Kristy Bly is Manager of Black-Footed Ferret Restoration for WWF’s Northern Great Plains (NGP) Program, conserving and restoring populations of and habitat for black-footed ferrets, black-tailed prairie dogs and swift foxes in the North American Great Plains. She develops and oversees programs and staff for these focal species and engages and maintains relationships with partners, stakeholders, policy makers and donors.

Kristy came to WWF in July 2007 from the Turner Endangered Species Fund, where she led the black-tailed prairie dog and black-footed ferret restoration program on the Bad River Ranches in central South Dakota. From 1994 to 2007, she contributed to grizzly bear, lynx and wolf research in the Northern Rockies and Yellowstone National Park and worked to restore condors, prairie dogs, black-footed ferrets and swift foxes to the desert southwest and the grasslands of South Dakota. Kristy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Biology and Management from the University of Rhode Island and a Master’s degree in Ecology from Montana State University.

She advises several Masters of Science students, is a recovery team member for black-footed ferrets and swift foxes, and serves on various state and federal working groups. She aspires to remove the black-footed ferret from the Federal List of Threatened and Endangered Wildlife and restore connectivity among swift fox populations in the NGP. When not working on the prairie, Kristy lives, runs, bikes, skis, treks and travels through the wild places and faraway lands with her two dogs.