Sharp comes to Cypress Creek from the Services Central Louisiana National Wildlife Refuge Complex, where he has served as project leader since 1999. Sharp was deputy project leader at Cache River and Bald Knob National Wildlife refuges in Arkansas from 1991 to 1999. Prior to coming to the Service, Sharp worked as a wildlife biologist and wildlife management supervisor for the Tennessee Valley Authority at Land Between the Lakes in western Kentucky and Tennessee.
"Im very excited about returning to southern Illinois and the opportunity to work at Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge," Sharp said. "I look forward to working with the public and the refuges partners in our efforts to restore and conserve the important natural resources at Cypress Creek and the surrounding Cache River basin."
Sharp received a bachelor of science degree in 1976 from Murray State University, where he studied biology. He received a masters degree in wildlife biology from Murray State in 1980.
Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1990, is located near Ullin in southern Illinois, about 40 miles south of Marion. The refuge currently encompasses 14,000 acres including some of the states most important wetland habitats. Cypress Creek refuge is part of the Cache River Wetland Joint Venture Project, with partners including the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, The Nature Conservancy and Ducks Unlimited. The Cache River Basin was named a Wetland of International Importance in 1996, and the area contains the largest remaining wetland resource in Illinois, harboring more than 50 state threatened or endangered plants and animals. The refuge itself supports the oldest known living plants east of the Mississippi River
