Bruce has always had a passion for the out-of-doors, growing up hunting white-tailed deer in the hardwood forests of Arkansas and spending summers catching largemouth bass on surface plugs and running trotlines to haul in big flathead catfish.

Seeking a career in wildlife ecology, he received a B.S. degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Management from Arkansas Tech University in 1976, and a M.S. degree in Biology from the University of Central Arkansas in 1981, completing his thesis research “A Comparison of Eight Aging Techniques of White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in Arkansas“.

While at the Arkansas Department of Pollution Control and Ecology for nine years, he concurrently held positions in both the Technical Services and Construction Assistance Divisions as an Aquatic Ecologist and a NEPA Program Coordinator.  His work included development of environmental pollutant fate models, ambient stream biomonitoring, and NEPA Environmental Assessments for municipal wastewater facilities. He authored “Guidelines for Preparation of Environmental Information Documents for Municipal Revolving Loan Fund Projects” and pioneered new techniques for conducting aquatic biological surveys in Arkansas’ streams, authoring “Rapid Bioassessments of Lotic Macroinvertebrate Communities: Biocriteria Development”.  His aquatic ecology research was cited in the USEPA guidance “Rapid Bioassessment Protocols for Use in Streams and Rivers: Benthic Macroinvertebrates”, and the University of California at Berkeley textbook “Freshwater Biomonitoring and Benthic Macroinvertebrates“.  He presented his research findings at the USEPA First Biocriteria Workshop in Chicago in 1987.

Shackleford served on the Biology Department faculty at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, before becoming Branch Manager of the EnviroMed Little Rock, Arkansas branch office startup.  He initiated environmental laboratory analytical capabilities; freshwater acute and chronic bioassay testing; and environmental consulting services, including development of Toxicity Identification Evaluation (TIE) and Toxicity Reduction Evaluation (TRE) strategies for industrial wastewater discharges.

Founding Environmental Consulting Operations, Inc. in 1990, he is currently president of the firm that specializes in industrial and municipal wastewater Clean Water Act permitting, wetland delineations and wetland/stream compensatory mitigation, stormwater permitting/pollution prevention; Clean Air Act permitting; USFWS Section 7 Endangered Species Act consultations; National Environmental Policy Act Environmental Information Document development; Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act environmental site assessments; wetland, stream, and prairie ecological restoration; and sedimentation and erosion control specifications for construction projects.  Shackleford is a Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Controls, a Registered Environmental Manager, and a Registered Environmental Property Assessor.

He has served on the Arkansas Environmental Federation’s Water Quality Committee, Toxic Metals Subcommittee, Continuous Planning Process Subcommittee, Chair of the Stormwater Permit Subcommittee, and Chair of the NPDES Biosolids Permit Subcommittee.  He served nationally on the USEPA Environmental Risk Assessment Guidelines Work Group, USEPA Contributing Committee for Biological Criteria Program Guidance Document, and USDA National Forest Service Washington, D.C. Work Group for EIS/NEPA Review of herbicide use along electrical R-O-W’s in Ozark & Ouachita National Forests.

Bruce resides in Cody, WY with his wife Cathy and brings 45 years experience as an environmental professional to The WYldlife Fund.