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The Deputy Commissioners assist the Commissioner and provide oversight to the agency’s seven divisions as they help to carry out the mission of the department. They work closely with the department’s senior leadership team, staff, Commission, and other stakeholders in developing internal and public policy.
Brian Clark was named Deputy Commissioner for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources in 2019. He has worked in a variety of jobs in his career, ranging from technician to research associate to field biologist to administrator.
Brian was raised on a farm in rural North Carolina, where he developed a passion for the outdoors at a young age. He started with the department’s Wildlife Division as an entry-level biologist and served in several other positions before becoming a regional wildlife coordinator. In 2010, he was promoted to assistant director of the Public Affairs (now Marketing) Division, where he worked extensively on survey research and other public involvement efforts, helped build the department’s social media platforms, and worked to establish its digital and email marketing programs. Before his current role, Brian served as Chief of Staff for the department.
Brian serves on or chairs several regional and national committees and workgroups that are aimed at improving the effectiveness of state fish and wildlife agencies and partnering organizations who share mutual goals, such as increasing participation in outdoor activities. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in forestry and wildlife from Virginia Tech, a Master’s degree in wildlife and fisheries sciences from the University of Tennessee, and a graduate certification in human dimensions (social sciences) from Colorado State University. He has been a Certified Wildlife Biologist since 2000. Brian loves the department’s staff and constituents and is passionate about what Kentucky Fish and Wildlife does as an agency, and works diligently to help advance its mission. He is a lifelong hunter, angler, boater and wildlife watcher. Brian enjoys going afield with friends and family, and mentoring new participants in the outdoors.
Gabe Jenkins was named Deputy Commissioner for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources in 2022.
Gabe was raised on a working farm in rural Ohio, where his interest in farming, hunting, and fishing was cultivated. As a youth, he volunteered with local biologists capturing deer fawns, assisting in wild turkey and ruffed grouse surveys and stream fish sampling. He later went on to attend Eastern Kentucky University and earn a Bachelor’s degree in wildlife management and a Master’s degree in biology with an emphasis in fisheries management.
Gabe started with the department in 2007 as a biologist in the deer and elk program and was promoted in 2014 to Deer and Elk Program Coordinator. While working within the deer and elk program, he worked on various aspects of deer and elk management, wildlife diseases, elk translocation and research. In 2019 he joined the Information and Education Division as its director after 12 years in the Wildlife Division. In his role, he worked across division lines to help further the agency and its programs through communications, including “Kentucky Afield” magazine and TV, hunter/angler recruitment, retention and reactivation (R3); and conservation education in the schools and through the department’s summer conservation camps.
Gabe loves the resources of our beautiful commonwealth and is also passionate about serving the department's staff and its many stakeholders. He has served on various regional and national committees and working groups aimed at deer and elk management, wildlife diseases, conservation education, and increasing participation in outdoor activities. Gabe is an avid hunter, recreational shooter, angler and mentor. He currently lives on a small farm in central Kentucky with his wife and their two children.