Debbie Colbert was appointed Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife director in May 2024 and is the first woman to ever be appointed to the permanent ODFW Director position in the agency’s long history.
She has served Oregon for more than two decades, working with diverse groups on natural resource issues, advancing landscape level conservation, and supporting resilience of Oregon’s wildlife, communities, and natural and working lands.
Debbie earned a B.S. in Biology, M.S. in Oceanography, and Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Oceanography. She was selected as a 2022 National Conservation Leadership Fellow
In her free time, her passion for conservation is energized by outdoor adventures with family and friends, whether on the water, in the woods, or on the beach.