1993.