Who Is Ken Wilson?

Ken Wilson, for whom the NCTWS Student awards are named, was a wildlife biologist with an MS degree who worked in the 1940’s in Maryland with Ernie Vaughn on quail biology and food habits. They published a book on their work in the late ‘40’s.

Also in the late 1940’s Ken was employed by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission to work on fur resources research in Currituck County. He worked on that project until the early 1960’s. One of the interesting things he learned was that raccoons were a major limiting factor on muskrat populations in our coastal marshes, because they would dig into the muskrat nests and eat the young muskrats.

In the early 1960’s, when the Wildlife Commission established its Game Lands Program and Ken’s fur studies were concluded, he was promoted to Game Lands Supervisor for central North Carolina. In that capacity, he supervised the management work on Game Lands including the Sandhills, Uwharrie, and Caswell.

Ken retired in 1971. He was an outstanding biologist, a scientist, a gentleman, and a dedicated professional. He knew the plants and animals of North Carolina better than any other biologist. He received several awards for his work.

Ken was the model of a professional biologist—-a shining example for others to follow. Ken was an active member of NCTWS and his family has continued to support the chapter.

Because of his example, the college student awards are presented in his name.