Claire
Williams
Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke
University
Chair and Organizer, Landscapes, Genomics and Transgenic Forests
Forum
Dr. Claire Williams is Visiting Professor at the Nicholas School
of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke University. Her
research focus has been at the interface of natural resources
management and genomics tools, an emerging research area that
she defines as landscape genomics. Specific research areas range
from DNA analysis of presettlement forests to gene flow from genetically
modified conifers. She has worked with the North Carolina Biotechnology
Center on forest biotechnology problems analysis and ultimately
serving on the advisory committee founding the Institute of Forest
Biotechnology. Over the past 20 years, Dr. Williams’ research
achievements have won recognition as a Guggenheim Fellow, a senior
Fulbright Scholar to Canada, a Dr. Lee Senior Fellow at Oxford
University and a Bullard Fellow at Harvard University. Prior to
coming to Duke University, Dr. Williams was Full Professor on
the Faculty of Genetics and in Forestry at Texas A&M University.
She has more than 98 publications, of which 55 are peer-reviewed
journals, books and book chapters. Her book, Genetics of Conifer
Reproduction, is forthcoming with Cambridge University Press.
She worked for Weyerhaeuser Company for a total of seven years.
Dr. Williams received her doctorate in Forest Genetics, from NC
State University in 1986. Her book, Genetics of Conifer Reproduction,
is forthcoming with Cambridge University Press. Dr. Williams received
her doctorate in Forest Genetics, from NC State University.
Jesse
H. Ausubel
Program for the Human Environment, Rockefeller University
Jesse H. Ausubel directs the Program for the Human Environment
at The Rockefeller University in New York. Since 1994, Mr. Ausubel
has served concurrently as a program director for the Alfred P.
Sloan Foundation. Between 1977-1989, Mr. Ausubel was employed
by the National Academy of Sciences/National Academy of Engineering
in Washington DC. Increasingly interested in biodiversity, in
2000 Mr. Ausubel helped bring into existence a major international
program to assess and explain the diversity, distribution, and
abundance of life in the oceans, the Census of Marine Life. He
has also played a leading role in development of DNA barcoding
for species identification and the formation of the Consortium
for the Barcode of Life in 2004, which is creating a reference
library of short DNA sequences for animals and plants which will
eventually be accessible via a handheld device for DNA-based field
identification of specimens. Educated at Harvard and Columbia,
Mr. Ausubel serves on the editorial board of The Journal of
Industrial Ecology, is a University Fellow of Resources for
the Future, and an adjunct faculty member of the Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution. As a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR),
Mr. Ausubel has led activities on energy and on forests.
Roni
Avissar
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University
Dr. Avissar is W.H. Gardner Professor and Chair of the Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Prior to coming to Duke
in 2001, he was the Chair of the Department of Environmental Sciences
(1998-2001) and the Director of the Center for Environmental Prediction
(1998-2001) which he founded at Rutgers University. In spring
1998, he took a sabbatical at the NASA-Goddard Institute for Space
Studies. Dr. Avissar is a Fellow of the American Meteorological
Society and a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union. He was
also the recipient of the prestigious American Geophysical Union
Robert E. Horton Award. For the past 25 years, Dr. Avissar has
focused on the development and evaluation of various environmental
fluid dynamics models to study ocean-land-atmosphere interactions
at the various spatial and temporal scales.
Ann
Bartuska
USDA-Forest Service
Dr. Bartuska is Deputy Chief for Research and Development,
USDA Forest Service. An ecosystem ecologist, she came to that
position in January, 2004 from The Nature Conservancy, where she
was Executive Director of the Invasive Species Initiative from
2001 - 2003. Her past research focused on ecosystems processes
in landscapes disturbed by coal mining. From 1982 to 1989 she
managed research, development and assessment programs associated
with the effects of acid rain and air pollution under the National
Acid Precipitation Assessment Program. She began this program
at North Carolina State University and expanded the program after
joining the USDA Forest Service. In 1989, Dr. Bartuska was named
Assistant Station Director for Continuing Research in the Southeastern
Forest Experiment Station, where she was responsible for research
in Georgia and Florida. She relocated to the Forest Service's
Washington Office - Forest Environment Research staff in 1991
as Wetlands Specialist, with specific responsibilities to develop
a National Wetlands Research Program. She became the first Director
of Ecosystem Management when that staff was created in 1992. Dr.
