The Arizona Game and Fish Department’s Research Branch is housed within the Department’s Wildlife Management Division, and plays an important role in guiding the State’s wildlife management decisions. We provide research support to other Branches within the Division, including Game, Nongame, Habitat and Fisheries, as well as programs outside of the division, such as those related to law enforcement and education.
The goal of the Research Branch is to provide cutting-edge, applied scientific research support that is used as a primary resource in decision-making processes for management of Arizona’s wildlife resources and their habitats. We accomplish this through a variety of activities including, but not limited to:
- Conducting research on terrestrial and aquatic wildlife (both nongame and harvested wildlife) and law enforcement,
- Developing new and innovative techniques to assist in managing wildlife populations,
- Serving as the agency’s disease surveillance and wildlife health experts,
- Maintaining (ordering, distributing, and disposing of) controlled substances (e.g., capture drugs) and maintaining the Drug Enforcement Association license for the agency,
- Serving on the Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit (University of Arizona) oversight committee, and
- Providing technical expertise and advice on appropriate subject matters to agency and external partners.
Our work focuses primarily on applied research, including monitoring and surveys, and is geared towards generating robust data, publications, and reports that can be used to guide adaptive management, habitat restoration, and reintroduction/augmentation efforts. Our research findings are shared in Departmental publications, such as AZGFD Wildlife Views and Technical Bulletins, and a large number of peer-reviewed journals, with publications in over 25 journals in recent years.
The Branch is composed of 63 employees, including 24 biologists with advanced graduate degrees (4 with PhD degrees, 19 with Master’s degrees, and one veterinarian). Although our main office is located in Phoenix, at the Department’s headquarters, many of our staff work in remote locations throughout the State, with projects located in diverse habitats such as the Grand Canyon, the Kaibab Plateau, arid Sonoran Desert habitats in the southwestern portions of the State, the Sky Islands region, the White Mountains, Roosevelt Lake, and the Gila River Basin, to name just a few.
Within the Research Branch, our work is conducted under four programs: Aquatic Research, Terrestrial Research, Wildlife Health, and Contract Research. Our research is funded primarily by contracts and Federal funding (through the Pittman-Robertson Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act and the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act, commonly referred to as the Dingle-Johnson Act or the Wallop-Breaux Act), with a smaller proportion of funds coming from other sources such as State Heritage funds, Wildlife Conservation Funds, and watercraft registration funds.
Our research is facilitated and greatly enhanced by productive collaborations with numerous partners including Federal and State agencies, Tribal governments, local governments, non-governmental organizations, universities, private land owners, special interest groups and stakeholders, and our partners in Mexico. We welcome new partnerships and greatly value our ongoing collaborations for the benefit of Arizona’s wildlife and habitats.
For more information about the Research Branch, please contact the Research Branch Chief, Chasa O’Brien, at 623-236-7247 or cobrien@azgfd.gov.
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