Face to Face
Ken Wilson
Fish and Wildlife Subject Matter Expert

Ken Wilson caught the Alaska bug earlier than most. At just 16, he headed north to Alaska through a University of Iowa science program for high school students. He knew this was where he was meant to be and six years later secured a research fellowship sponsored by the Fish and Wildlife Service at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. With nothing but a backpack, he landed at the Fairbanks International Airport certain of one thing: his wandering spirit had found its way home.

Ken worked for various state and federal agencies before starting up his own environmental consulting business, which he enjoyed for five years before joining Alyeska in 2001. With a double major in Environmental Science and Biology, topped off with a Master’s in Wildlife Management, he was more than qualified to begin his dream job as a Fish and Wildlife Subject Matter Expert for Alyeska Pipeline. Today, Ken conducts surveillance along the pipeline, monitoring environmental performance and keeping Alyeska in compliance with permitting regulations.

Q: What led you to pursue a position with Alyeska? What do you like most about working here?

The opportunity to team up with high caliber professionals was the biggest draw. In my environmental consulting business, I was the chief janitor, the IT pro and the company president. I wanted to be part of a team. Some of my jobs involved Alyeska people and I was very impressed with their professional approach, their commitment to safety and their rigorous procedures to protect the environment.

As part of the Environment Team, I work within Alyeska to integrate environmental protection into baseline and project activities. My “customers” are the birds, the mammals and the fish along TAPS, the Alyeska engineers and project managers, the Alaska Departments of Fish and Game and Natural Resources, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Finding win-win solutions to issues can be challenging, but also extremely rewarding. There is a synergy that comes into play because folks at Alyeska work hard to carry their own weight and then some. The tougher the job, the more I see this happen. During the emergency response that followed the pipeline shooting incident, after the 7.9 earthquake and during drills—this is when it is most visible, but it is something that I look forward to every day when I come to work.

Q. What do you enjoy most about Alaska and the Alaska lifestyle?

Fairbanks is the extreme opposite of where I grew up on the East Coast. I traveled here with a small group of students while I was in high school, and until I found a way back up here several years later, I never seemed to be able to settle anywhere else.

We teach our kids at home, so I get to be the Science Guy and the History Guy. I also run the Encouraging Department, with periodic assignments to the Quality Control Enforcement Division. We do things as a family and make the effort to turn travel and outdoor activities into learning opportunities.

From my house 800 feet above Fairbanks, I can see the entire central portion of the Alaska Range, from the Granite Mountains in the east, past Mt McKinley to Mt. Foraker in the West. I have to go through six traffic lights to get to work, but there’s no waiting in traffic. There’s nowhere like Alaska in the world. Why live anywhere else?