LMVJV Staff
Keith McKnight, Coordinator
Prior to coming to the Joint Venture, Keith worked with Ducks Unlimited where he served as a Regional Biologist responsible for coordinating conservation delivery projects in Texas and New Mexico. Prior to this, he held several positions with DU at their National Headquarters, including serving as a Conservation Program Specialist, Manager of Conservation Programs, and ultimately as the Director of Conservation Programs. In those positions, Keith led DU’s Ducks and More Program, supervised the National HQ GIS staff, served as DU’s staff support to the NAWCA Council, developed multi-scale international conservation strategies for shorebird conservation, and served as DU’s liaison to national and international bird conservation plans including PIF, NAWCP, and NABCI. In his early years, he spent some time teaching Ecology and Ornithology at Auburn University.
Keith has a Ph.D. from Auburn University where he studied the ecology of wintering Gadwall and American Coot, and a B.S. and M.S. from Texas A&M where he studied wetland regeneration ecology on reclaimed stripmine land. Keith works out of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department office located in Tyler, Tx.
Janine Antalffy, Avian Ecologist
As the Avian Ecologist for the LMVJV, Janine advances the overall mission towards implementing effective avian conservation within the region by coordinating conservation efforts including project planning, partnership development, and delivering on measurable conservation outcomes. Passionate about wildlife, Janine first became actively involved in avian ecology and research while getting her BS in Wildlife Conservation from the University of Delaware. While a student at UD, and later with USGS, Janine worked as part of the Aeroecology Program using weather surveillance radar to better understand stop-over habitat use in migratory birds. Janine then went on to pursue her MS in Biology with a focus on Ecology from Alabama A&M where she traveled to China to study genetic structure and spatial distribution of the White-browed Laughingthrush. Finally, Janine received her PhD from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County for her work on the conservation biology of the Bahama Oriole, specifically investigating conservation genetics and habitat availability, with a strong focus on the open Caribbean Pine habitats of The Bahamas.
Throughout these experiences Janine has developed strong technical capabilities in GIS applications for avian conservation. She is excited to bring her passion and background to the LMVJV to help push the conservation needle forward. Janine is based out of Memphis, TN.
Steve Brock, Mississippi Alluvial Valley Partnership Coordinator
Steve’s primary role with the LMVJV is to represent the partnership by advancing and supporting migratory bird related conservation delivery activities within the Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Prior to his current role, Steve worked within the USFWS Refuge Program as a Deputy Area Supervisor in the Southeast Regional Office in Atlanta, GA. Prior to working in Atlanta, he worked in other FWS Refuge program roles including Deputy Refuge Manager at St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge in Southwest MS and as a Partners for Fish and Wildlife program biologist in the Northeast LA Delta, delivering technical and financial assistance programs to private landowners.
Prior to his roles with the FWS, Steve spent seven years as a Wildlife Biologist for the U.S. Forest Service on the Homochitto National Forest in South Mississippi. Early in his career, he worked four years with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries as a Wildlife Biologist Supervisor, in the tidewater region of the state.
Steve received a B.S. in Forestry and M.S. in Wildlife Ecology from Mississippi State University. His Master’s project evaluated seed production of several moist-soil plant species in managed wetlands on Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge. He currently works out of Ducks Unlimited’s Southern Regional office in Ridgeland, MS.
Bill Bartush, West Gulf Coastal Plain Partnership Coordinator
A native of Muenster, Texas, Bill graduated with a BS (1976) and MS (1978) in Wildlife Ecology from Oklahoma State University. A Certified Wildlife Biologist®, Bill has been in the wildlife profession for almost 40 years, and currently serves as Partnership Coordinator for the LMVJV coordinating conservation delivery in the West Gulf Coastal Plain. Throughout his career, Bill has remained active in private lands management, providing technical advice for agricultural, forestry, and wildlife operations in in the Eastern U.S., but primarily in the Gulf Coast States, and especially Texas and Oklahoma. He looks back with pride at his opportunities to work with, and learn from, exceptional natural resources managers, ecologists, and biologists.
