Wildlife biologist Adam Ahlers comes to Knoxville from Kansas State University
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Adam Ahlers, an ecologist and wildlife biologist from Kansas State University, has been named the director of the School of Natural Resources at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture.
Ahlers, a professor in the Department of Horticulture and Natural Resources, will begin his new post on August 1. He has been a member of the faculty at Kansas State University’s College of Agriculture since 2015, and he also was an adjunct faculty member with the School of Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His research focuses on applied management of wildlife populations and their habitats. Ahlers has been a member of several committees and boards at the university and within the natural resources and wildlife community and has won several awards, including University Outstanding Scholar in 2025. He was named a Fellow of The Wildlife Society in 2022.
“I’m excited to move back to Tennessee and work with faculty, staff and students in SNR. Tennessee landscapes are iconic and our natural resources help sustain economies and improve human well-being across the state, region and world. Our faculty are recognized as world leaders in the science and sustainable management of natural resources and I’m excited to help them advance SNRs important applied research, extension and teaching missions.”
Ahlers earned his bachelor’s degree in biological sciences at Eastern Illinois University and his master’s and Ph.D. in natural resources and environmental sciences at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Before his career in academia, he worked as a water resources technician in his home state of Nebraska and then served in the U.S. Army with the 101st Airborne Division and with the Illinois Army National Guard.
Ahlers replaces Don Hodges, who became head of the Department of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries in 2019, before it was renamed the School of Natural Resources in 2023. Hodges announced plans to return to the faculty in May.
The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture is comprised of the Herbert College of Agriculture, UT College of Veterinary Medicine, UT AgResearch and UT Extension. Through its land-grant mission of teaching, research and outreach, the Institute touches lives and provides Real. Life. Solutions. to Tennesseans and beyond. utia.tennessee.edu.