New Mexico Department of Game and Fish
Media contact: Rachel Shockley, (505) 476-8071; cell: (505) 470-6832
Public contact: (888) 248-6866
rachel.shockley@state.nm.us
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, MAY 15, 2014
GAME COMMISSION NAMES ALEXANDRA SANDOVAL DEPARTMENT OF GAME AND FISH DIRECTOR
ALBUQUERQUE – Alexandra Sandoval, a 20-year employee of the Department of Game and Fish, is the department’s new director, the State Game Commission announced Thursday.
Sandoval, currently the department’s chief financial officer and Administrative Services Division chief, was selected among four finalists chosen after a nationwide search that began Jan. 24 and ended March 24.
Sandoval began her career with the department in 1994 as a district wildlife officer (game warden) in Roswell and Clayton. She went on to become a wildlife specialist, federal grant manager, licensing supervisor and Administrative Services Division chief and chief financial officer. She holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from New Mexico Highlands University and a bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Management from Colorado State University and is a graduate of the National Conservation Leadership Institute.
As the second woman director in the department’s 101-year history, Sandoval will be responsible for managing a state wildlife agency with more than 300 employees and an annual budget of more than $38 million.
The other finalists were Edward “Ted” Koch, Nevada state supervisor for Ecological Services and Fisheries programs for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Brian Wakeling, Wildlife Management Branch supervisor for the Arizona Game and Fish Department; and Matthew Wunder, chief of Ecological and Environmental Planning for the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.
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