Hailey was born and raised in southern Idaho, riding horses, camping, hiking, and playing in the fields and foothills around her home. She earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Wyoming, with a double major in zoology & equine science. After graduation, Hailey worked as a wildlife technician for many research and management agencies, and studied a multitude of species such as chipmunks, raccoons, mule deer, Yellowstone cutthroat trout, Brook stickleback, golden eagles, elk, mountain lions, Mexican gray wolves, moose, bighorn sheep, and pronghorn. In her off time, Hailey can be found hunting, fly fishing, backpacking, hiking with her dog, Zip, or scheming up another adventure.

While desert bighorn sheep restoration efforts have been successful in the Trans-Pecos, careful management of this species remains important, as there are lingering concerns over disease and resource competition with mule deer and aoudad. The desert bighorn herd that occupies the Elephant Mountain Wildlife Management Area is an important population as it is a vital nursery herd for restoration efforts across the state. In order to ensure that statewide restocking efforts can continue without detrimentally reducing numbers in this nursery herd, this project will calculate carrying capacity for desert bighorn on Elephant Mountain. Mule deer will also be studied in an effort to determine the degree of resource competition between desert bighorn and mule deer. To do this, Hailey is utilizing remote sensing, fecal sampling, vegetation surveys, and collar data from both mule deer and desert bighorn. This project also delves into the spatial movements of desert bighorn in the Elephant Mountain herd to assess potential risk of disease transmission between this population and other herds they may interact with in the surrounding area.