Stephen M. Vantassel

Stephen M. Vantassel is Program Coordinator for Wildlife Damage Management at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Among his many duties, Stephen is responsible for managing the Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management, http://icwdm.org, the nation’s leading source for research-based wildlife damage information on the web.

 

Stephen is well known to the wildlife control industry through his many articles in Wildlife Control Technology Magazine and the Probe and presentations on wildlife damage management topics. He founded Wildlife Removal Service, Inc., headquartered in his hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts which he sold in 1998. His achievements include founding the Massachusetts Association of Problem Animal Controllers, NWCOA certification (CWCP, MNI), NWCOA Educator of the Year (2008, 2012), and authoring of The Wildlife Removal Handbook, rev. ed, and The Wildlife Damage Inspection Handbook, 3^rd ed., The National Wildlife Control Training Program vols 1-2, and the Practical Guide to the Control of Feral Cats.

 

Though interested in all aspects of wildlife damage management, Stephen has a particular interest in the identification of wildlife damage, rebutting the claims of animal rights activists, and control techniques. He is a member of the NWCOA Certification Committee and assists the wildlife damage management community by being a clearing house of information related to the industry.

 

Stephen has a Doctorate in Theology with the Trinity Theological Seminary in Newburgh, Indiana. His dissertation, published under the title Dominion over Wildlife? An Environmental-Theology of Human-Wildlife Relations (Wipf and Stock, 2009), defends the consumptive use of wildlife against the claims of the animal rights movement. He desires to use this theological training to educate the public about the vital role that the fur and animal control industries play in responsible ecological stewardship.   

 

Stephen Vantassel, Project Coordinator

Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln

School of Natural Resources

414 Hardin Hall

Lincoln, NE 68583-0974

402-472-8961     402-472-8390 fax

http://icwdm.org

svantassel2@unl.edu

http://snr.unl.edu/people/staff_description.asp?personid=653