An organization that is more closely associated with outdoor activities and ecology is adding high-tech to its operation.
The National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) is opening a satellite office in the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center (GCITC) in downtown Augusta.
NWTF co-CEO, Jason Burckhalter, told ABD the collaboration is a natural progression to innovate so their mission has the maximum impact.
“We’re leaning heavily into innovation and technology being a key component of that, and to be more specific, on the AI front. We wanted to embed our IT team around the brightest individuals we could,” he explained. “We saw an opportunity to open up a small satellite office there and put our web development team and our data team there so they could just mingle and be around other bright individuals and just collaborate and come up with innovative concepts to advance the NWTF.”
NWTF will become part of the ecosystem at GCITC that marries government, military, academia, and industry to collaborate on cybersecurity research, workforce development, and real-world problem solving. The diversity in partnerships serves to strengthen leadership in cybersecurity and innovation.
“At the heart of the NWTF’s mission is a commitment to stewardship, education, and innovation,” said Eric Toler, executive director of GCITC, in the news release announcing the partnership. “We’re excited to partner with an organization that has demonstrated long-standing success in conservation, and we look forward to exploring how technology and data-driven solutions can enhance the remarkable work the NWTF has already achieved.”
Founded in 1973, the Edgefield County-based organization has been noted for its leadership in wildlife conservation while preserving the hunting heritage. NWTF has restored the wild turkey population and improved millions of acres of wildlife habitat.
Burckhalter said that work will continue as this partnership with GCITC creates a new branch of the organization.
“We’re calling it nature’s innovation engine, and really, what that is at its core, it’s a resource for the conservation community at large. It’s not specific to just advancing the NWTF goals,” he said. “We’re looking to partner or be a resource for other NGOs, for other corporations, public and private, where they can use the tools and the proprietary tools we’re developing to advance their own initiatives.
Opening the office in GCITC will also give the federation direct contact with students at all levels of education.
“We’ve already been in talks with both Augusta University and Augusta Technical College about developing some internship programs and some mentorship programs and hopefully bringing on some of those students fresh out of school into the NWTF,” said Burckhalter. “We see ourselves as a vehicle to educate and mentor the next generation of conservationists, which is absolutely vital to not just wild turkeys, but to wildlife as a whole in our wild places that we all love.”
NWTF has more than 250,000 members and volunteers. Burckhalter said they are a gateway to cultivating and managing wildlife.
“But also bringing people into the outdoors. What most people don’t know is that we’re the largest partner with the U.S. Forest Service in the States. We do more work than the work we do for the wild turkey benefits, he said. “When we’re working in the forest and through active forestry management, we’re opening up the canopy. That benefits rabbits, the squirrels, the deer, and everything else.”
Learn more about NWTF at https://www.nwtf.org/.
For more information on GCITC and its resident partners, visit www.gacybercenter.org/partners.
