Mamie A. Parker
Mamie A. Parker
Dr. Mamie Parker is an expert fish and wildlife biologist, conservationist, executive coach, facilitator, and inspirational speaker. She is also an environmental consultant with Ma Parker and Associates and EcoLogix Group, Inc. She had a remarkable 30-year career with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), holding several positions in many states. She worked in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, Georgia, and Washington, D.C. She is a highly regarded pioneer and the first Black woman to be Assistant Director of Fisheries and Habitat Conservation. Dr. Parker is also the first African American to lead a USFWS regional office. Dr. Parker received the Presidential Rank Meritorious Service Award, the highest honor of the U.S. government for career service employees, for her accomplishments. Dr. Parker dedicated her career to advancing diversity and improving opportunities for minority students in conservation and fishery careers. She received the Emmeline Moore Prize in 2016 from the American Fisheries Society for these efforts.
“There are connections between natural resources and human health. I am concerned for the health of all people, including people of color.”
- Mamie Parker, 2005.
Mamie Parker was born and raised in Wilmot, Arkansas. She is the youngest of 11 children. Her mother was a single parent who worked as a sharecropper to support her family. Her interest in the outdoors started in childhood. Her mother, an avid angler and outdoorswoman, inspired her. In high school, her biology teacher introduced the idea of environmental degradation, sparking her interest in biology.
The words in Marvin Gaye’s song- “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” resonated with her. In Southeast Arkansas and throughout the Mississippi Delta, paper mills near her Arkansas town were emitting what some called “the smell of money,” but she discovered it was air pollution. She learned how crops were sprayed with herbicides that harm the environment. “That’s when I realized that I wanted to do something to help people, to help fish and wildlife.”
Dr. Parker has devoted a lifetime to protecting people and wildlife. She attended the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) and completed a Bachelor of Science in Biology in 1980. Dr. Parker completed graduate school at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. She earned a Master of Science in fish and wildlife management. At the University of Wisconsin, she researched contaminants and fisheries in the Great Lakes and its tributaries and received a Ph.D. in Limnology in 1987. She also completed executive leadership training at Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Dr. Parker was inspired to join the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) when University of Arkansas -Pine Bluff alum Hannibal Bolton visited the UAPB recruiting interns for the USFWS. Dr. Parker completed two internships with the USFWS, one in Wisconsin and one in Minnesota. Dr. Parker moved frequently with the USFWS, including the Green Bay Ecological Services Field Office, and she later worked in Columbia, Missouri, in the USFWS Ecological Services Office. She provided ecological recommendations on federal permits and projects in this job, including the Missouri Bootheel region. In 1990, she was named Deputy Assistant Regional Director of Fisheries and moved to the Midwest regional office in Minneapolis.
In 1996, she moved to Atlanta and was appointed Deputy Geographic Assistant Regional Director managing Fisheries offices in the southeastern states, including Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. In 1998, Dr. Parker moved to the USFWS headquarters in Washington, D.C., to be Special Assistant to the Deputy Director and Director, a position now known as Chief of Staff. Here, she worked with programs in all 50 states. In 1999, Dr. Parker was promoted to Northeast Deputy and Regional Director, where she managed thirteen northeastern states stretching from Maine to Virginia and West Virginia. The promotion made her the first African American to be director of a regional USFWS office in the agency’s history.
Dr. Parker was appointed USFWS Assistant Director of Fisheries and Habitat Conservation in 2003. She was the first Black woman to hold this position. In this position, she led national projects, including the National Fish Passage Program and the National Fish Habitat Action Partnership. She was selected as a facilitator at the White House Conference on the Environment. She served as co-chair of the Aquatic Nuisance Species (Invasives) Task Force.
Dr. Parker is a pioneer for women of color in wildlife conservation and feels a responsibility to do well. In 2016, Dr. Parker spoke at a Nature Conservancy meeting, sharing, ”As one of very few women of color working in conservation at that time, I was a pioneer. It is very lonely when you’re a pioneer because you’re all by yourself” (Carr, 2016). “Many of your colleagues can’t relate to the hurt, the struggles, and the racism, sexism, and unconscious biases that pioneers encounter. They were not good allies and were often silent even though they saw things that were not right.”
