Will Meeks

Will Meeks is the regional director of the Midwest Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In this role, Will leads staff across Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin. He focuses on conserving the Great Lakes and their watersheds, empowering and supporting Native American communities and conserving the region’s diverse array of fish, wildlife and habitat.

Will has been with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for several decades, filling many different roles across the country. His first permanent position was as a Partners for Fish and Wildlife biologist in the Sandhills of Nebraska before becoming the supervisory wildlife biologist at the Devils Lake Wetland Management District Complex in northeastern North Dakota. He worked as refuge manager at Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge in northwestern North Dakota and as the deputy refuge manager of Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. He then accepted the position of branch chief and deputy division chief for the National Wildlife Refuge System’s Division of Natural Resources and Conservation Planning in the headquarters office. Following his time in headquarters, Will became the project leader of the Habitat and Population Evaluation Team located in Bismarck, North Dakota. He served for more than seven years as the assistant regional director for Refuges in the Mountain-Prairie Region before becoming the project leader of the Savannah Coastal Refuges Complex in South Carolina and Georgia and later the assistant regional director for Refuges in the Southeast Region.

Will attended the University of North Dakota where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Biology, and South Dakota State University where he earned his Master of Science degree in Wildlife Management.