Longtime CKWRI Faculty Tim Fulbright and Alfonso “Poncho” Ortega Officially Retire

Longtime CKWRI faculty Tim Fulbright and Alfonso “Poncho” Ortega have officially retired.  Earlier this month the Institute hosted a retirement celebration in their honor.  It was fitting that they were recognized together because they worked closely on many projects and published 4 books on white-tailed deer management together. 

Dr. Fulbright joined CKWRI in 1982, shortly after it was established.  He experienced the early days of the Institute and helped it grow into the nationally recognized research unit it is today.  Tim’s career focused on rangeland ecology and in 2000, he became the Meadows Professor in Semiarid Land Ecology.  He taught courses in habitat management, advised several dozen MS and PhD graduate students, and developed impactful research programs on white-tailed deer, bobwhite and scaled quail, and rangeland restoration.  Tim was also honored as a Regents Professor and received a variety of awards from the College, TAMUK, Texas Section Society of Range Management, the Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society, and the Native Plant Society of Texas.  He was also honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Range Management.

 Dr. Ortega was National Leader of the Range and Forage Program for Mexico’s National Research Institute of Forestry, Crops and Livestock when he started spending summers in Kingsville, working on special projects for CKWRI.  He then joined the Institute in 2001 and quickly established a reputation for excellence in livestock-wildlife interactions.  Poncho also led CKWRI’s research and outreach efforts in Mexico, assisting many projects and integrating CKWRI personnel in dozens of wildlife and rangeland meetings in Mexico.  Poncho taught courses in grazing and rangeland management techniques and advised a host of MS and PhD graduate students.  He was honored with outstanding achievement awards from the Texas Section Society for Range Management (SRM) and the national SRM.  He was also honored as an SRM Fellow in 2016 and served as President of SRM in 2022.

 Both Drs. Fulbright and Ortega leave a lasting legacy on CKWRI, TAMUK, and natural resource management in Texas.  We are blessed that they dedicated their careers to helping conserve our wildlife and rangelands.