Robert Ruffner has been appointed by Governor Bill Walker to the open seat on the Board of Fisheries.
He spoke with us about the perks he will bring to the board.
Ruffner: “I have a pretty solid education in math and statistics, I’ve done numerical modeling and all of those have been around geology and physical processes like modeling rivers and how they move, but those techniques and using statistics are readily transferable to the biological world. So I think that I will have a good understanding and know what questions to ask when it comes to looking at data sets, whether they are biological data sets or economic data sets.”
Ruffner has been the Executive Director of the Kenai Watershed Forum for the past 18 years although in January he announced his plans to retire after he trains a replacement.
He will be filling the open seat left by former Chair Karl Johnstone who resigned earlier this year when he was told he would not be reappointed in July.
Walker’s original appointment to the seat was local drifter Roland Maw who withdrew his name after a criminal investigation involving Maw hunting in Montana began.
Ruffner’s appointment must be approved by the Legislature.