Kyle Ureta
Nonlead Ammunition Outreach Coordinator
Education
B.S. Fishery Resources, Minor in Aquaculture; University of Idaho, 2024
Master of Natural Resources, Fish & Wildlife Management Science; University of Idaho, 2025
Research/Career Interests
My academic path has centered on fisheries, but graduate school pushed me to broaden that focus. After finishing my B.S. in Fishery Resources I pursued a Master of Natural Resources to build the interdisciplinary knowledge I felt I was missing, particularly in wildlife management, since so many agency roles require biologists to work across both fish and wildlife resources. The program's flexible, course-based structure let me keep working in the field while I studied. Over the course of the program, I worked fisheries and habitat jobs across five states, including Utah, Idaho, Washington, California, and Montana, with state, federal, private, and nonprofit organizations.
I came to hunting as an adult. I didn't grow up around it and didn't fire a gun until I moved to Idaho for college, but a year living with lifelong hunters turned me into a full convert. I now hunt elk, deer, upland birds, and waterfowl, with a particular focus on non-lead ammunition after transitioning my own hunting to copper.
That combination of field experience and formal training shapes how I approach outreach now. I understand hunters' questions about ballistics, ethics, and non-lead ammunition because I asked them myself, and I know how to translate science for people who aren't scientists, whether that's hunters, landowners, or Tribal partners.
Presentation
Evaluating the Accuracy of UAS Enumerations of Chinook Salmon (O. tshawytscha) Redds Using Orthomosaic Models. Cade Crookshanks, Matthew Steinwurtzel, Doug Nelson, Jason Karl, Kyle Ureta, and Brian Kennedy. Presented at Cosumnes River Preserve for Anadromous Fish Day.