Bartuska spent 1993 as Forest Service Liaison to the National
Biological Survey of the Department of Interior, then returned
to the Forest Service as Director of Forest Health Protection
in October, 1994. In January, 1999, she became the first woman
and first ecologist to be named Director of Forest Management.
In 2000, she also became responsible for the Range Management
program and began integrating forest and rangelands into an all-vegetation
focus. She is active in the Ecological Society of America, serving
as Vice-President for Public Affairs from 1996 – 1999 and President
in 2003. She also is a member of the Society of American Foresters
and serves on the Board of the Council of Science Society Presidents.
Dr. Bartuska received her doctorate from West Virginia University.
Philip
Benfey
Department of Biology, Duke University
Dr. Benfey is the Paul Kramer Professor and Chair of the
Department of Biology at Duke University. His research interests
include plant developmental genetics and genomics. Currently he
is investigating how Arabidopsis thaliana develops and
entire root system from a single cell. He received his undergraduate
degree in biochemistry from the University of Paris, and completed
graduate studies with Lasker Award winner Philip Leder at Harvard,
where he received a Ph.D. in Cell and Developmental Biology. He
also did postdoctoral work in plant molecular biology and held
the post of assistant professor at The Rockefeller University.
Anne-Christine
Bonfils
Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada
Dr. Bonfils is Science Advisor for the Biotechnology Research
Program for the Canadian Forest Service (CFS), Natural Resources
Canada. She chairs the CFS Biotechnology Management Committee,
which has a mandate to advise on strategic orientations and budget
allocations for research. She has been instrumental in increasing
allocation of an additional $12.5 million towards forest biotechnology
research between 1998 and 2004. Dr. Bonfils works to position
biotechnology as an important avenue towards sustainable development
of Canada’s forests. Prior to her position with CFS, she worked
as a Plant Biotechnology Regulator with the Canadian Food Inspection
Agency for five years. During this time she was actively involved
in the development of Part V of the Seeds Regulations and related
regulatory directives for the environmental assessment of plants
with novel traits, evaluated hundreds of applications for confined
field testing of plants with novel traits, coordinated subsequent
field inspections, conducted environmental assessments including
the first unconfined release of a transgenic crop in Canada (glufosinate-tolerant
canola); and prepared Decision Documents, among which was DD95-01,
the first issued by the Plant Biosafety Office. Dr. Bonfils received
her Ph.D. in plant biotechnology in 1992.
Jeffrey
Boore
DOE Joint Genome Institute
Dr. Jeffrey Boore heads the Evolutionary Genomics group at
the Joint Genome Institute (JGI. He holds a doctorate in biology
from the University of Michigan. Research interests include comparative
genomics, molecular evolution, systematics, organelle genomics,
and high-throughput DNA sequencing. His research team is working
on a wide range of research projects including comparisons of
mitochondrial and chloroplast genomes, exploring gene rearrangements
as a character for reconstructing evolutionary relationships,
identifying the phylogenetic footprint of gene regulatory signals
and addressing the possibility of an ancient genome duplication
in early vertebrates. His team has developed specialized software
and innovative laboratory techniques. Some of his group’s projects
at JGI require significant molecular biology work, whereas others
are primarily analytical. These projects address scientific questions
ranging from conservation biology and population genetics to reconstructing
the deepest branches of the tree of life, all united by the theme
of better understanding the evolution of organisms and their genomes.
Eric
Brenner
New York University and New York Botanical Garden
Dr. Brenner is Assistant Research Professor with joint appointments
at the New York University and in the New York Botanical Garden.
