LARAMIE – The Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s Wildlife Forensic and Fish Health

Laboratory in Laramie is pleased to announce that there have been some changes in roles at the laboratory after Dee Dee Hawk was promoted to chief of services division.  

The lab provides services to the Game and Fish and the public including fish health, tooth aging and wildlife forensics. The forensics program provides unbiased information to assist in wildlife law enforcement to solve wildlife crimes, and conducts analysis for wildlife law enforcement in Wyoming. Other states can pay for analysis, the revenue helps offset the cost of equipment at the lab. Wyoming’s lab is considered one of the most advanced state laboratories in the country.

Kim Frazier was selected as the new laboratory director following the promotion of Hawk, who was lab director previously. Frazier served 13 years as the forensic program manager and six years as the laboratory’s forensic analyst. She is certified as a wildlife forensic scientist by the Society for Wildlife Forensic Sciences (SWFS). Frazier graduated from the Game and Fish Leadership Development I and II programs. She serves as the chairwoman of the Wildlife Forensics Subcommittee within the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Organization of Scientific Committees, and as a board member for the SWFS as the Director of Certification. She is also a member of the technical working group for Wildlife Forensics and the American Academy of Forensic Science Wildlife Forensic Consensus Body.

Tasha Bauman has been selected as the forensic program manager for the Game and Fish wildlife forensic program, replacing Frazier in this position. Bauman began as the tooth aging

coordinator in the lab in 2006, and moved into the forensic analyst position in 2009. She is

certified as an International Standards Organization auditor and is a Certified Wildlife Forensic

Scientist under the SWFS. Bauman is also a member of the Federal Wildlife Forensic Subcommittee and is slated to be the next president of the Society for Wildlife Forensic Science. Bauman completed the department’s Leadership Development I and II programs, and several

Management Assistance Team courses. She has received several awards including The Mark J.

Reeff Memorial Award from the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, Team of the Year

Award (Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies planning team), and was named the

2015 Services Division Employee of the year for Game and Fish.

Carl Smith has been selected as the Wildlife Forensic and Fish Health Biologist. Smith

began his career in the lab in 2010 as the tooth aging coordinator and currently works in both the

fish health and forensic sections of the lab. Smith is a Certified Aquatic Animal Health Inspector through the American Fisheries Society and has been responsible for a large portion of every fish health inspection and fish diagnostic case performed by the lab. Smith also maintains the database for the forensic section, which includes thousands of samples of species from 11 different states.