Bill’s professional career has focused on wildlife management, both population and habitat specific, and more recently through strategic habitat conservation. Bill believes that building relationships is essential to any landscape level planning to promote functional delivery of conservation. He remains focused on bringing partners together – agencies, NGOs, and private landowners – with common landscape goals.
Blaine Elliott, GIS Applications Biologist
As a GIS applications biologist, Blaine serves a unique role within the JV partnership. His experience and education in both avian ecology and geospatial technology enables him to provide key functions in both the biological and technological aspects of conservation for the LMV region. Blaine studied ecological ornithology at the University of Arkansas where his research included avian depredation of citrus, measures to limit and reduce crop damage, education of local landowners, and the interactions of neotropical migrants with resident birds in orchards of the Stann Creek Valley region of Belize, Central America. He’s also participated in extended avian-related field research in the mountains of Arizona and Arkansas.
Following completion of his M.S. degree, Blaine began a stint with the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Mississippi Field Station where he assisted in research regarding forestry management effects on breeding and wintering birds of the bottomland hardwood forests and cottonwood plantations of the Mississippi Alluvial Valley. This led to a relationship with the JV Office and he eventually came on board as an intern GIS technician. After 15 plus years of GIS related education and experience, he now serves as the lead GIS analyst, cartographer, database manager, and technical liaison to numerous Working Groups for the JV. In addition to his M.S. degree from Arkansas, Blaine also holds a B.S. in Biology/Chemistry from Huntingdon College in Alabama. Blaine’s office is located in Vicksburg, MS.
Anne Mini, Senior Scientist
Prior to coming to work for the Joint Venture, Anne was a Postdoctoral Scholar at Oregon State University where she led a project to refine estimates of energetic carrying capacity for Cackling Geese in the Willamette Valley and determine distribution of geese on the landscape to inform winter conservation planning. Previously, she worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service through the Student Career Experience Program (SCEP) as a graduate and undergraduate student. At the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Anne coordinated the Aleutian Goose Working Group to address crop depredation concerns regarding spring staging Aleutian Cackling Geese, and additionally worked as a contract biologist to develop a scientific foundation for a regional agricultural depredation management plan. Through USFWS, Anne worked at a variety of other National Wildlife Refuges, including the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge Complex where she became drawn to waterfowl and wetland management. She has taught courses in Ornithology, Endangered Species and Society, and Wetlands and Riparian Ecology. Anne is a member of The Wildlife Society, American Ornithologists Union, Cooper Ornithological Society and the Ecological Society of America. In her spare time, she enjoys backpacking, birding, fly fishing, and agility with her border collie Scruff.
Anne has a Ph.D. from Oregon State University where she studied the comparative foraging ecology and habitat selection of wintering Dusky Canada Geese and Cackling Geese, a M.S. from Humboldt State University where she studied the energetics and foraging behavior of Aleutian Cackling Geese, and a B.S. from University of California, Davis. Anne works for the American Bird Conservancy out of the Ducks Unlimited office located in Ridgeland, MS.
Austin Klais, Conservation Delivery Coordinator
Austin serves as the new West Gulf Coastal Plain and Ouachita Delivery Coordinator for the Lower Mississippi Valley Joint Venture. He is a key member of guiding partner staff to deliver our $5.9 million dollar RCPP project in Arkansas and Louisiana. Austin earned a BS in Wildlife & Fisheries Management from Arkansas Tech University with several technician opportunities along the way including work with Ouachita streams, invasive species, and prairies. Austin brings experience in forestry, wetland, and upland conservation with partners across Arkansas and Louisiana.
He began his professional career as a private consultant with FTN Associates working with wetlands, water quality, and T&E species. He then became a Farm Bill Biologist with Quail Forever in 2017 based in southeast Arkansas until he moved to Monroe in 2020 as a Coordinating Wildlife Biologist. Through his work with PFQF, he gained 5 1/2 years of experience with conservation delivery through USDA Farm Bill programs. He also helped facilitate the Morehouse Family Forest Initiative, a 4-year NFWF project which broke new ground and led the way for our current “Open Pine Restoration” RCPP project. He loves to assist with prescribed burns and teach people about native plants to help people connect with the habitats that wildlife depend on. Austin currently resides in North Louisiana with his wife and two boys.