His research interests include glutamate receptors and their involvement
in signaling in plants. He is also a project leader in the genomics
research lab at the New York Botanical Garden studying the evolutionary
origin of seeds. His accomplishments include the development of
genomic studies in three of the four major gymnosperm clades:
Cycadales, Ginkgoales and Gnetales. Dr. Brenner earned a doctorate
at the University of California-Davis with a degree in Plant Biology.
John
Cairney
Georgia Institute of Technology
Dr. Cairney is Associate Professor in the School of Biology
at Georgia Tech in Atlanta GA. Since 1994, his workplace has been
the Institute of Paper Science and Technology on the Georgia Tech
campus. Dr. Cairney's research interests are in gene regulation
during conifer embryo development. This work focuses upon both
natural development within pine seeds and, in a laboratory setting,
during somatic embryogenesis in tissue culture. Dr. John Cairney
obtained his education in Scotland, gaining his B.S. (Honours)
in Molecular Biology in 1982 at the University of Glasgow and
his Ph.D. in the Department of Biochemistry at the University
of Dundee in 1986. He was awarded a European Molecular Biology
Organization Fellowship to conduct postdoctoral research at the
Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin, Germany,
and after further postdoctoral research at Columbia University,
NY, and Texas A&M University, he became a faculty member at
Texas A&M in the Department of Forest Science.
Neil
Carman
Sierra Club
Neil Carman serves on the Sierra Club's genetic engineering committee
working on national policy issues concerning genetically engineered
organisms. He received his Bachelors of Science and Masters of
Science in Botany from the University of Iowa at Iowa City and
his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin.
James
Clark
Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke
University
Dr. Clark is H.L Blomquist Professor of Biology. His research
focuses on how global change affects forests and grasslands. Current
projects include recurrent drought effects on vegetation cover
and fire in the Northern Plains and aridity and fire effects on
North American temperate and boreal forests during recent millennia.
His lab is using long-term experiments and monitoring studies
to determine disturbance and climate controls on the dynamics
of 20th century forests in the southern Appalachians. Analyses
of forest succession at Duke University’s Free Air CO2 Experiment
(FACE) are being used to assess how changing atmospheric chemistry
is affecting the trajectory of change in modern pine forests.
At Duke University, Dr. Clark teaches Community Ecology and Ecological
Models & Data. He has served as the Director of Graduate Studies
for the University Program in Ecology and as Director of the Center
on Global Change.
Stephen
DiFazio
Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Dr. DiFazio is a Research Scientist at the Environmental
Sciences Division at Oak Ridge National Lab and Adjunct Professor
of Plant Sciences Department and Genome Sciences and Technology
Program at the University of Tennessee.. He has been instrumental
in completing the sequencing of the entire poplar genome in 2004,
the first forest tree genome to be completely sequenced. He conducts
research on plant genetics and ecosystem genomics related to energy
security, carbon sequestration, and ecosystem responses to climatic
change. His other research interests include molecular ecology;
ecosystem genomics; forest biotechnology, gene flow and establishment
in plant populations, plant reproductive biology, landscape ecology
and biotechnology risk assessment. Dr. DiFazio received his doctorate
from Oregon State University in 2002.
Chris
Dionigi
US Department of Interior, Invasive Species Council
Chris Dionigi is the Assistant Director for Domestic Policy,
Science and Cooperation for the National Invasive Species Council
(NISC). Prior to joining the NISC staff in 2000, Chris served
a fellowship on the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, and
he was a researcher for Agricultural Research Service for 11 years.
Chris has a Ph.D. in weed science from Iowa State University.
David
Ellis
USDA-ARS National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation
Dr. Ellis is Director at the USDA-ARS National Center for Genetic
Resources Preservation in Fort Collins, Colorado. Prior to joining
the USDA in March of 2004, he had over 20 years experience in
forest tree and woody plant biotechnology in both academia and
industry. He was one of the first research pioneers to successfully
genetically engineer conifers and establish the first field tests.
