Our Regional Leadership
Nationally, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is led by a Director, a team of Assistant Directors and eight Regional Directors. (See our headquarters organizational chart.)
The conservation actions of the Southeast Region are guided by the Southeast Regional Director, Deputy Regional Director, and a team of Assistant Regional Directors and Chiefs who guide regional operations.
Leopoldo “Leo” Miranda
Regional Director
For the last seven years, Leo served as the Assistant Regional Director for Ecological Services in the Southeast where he led the successful implementation of an At-Risk wildlife strategy that focuses on using tools available under the Endangered Species Act to prevent the need to list species. He and his team also prioritized the need to accelerate recovery conservation with private landowners, state and local governments, the business community and our military partners across the Region, saving money and time, and benefiting conservation.
Before joining the Southeast Region, Leo led the Service’s team in Annapolis at our Chesapeake Bay Field Office where he oversaw the work of ecological services and closely coordinated their work with six national wildlife refuges and one fisheries office. He began his career with the Service as a private lands biologist in Puerto Rico where he first began matching conservation results with local business owners working with the island’s shade-grown coffee owners. That early work influenced his interest and emphasis in working with the business community, private landowners and other conservation agencies on large-scale conservation efforts like longleaf pine restoration efforts occurring across the Southeast Region.
Leo is an avid hunter and angler who loves the outdoors and outdoor recreation. When he is not working, spending time with his family, or sitting in a tree stand, he is managing habitat for at-risk and listed wildlife including gopher tortoises and red-cockaded woodpeckers on his farm near Columbus, Georgia.
He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Marine Biology from the University of Puerto Rico and a Master’s Degree in Zoology from North Carolina State University. He lives in the Atlanta metro area with his wife Jessica; his son, Pablo; and four four-legged family members Venus, Bromelia, Tanna and Rex.
Mike Oetker
Deputy Regional Director
Mike Oetker is the Deputy Regional Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Southeast Region where he oversees the agency’s operations involving more than 1,300 employees spread out over 10 states and the Caribbean islands. He has been with the Service for 19 years.
Before coming to Atlanta, Mike worked in the Southwest Region where he was involved with conflicts over endangered fish and water management. He also worked on fisheries management issues in the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Basin for the Service’s Midwest Region.
Mike got his start in natural resource management and policy development as a Knauss Sea Grant Fellow, where he worked for the Committee on Natural Resources in the U.S. House of Representatives. He is a graduate from Iowa State University and Michigan State University.
Allan Brown
Assistant Regional Director, Fisheries and Aquatic Conservation
Allan has over thirty years experience with the Service. After graduating from Michigan State University in the spring of 1984, Allan held temporary positions at Senecaville National Fish Hatchery (NFH) Ohio and the National Fishery Center in Lamar, Pennsylvania. As a permanent employee Allan served as a biological technician and a fisheries biologist before moving to Welaka NFH. All together Allan spent 20 years at Weklaka NFH as an assistant hatchery manager, hatchery manager, and program supervisor for warmwater hatcheries for the southeast region. Most recently Allan was selected as the Assistant Regional Director for Fisheries and Aquatic Conservation in the southeast region in September of 2014.
Allan has been married for 34 years with 3 adult children all of whom have married and three granddaughters. Allan and his wife like to travel, go boating, hiking, and keep busy taking care of two dogs.
Dr. Bill Uihlein
Assistant Regional Director, Science Applications
Dr. Bill Uihlein serves as the Assistant Regional Director of the Science Application Team. Science Applications provides a mission-driven relationship-building forum that focuses on defining the conservation landscape of the future to sustain fish and wildlife. The team is committed to facilitating FWS’ interest in Strategic Habitat Conservation through science capacity development, landscape planning and integration, informing targeted conservation actions, measuring results, and evaluating uncertainties.
Bill’s wife is a special education teacher, and together they have 3 very cool sons. His background and love of the outdoors came from his childhood of working for his dad, the foreman, on several ranches in Wyoming, California, and New Mexico. Bill earned a Bachelors and Masters Degree in Biology from Eastern New Mexico University and a PhD from Mississippi State University. His FWS career has been in Migratory Birds, serving as the Science Coordinator and eventually the Coordinator of the Lower Mississippi Valley Joint Venture partnership. Much of his work experiences have centered on leadership, relationship building, and leveraging technical expertise in landscape assessment, ecosystem modeling, and monitoring for waterfowl and landbirds.
