Bear Researcher Becomes Wildcat

Early in her graduate education, the new dean of WSU’s College of Science spent two seasons leading a bear-trapping team to research grizzly and black bear in Yellowstone National Park.

Andrea Easter-Pilcher said she learned two things through those early experiences: First, ensure a snared bear is fully secured before approaching, and second, it’s important to ask for what you want in life.

Easter-Pilcher has asked for and received more than a dozen grants for wildlife conservation research conducted around the world. She spent the previous nine years as a faculty member, chair and dean at St. George’s University in Grenada, where she and her students studied endangered island birds.

Easter-Pilcher was awarded a postdoctoral research appointment in wildlife ecology from Purdue University and a Ph.D. in biological sciences from Montana State University.