His leadership experience in industry has been highlighted by
his past positions as Director of Biotechnology at BC Research
and his founding position at CellFor as the Director of Molecular
Biology, both in Vancouver, British Columbia. As the Director
of Operations at CellFor Dr. Ellis was directly responsible for
the production of >3 million of loblolly pine somatic seedlings
in 2003. His current research interests include the identification
and preservation of genetically diverse germplasm of importance
in current and future breeding programs, as well as the global
storage, security and exchange of germplasm. His group currently
works on the cryopreservation of mint, strawberry, grapes, pears,
apples, sweet potato, currants and garlic. He is a past Associate
Editor of the journal In Vitro Cellular and Developmental
Biology – Plant and a member of the Board of Directors for
the Society for In Vitro Biology. Dr. Ellis received his Ph.D.
in Botany from the University of Montana.
Hely
Häggman
University of Oulu, Finland
Dr. Hely Häggmann is Professor of Plant Physiology at the
University of Oulu, Finland. Prior to her move to Oulu, she was
the Group Leader of “The Forest Tree Biotechnology Project” from
1989 until 2002 at the Finnish Forest Research Institute at the
Punkaharju Research Station. Her research interests range from
molecular biology, biotechnology and ecological effects of transgenic
forest trees. She received her doctorate in Plant Physiology from
the Department of Botany at the University of Oulu, Finland.
Lee
Handley
USDA-APHIS Biotechnology Regulatory Service
Dr. Handley represents the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service in the Risk Assessment Branch within Biotechnology
Regulatory Services in Washington DC. His focus is risk assessment
for pharmaceutical crops and perennial species. He has worked
at Westvaco Corporation where he was their first scientific hire
in forest biotechnology, researching forest tree tissue culture
and genetic transformation of forest trees for eighteen years.
He is an inventor or co-inventor on nine patents in somatic embryogenesis
and genetic transformation in forest trees. He also led the tissue
culture and transformation groups, and helped build Westvaco’s
Forest Biotechnology Program into a world-class research organization.
Later he was involved in the early formation and planning for
the joint-venture biotechnology company ArborGen LLC and later
served as MeadWestvaco’s science liaison to ArborGen’s technical
program. He holds a doctoral degree in horticulture from North
Carolina State University.
Robert
B. Jackson
Department of Biology, Duke University
Dr. Jackson is Professor in Biology and at the Nicholas School
of the Environment and Earth Sciences as well as Director of the
Center for Global Change, University Program in Ecology and the
new Stable Isotope Mass Spectrometry Laboratory. In 1999 Jackson
received a Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering
from the National Science Foundation (one of 19 scientists honored
at the White House by President Clinton). He is currently President
of the Physiological Ecology Section of the Ecological Society
of America and President-elect of the American Geophysical Union's
new Biogeosciences Section. He teaches and studies ecosystem functioning
and feedbacks between global change and the biosphere. Jackson
earned his doctorate in plant ecology from Utah State University.
Honorable
Joseph Jen
USDA Undersecretary of Agriculture
Dr. Jen was sworn in as the under secretary for research,
education, and economics by Agriculture Secretary Ann. M. Veneman
on July 17, 2001. He oversees four agencies of the U.S. Department
of Agriculture: the Agricultural Research Service, the Cooperative
State Research, Education, and Extension Service, the Economic
Research Service, and the National Agricultural Statistics Service.
Dr. Jen is a widely recognized agricultural scientist and educator,
with experience in both the public and private sectors. Starting
in 1992, Jen served as the dean of the College of Agriculture
at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo.
In this capacity, Jen oversaw eleven departments with 3,500 students,
250 faculty and staff. From 1986 to 1992, Jen was division chairman
of the University of Georgia’s Division of Food Science and Technology
in Athens, Georgia. He served as director of research at the Campbell
Institute of Research and Technology for the Campbell Soup Company
from 1980 to 1986. Prior to that, he was an associate professor
at the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Michigan
State University from 1979 to 1980. Dr. Jen received his B.S.
degree in agricultural chemistry from National Taiwan University
in 1960. He earned a M.S. degree in food science from Washington
State University in 1964 and a Ph.D degree in comparative biochemistry
from the University of California at Berkeley in 1969. He also
received an MBA degree from Southern Illinois University in 1986.