David Viker
Regional Chief, National Wildlife Refuge System
David Viker is a 26-year veteran of the Service, starting his career in 1992 as a wildlife biologist trainee after serving as a refuge volunteer while in college at the University of Florida. David worked up refuge management ranks on five field stations in five states. Along the way, he earned a federal law enforcement commission, obtained a fire management wildfire “red card,” and operated an array of heavy equipment pieces to manage habitat. David moved on to the Atlanta Regional Office as a Deputy Refuge Supervisor, helping leading several dozen refuges in four states. David then stepped up as Regional Chief and then Assistant Regional Director of the Migratory Bird Program, working closely with States and other partners in the Joint Ventures System and system of Flyways to set migratory bird regulations. David returned to the NWRS after more than five years with Migratory Bird Program.
Since January 2011, David served as the Regional Chief of the NWRS in the Southeast Region, leading more than 650 permanent employees on 130 refuges in 10 States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. These refuges, visited by more than 15 million people annually, range from just a few acres for an endangered species to the 400,000-acre Okefenokee wilderness.
David’s areas of greatest professional interest include compatibility and appropriate use policy, connecting wildlife habitats through landscape linkages, and connecting people with nature. David’s greatest passion, though, is helping others grow. He has served over the years as the regional youth coordinator; member of the Diversity Committee; he founded the regional Leadership Development Council; helped establish the “E-4 Mentoring” program; teaches at the National Conservation Training Center (Refuge Academy; Advanced Refuge Academy; and the NWRS Improvement Act course he helped design); speaks frequently on the power of diversity; and has helped coach the Advanced Leadership Development Program.
David’s favorite quote is by Thomas Jefferson: “In matters of style, swim with the current. In matters of principle, stand like a rock.” David has been a volunteer youth sports coach for more than 40 teams, ages 4 to 18, in basketball, baseball, softball, track & field, and soccer. His favorite times are spent with his wife of 23 years and their three children, doing faith-based volunteering, fishing, canoeing, hiking, camping, hunting, and other outdoor-activities.
Jack Arnold
Acting Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services
Jackie Parrish
Assistant Regional Director, Budget and Administration
Jackie Parrish has served since 2003 as the Assistant Regional Director for Budget and Administration for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Southeast Region. Jackie provides support to other Regional leaders and their field stations in areas such as, budgeting and finance, contracting, safety, security, general services, human resources, information technology, and engineering.
Jackie began her federal career with the U.S. Navy, serving in a number of field management positions, in areas such as construction, natural resources, health and safety, historic properties, military housing, and business functions, such as contracting, finance, and human resources. Jackie left the Navy in 1991 and joined the Navy’s civilian workforce in a similar capacity. In 1993 she was selected for an executive development program that sent her to EPA’s headquarters as the Base Closure Coordinator, followed by a position with DoD working on environmental cleanup of closing bases. In 1995, she went to Office of Management and Budget, where she worked on issues, such as the cleanup of the nuclear weapons complex and military construction. She left OMB in 1998 for a position with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta as an Associate Director for Policy, Evaluation, and Legislation.
Jackie spent her childhood in rural Maryland where her family was active in scouting, camping, fishing, and hunting. As a young teen her family moved to Florence, South Carolina, where Jackie first realized her passion to help others by volunteering her evenings and weekends tutoring disadvantaged, minority students to help them to pursue their academic and career goals. After high school, she attended the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, graduating in 1985 with a B.S. in Chemistry.
Jackie and her children live in Suwanee, Georgia where they are active in their Church and Georgia Christian Dance Theater. She enjoys running and hiking with her children.
Jeffrey Fleming
Assistant Regional Director, External Affairs
Jeff Fleming serves as Assistant Regional Director for External Affairs in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Southeast Region. He joined the Region’s leadership team in December 2004. He joined the Service’s Office of Public Affairs at its headquarters in July 2003.
Fleming served a short stint as the Izaak Walton League of America’s first communications director from September 2001 to July 2003 helping to build communications capacity and expand its role and influence within the conservation community. He also provided support to a team of innovative leaders establishing the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership in that short period of time.
