FEATURED EMPLOYEE: Meet Jeff Moody – Regulatory Services Group Leader, Man with a Plan
Jeff Moody’s childhood was shaped by hard work and understanding the value of having a good plan. His parents owned a bakery in their small, rural New York town, and all five Moody kids lent a hand. As a teen, he could be found rolling up his sleeves on local dairy farms milking and feeding cows to earn money of his own.
By the time Jeff reached high school he figured he would become a history teacher – it was his favorite subject, and an easy choice. But first, duty called.
“My dad and all his brothers were in the service,” Jeff admitted, “and I suppose I enlisted for him. It also seemed like a good stepping stone. I’ve always had a plan for myself.”
“I went into the army right out of high school,” said Jeff. “Those few extra years helped me figure out what I really wanted to do. If I had gone straight to college, I would be a miserable history teacher right now.”
Jeff served two and a half years in the Army and gained a better sense of self and direction. He was deeply interested in wildlife and criminal justice, which narrowed his focus to one career: game warden.
So, he got to work, first earning an associate’s degree in criminal justice from a community college in New York. Next, a bachelor’s degree in wildlife botany. Then Jeff secured an internship at the Missouri Department of Conservation, where he entrenched himself in natural resources work, data collection, and botany.
“I always knew I wanted to get into wetlands, and that internship solidified everything,” said Jeff.
Today, Jeff brings his 15 years of experience at Williams Creek to the V3 team as Regulatory Services Group Leader.
“Someone has always made up a job title for me!” Jeff joked. “My job includes overseeing an incredibly hard working and dedicated team, reviewing reports and permits, lots of phone calls, and integrating our services into land development work.”
And while his day-to-day might not require much (or any!) of his criminal justice acumen, his outdoorsy roots and passion for natural resources is evident to everyone he encounters. His personal life also pays homage to his rural roots.
“My wife, Elsa, and I live in the country,” said Jeff, “she is also a big nature person. She earned a wildlife
degree at New Mexico State, a graduate degree at Mizzou in river otters, and now works for the Bee and Butterfly Habitat Fund. Together, we have nine working dogs, three goats, two horses, and we used to have pigeons … but a racoon got to them.”
“Three of our dogs compete in field trials; we have two German Shorthairs, four Beagles, one Pointer, one Vizsla, and a Chesapeake for duck hunting,” said Jeff.
“I grew up deer hunting and trapping,” said Jeff. “I didn’t start bird hunting until I moved to the Midwest. These days, we enjoy training our dogs and introducing hunting to other folks through safe, controlled situations. Hunter recruitment is important to both of us, as the population of Americans who hunt (and fund conservation) is going down, we think it’s important to keep the tradition alive.”