He was elected as a Fellow of the Institute of Food Technologists
in 1992 and received the Distinguished Educator Award from the
National Association of Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture in
1999. In 2000, he was appointed by the White House Office of Science
and Technology Policy to be a U.S. delegate in the U.S.- Japan
Millennium Study.
Gabriel
Katul
Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke
University
Dr. Katul is Professor of Hydrology and Environmental Fluid
Mechanics at the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth
Sciences and in the Pratt School of Engineering. His expertise
is in modeling environmental transport phenomena with an emphasis
on plant canopy turbulence and soil physics. The applications
of his work cover numerous fields including atmospheric sciences,
surface hydrology, biogeochemistry, earth surface processes, global
change ecology, physics, and carbon-water cycling within terrestrial
ecosystems. Dr. Katul received the Macelwane award in 2002 from
the American Geophysical Union (AGU) and is an AGU Fellow since
then. He is the associate editor at several journals: Boundary
Layer Meteorology, Advances in Water Resources,
and Water Resources Research. Dr. Katul received his
doctorate at the University of California at Davis.
Robert
Kellison
Institute of Forest Biotechnology
Dr. Kellison chairs the Institute of Forest Biotechnology
in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Past employers have
included International Paper, Champion International Corp., and
North Carolina State University. He has published more than 100
scientific papers of which more than half are found in refereed
journals and has served as a forestry advisor to public and private
agencies in Africa, Asia, Europe, Pacific Rim, and North and South
America. In addition, Dr. Kellison is a Fellow of the Society
of American Foresters.
Lynn
Maguire
Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke
University
Dr. Maguire is Associate Professor of the Practice of Environmental
Management and Director of Professional Studies in the Nicholas
School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke University.
Prior to coming to Duke in 1982, she worked in the Forestry Research
Division of Crown Zellerbach, a paper and wood products company.
She has served on the Board of Governors of the Society for Conservation
Biology, was a member of the National Academy of Sciences panel
that wrote the book Science and the Endangered Species Act,
and is a member of the editorial board for Biological Conservation.
In addition to her academic work, Dr. Maguire consults on environmental
decision making with federal and state agencies within the U.S.
and with domestic and international conservation and resource
management organizations. Dr. Maguire’s current research focuses
on integrating public values with environmental decision making.
Dr. Maguire has an A.B. in Biology from Harvard University, a
M.S. in Resource Ecology from The University of Michigan, and
a Ph.D. in Wildlife Ecology from Utah State University.
Tim
McKnight
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Tim McKnight has been a research scientist at the Oak Ridge National
Laboratory since 1989, initially working in the area of physical
measurements, device characterization and sensor development (fluid
flow, temperature, pressure, radiometry). In recent years, his
research focus has shifted from physical measurements to biologically-oriented
studies, including evaluation of radiation-induced permeabilization
of the cellular membrane, plasmid and macromolecular delivery
to mammalian cells, and membrane irradiation for control of the
proliferation of human T-cell leukemia. Currently, his primary
research involves developing and studying nanoscale devices for
subcellular measurement and manipulation.
Mark
Megalos
North Carolina Forest Stewardship
Dr. Megalos is Forest Legacy Coordinator for the state of
North Carolina. Since 1998, he has administrated a multi-agency,
landowner assistance program with enrollment of more than 3,500
landowners who own roughly 473,000 acres of North Carolina’s private
forestland. Dr. Megalos initiated the Forest Legacy program for
North Carolina, securing over $8.5 million for the purchase of
development rights on forested properties since 1999. Currently
he serves as the Land Coordinator for NC Division of Forest Resources.
He has 23 years of public service with federal, state, private
and university entities in forestry, education, research and service
capacities. He has served as Editor of the quarterly NC Forest
Stewardship News since 1992. He was a Governor’s Appointee
to the NC Plant Conservation Board from 2003-2007 and received
the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources
(NCDENR) Pursuit of Excellence Award in 2000. Dr. Megalos received
his doctoral degree in forestry from North Carolina State University.