For more than 10 years up until then, he served as press secretary and environmental policy aide to U.S. Rep. John Tanner of Tennessee from 1991 to late 2001. From 1988 to 1991, he served as a staff reporter for The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, and the Chattanooga Free Press.
He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and is married with three children. He lives in Hoschton, Georgia.
Dr. Kevin Reynolds
Assistant Regional Director for Gulf Restoration
Kevin Reynolds leads the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Gulf restoration efforts resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. He provides leadership, direction, and coordination across Service Programs and Department bureaus for all planning, implementation and evaluation of restoration efforts funded primarily by criminal and civil settlements with BP and other responsible parties that followed the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Kevin earned a B.A. in Neuroscience from Hamilton College, and a Masters and Ph.D. in Environmental Toxicology from Clemson and Texas Tech University, respectively. His first job with the Service was in the Arizona Ecological Services Field Office, and he also worked in Headquarters prior to joining the Southeast Region in 2011. He and his wife Leah live in Johns Creek, Georgia with their three children, Kelly, Nick and Caitlin.
Laurel Barnhill
Chief, Migratory Bird Program
Laurel Barnhill serves as the Chief of the Migratory Bird Program for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-Southeast Region. She joined the Service in 2011 as Southeast Region National Wildlife Refuge System Inventory and Monitoring Coordinator. Laurel’s prior positions were as the Bird Conservation Coordinator for South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Biologist for the USDA Forest Service – Savannah River, and Passerine Bird Coordinator for Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
Laurel earned a M.S. in Zoology from the University of Arkansas and a B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology from the University of Vermont.
Luis Santiago
Special Agent in Charge, Office of Law Enforcement
Luis has served in various position during his 30-plus years of service with the Office of Law Enforcement including: Wildlife Inspector 1986-1995; Special Agent 1995-2001; Senior Special Agent (Headquarters Office) 2001-2004; Resident Agent in Charge (first-line supervisor) 2004-2007; and Assistant Special Agent in Charge (regional management) 2007-20011.
As the Special Agent in Charge (SAC) for the Southeast Region, Luis has line management authority and exercises responsibility over the region’s law enforcement program. Regional activities in enforcing the fish and wildlife laws, involves: investigation, surveillance, conducting raids, interviewing witnesses, interrogating suspects, seizures of contraband, equipment and vehicles, securing and serving search warrants, making arrests, developing evidence for orderly presentation to the United States Attorney and other legal officers, testifying in court, preparing written reports, and conducting undercover operations.
Regional activities enforcing wildlife laws are conducted through a force of Special Agents handling criminal and civil investigations, and a force of Wildlife Inspectors who implement the wildlife inspection program, which interdicts illegal wildlife traffic while facilitating the legal wildlife trade.
Luis is a graduate of Advanced Leadership Development Program cohort VI. He also completed the 2008 Strategic Management of Regulatory and Enforcement Agencies program offered by the JFK School of Government, Executive Education Harvard University. He is an alumni of the Harvard University, JFK School of Government, Senior Executive Fellows, May 2011.
Mike Piccirilli
Chief, Wildlife and Sport fish Restoration Program
As Chief of the Wildlife and Sport fish Restoration Program (WSFR) Mike administers a variety of grant programs in the Southeast Region in cooperation with our partner state agencies. With a cumulative total of approximately $305 million annually these grant funds are used to enhance the state’s ability to manage their fish and wildlife resources for the benefit of the public.
Mike began his career with the Fish and Wildlife Service in 1991 at Erie National Wildlife Refuge. In 1997 he accepted a position in WSFR as a Biologist. In 2002 he was selected as Wildlife Branch Supervisor and as Chief of WSFR in 2004. Prior to his FWS experience, Mike worked as a Biologist for the Bureau of Reclamation (BoR) in the North Platte, Wyoming Office. There he administered agriculture and grazing leases and lease agreements to state, county and other federal agencies on BoR lands. Before working for the BoR he worked for the Army Corps of Engineers as a Park Ranger in the Nashville District, performing lakeshore management activities that included permitting private and commercial moorage facilities.
Mike has been married to his spouse Sue for 33 years and has one son Andy. Mike enjoys spending as much of his free time as possible fly fishing for trout, fly tying and target shooting.