Pat Shaver has shown repeatedly that he is a top-drawer rangeland manager as well as a dedicated professional.
Pat was raised on a small stock farm and ranch in North Central New Mexico. He graduated from New Mexico State University in 1973 with a BS degree in Range Science. Some years later and nearing the end of a 40-year career with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Dr. Shaver was awarded his PhD from Oregon State University in 2010.
Pat’s career has been long, illustrious, productive, and interesting. While with the NRCS, he received specialized training in Holistic Resource Management, prescribed burning, rangeland hydrology, plant-herbivore interactions, and soil geomorphology. He has served as Range Conservationist and later as District Conservationist and then Area Conservationist in New Mexico; State Rangeland Conservationist in both the states of Texas and Utah; as Regional Rangeland Management Specialist (West National Technical Center), Rangeland Management Specialist (National Grazing Lands Technology Institute), and National Applied Fire Ecologist while stationed in Oregon. He has published over 30 scientific papers and articles, including the often used and well-respected articles on State and Transition Modeling and Interpreting Indicators of Rangeland Health. Since retirement from the NRCS, Pat has developed a consultant firm called Rangeland Management Services, LLC, where he continues his professional endeavors across the West and even into Mongolia. In addition to all of this, Pat serves as a classroom Instructor of Rangeland Ecology and Management at Oregon State University.
For years, Dr. Shaver has faithfully and diligently served the Pacific Northwest Section and the Parent Society of Range Management by serving as an educator both in the classroom and in the field. He has, in addition, served the Society through leadership roles on the SRM Board of Directors and through the Presidential Chairs. He is the current President of the international Society for Range Management. During his tenure as President, he has represented us in the PNW, and all of our members, worldwide, in a thoughtful, rational, even-handed manner. He has managed the SRM with grace, wisdom, and respect. He has presented himself, and all of us in the Society, as concerned, capable, and well-educated professionals.