James is a native of Hays, NC and his passion for the outdoors stemmed from a childhood of
hunting, fly fishing, hiking, camping, and snorkeling for aquatic species. James received both his
bachelor’s and master’s degree in biology from Western Carolina University. While in college,
he focused his research on habitat requirements of rare and endangered fishes and mussels in
the Little Tennessee River Basin. Prior to coming to the GA DNR, he worked for the National
Park Service at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park doing trout monitoring and brook
trout restoration work.