While at USFWS, Dr. Parker helped establish Chicago Wilderness, a diverse coalition of conservation groups focused on urban wildlife areas in the Chicagoland region. While at the USFWS Northeast regional office, Dr. Parker created USFWS Invest in People, an award-winning mentoring and professional leadership development program. The program allows administrative personnel to get outdoors and experience the type of work conducted by field biologists. It was later expanded to the USFWS headquarters in D.C. and other regions nationwide.
She broke barriers again when appointed Assistant Director and Head of Fisheries. There, she helped work with many partners and led the USFWS staff in establishing the National Fish Habitat Action Plan, the equivalent to the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. She worked to maximize funding for fish passage and the Partners for Wildlife Program, in addition to negotiating natural resource damages and cleanups.
Dr. Parker retired from U.S. Fish and Wildlife in 2007. After leaving the agency, Dr. Parker became a commissioner for what was then known as the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. She became the first Black chairman of the board and was instrumental in changing the name to the Virginia Department of Natural Resources. The idea, she said, was to focus on the broader goals of the agency—not just recreational game and fish.
After retiring from the USFWS, Dr. Parker was an executive leadership coach and speaker. In 2008, Dr. Parker founded Ma Parker and Associates, where she serves as President. Since 2017, Dr. Parker has been a board member of Brown Advisory Sustainable Investment. Her clients include local, state, and federal institutions, including the Bureau of Land Management, Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site, the Defense Language Institute, the USFWS, the Department of the Interior, the Maryland Department of Labor, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the Maryland Port Administration, the William J. Clinton Presidential Center, and the National Wild Turkey Federation.
In 2019, Dr. Parker joined EcoLogix Group, Inc. as a principal consultant. Dr. Parker is on the board of directors of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, National Wildlife Federation, Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment, American University School of Public Affairs, The Nature Conservancy-Virginia Chapter, Ducks Unlimited, the Center for Large Landscape Conservation. She is the former chair of the Student Conservation Association Board of Directors.
Dr. Parker made history as the first African American to be inducted by the Governor of the State into the Arkansas Outdoor Hall of Fame. In 2006, Dr. Parker received the Presidential Rank Meritorious Service Award, the highest award given to government employees, in recognition of her leadership in creating the National Fish Habitat Action Partnership. The state wildlife directors voted and presented her with the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ John L. Morris Lifetime Achievement Award, named after the founder of Bass Pro Shops in 2021.
At this point in life, Dr. Parker says she has learned the importance of showing gratitude by giving back. She gives back by encouraging others to help address the climate crisis, especially in vulnerable and underserved communities. She also works hard to integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion to impact women and employees with diverse identities profoundly. Dr. Parker serves in nominating and governance roles on multiple boards, allowing her to recruit and retain diversity.
Dr. Parker shared with her alma matter UAPB, “When I speak to youth, I tell them about my story as a pioneer conservationist and call them to action. I ask them to think about the things they can do to better their communities” (Hehemann, 2020).
Dr. Parker encourages young environmental professionals to “Always speak to truth and to power. Remember to celebrate what is right in the world and to be humble. And don’t get too caught up in always blaming others; focus on your actions!” (Mckind, 2023).
Carr, Michelle. June 1, 2016. Diversity Matters: Collaboration and Inclusivity in Conservation. Huffpost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/diversity-matters-collaboration-and-inclu…
Hehemann, Will. April 10, 2020. “Dr. Mamie Parker, UAPB Alumna, Reflects on 30-Year Career as Pioneer in Conservation”. UAPB News. 2020-04-10.
Interview conducted by Multicultural Environmental Leadership Development Initiative staff. 2016. University of Michigan – School of Natural Resources and Environment. Ann Arbor, MI.
Mckind, Marley. February 17, 2023. Breaking through concrete ceilings. Chesapeak Bay Foundation. https://www.cbf.org/blogs/save-the-bay/2023/02/breaking-through-concrete…
Taylor, Dorceta (Ed.). 2005.The Paths We Thread: Profiles of the Careers of Minority Environmental Professionals. Minority Environmental Leadership Development Initiative, University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment