Hello, my name is Chris Goldade, and I am a Soil Health Technician with the South Dakota Soil Health Coalition. I grew up in Aberdeen but spent most of my free time either hunting or fishing or in a garden. I graduated from Northern State University with a degree in Environmental Science and a minor emphasis in studio art. After I graduated from college I went to work as a Biological Science Technician at Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center in Jamestown, ND. While working at the research center, I was involved in many wetland ecology projects during the summer and literature review projects on the effects of management on grassland nesting birds during the winter.
In 2003 I took a position with Pheasants Forever in Aberdeen as one of the first Farm Bill Biologists where I helped private landowners implement habitat projects on their land. In 2006 I started with the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks (GFP) in Aberdeen as the Resource Biologist where I was responsible for the management of Game Production Areas (GPAs) in a 7-county area. In 2015 I became the Regional Program Manager for GFP. I was supervising both the Aberdeen and Watertown GFP habitat crews and overseeing the management of GPAs in 13 counties. In 2021 I took a new position with GFP as a Private Lands Biologist where I was once again helping private landowners with their habitat projects. In December of 2023 I took a new position with the Soil Health Coalition where I will be concentrating most of my time in eastern SD.
My wife Lori and I and our 3 dogs live on a small acreage just north of Westport, SD. We grow produce on just over an acre of land and sell more than 45 different crops at local farmer’s markets and to local restaurants. I am very passionate about wildlife habitat, pollinators, and all types of gardening. At the Soil Health Coalition, I will be specializing in small scale agriculture and urban gardens. I am excited to learn all that I can and share this knowledge with the people of South Dakota.
