Kari Kingery is a Wildlife Biologist and program manager for the CSKT Wildlife Management Program. She is a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and started her career with CSKT as a Biologist Trainee in 2008 while studying terrestrial Wildlife Biology at the University of Montana. Kari earned both her Bachelor of Science Degree (2013) and Master’s of Science Degree (2020) from the University of Montana – Missoula.
Having been awarded the Alfred P. Sloan’s Research Fellowship in 2017, she conducted a master’s project on grizzly bear habitat selection and studied the effects of small livestock (chickens, goats, pigs, llamas) on the selection of habitat by grizzly bears in the Mission Valley on the Flathead Indian Reservation. This study also quantified the effectiveness of electrified fencing in preventing conflicts with grizzly bears. This research was completed while working full-time as a grizzly bear research and conflict management biologist with the CSKT Wildlife Management Program. Upon graduation, Kari continued to work with landowners in reducing carnivore conflicts on the Flathead Reservation until becoming the program manager in 2022.
Kari is an active member of The Wildlife Society, on both a national and state level, receiving her professional certification as a Wildlife Biologist in 2020. Throughout her career, she has developed Barn Owl nesting survey and dietary analysis protocol for the Mission Valley, conducted annual breeding bird; waterfowl and raptor surveys, and monitored local long-billed curlew populations. With an emphasis in Climate Change impacts on wildlife species, Kari works on the baseline monitoring of climate sensitive species and suitable habitats on the Flathead Reservation.