Ram
Oren
Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke
University
Dr. Oren is Professor in the Nicholas School at Duke University.
Together with colleagues, Dr. Oren studies the coupled water-carbon
cycles and their transfers and transformation primarily in forested
ecosystems. The research attempts to account for the effects of
resource availability (e.g., heat, nutrients) as boundary conditions
on these coupled cycles. His research has concentrated on topics
such as acid
rain and forest decline, the effect of elevated atmospheric CO2
on ecosystem productivity, and the differences in the influence
and responses of different forest ecosystems within and among
biomes on the water and CO2 cycles. His research participation
in seed and pollen dispersal is self-described to calling encouragements
and suggestions from the sideline. Dr. Oren received his doctorate
in Physiological Ecology from Oregon State University.
Alyx
Perry
WildLaw/Southern Forests Network
Ms. Perry is director of the Southern Forests Network. She
has also served as the Education Coordinator, Carolina Farm Stewardship
Association, 1995-1998, Community Organizer, Western North Carolina
Alliance, 1998-2001, Board of Directors, Southern Appalachian
Biodiversity Project 2002- present. She has extensive experience
working with landowners, farmers, and communities to ensure the
conservation and stewardship of rural lands and wildlife habitats.
Her focus is on community-based efforts to 1) preserve and restore
the forests of the South, 2) develop sustainable, locally-owned,
forest-based economies and 3) oppose the exploitation of Southern
ecosystems, economies, and peoples. She holds a bachelor of science
in Agriculture and Resource Economics from Oregon State University.
Gary
Peter
University of Florida
Dr. Peter is Associate Professor in the School of Forest
Resources and Conservation and the Plant Molecular and Cellular
Biology Graduate Program at the University of Florida. He uses
a wide range of approaches to 1) elucidate the genetic mechanisms
that control secondary xylem (wood) chemical composition, stiffness
and 2) understand ecological adaptations and 3) study of the evolution
of xylem structure and function in forest trees. He has conducted
fundamental and applied research in plant biology and biotechnology
for 20 years using both annual food crop and forest tree species.
As a former faculty member at the Institute of Paper Science and
Technology, Dr. Peter developed successful methods for initiating,
propagating and maturing somatic embryos from a large range of
loblolly pine genotypes for clonal forestry practices. Since 2000,
he has been on the research faculty of the Sloan Foundation’s
Center for Paper Business and Industry Studies at Georgia Institute
of Technology where he leads a multidisciplinary team that evaluated
in depth the value of improving loblolly pine tree growth rates,
wood and fiber quality traits on increasing the profitability
of kraft pulp and linerboard mills in the southeastern US. Dr.
Peter holds a doctorate from University of California, Los Angelos.
Anne
Petermann
Global Justice Ecology Project Co-Director
Anne Petermann co-founded Native Forest Network's Eastern North
American Resource Center in 1993, coordinating it until 2003.
She co-founded ACERCA (Action for Community and Ecology in the
Regions of Central America) in 1998. From 1999-2001, she coordinated
NFN's work on genetically engineered trees. She co-wrote and edited
a 24-page report on GE trees in July 2001. She is currently the
co-director of Global Justice Ecology Project which she co-founded
in September, 2003. She coordinates the organization's Genetically
Engineered Trees Program and the Steering Committee Chair for
the Stop GE Trees Campaign. In April 2004 she spoke at the United
Nations Forum on Forests in Geneva, Switzerland on the dangers
of genetically engineered trees. In October 2004 she attended
and presented at international meetings on Carbon Trade, Industrial
Tree Plantations and GE Trees in Durban, South Africa. In 2000,
she won the Wild Nature Award for Environmental Activist of the
Year.
Jane
Preyer
Environmental Defense
Ms. Preyer has been the Director of the Environmental Defense
North Carolina office since 1993. She manages environmental policy
and political strategy, coordinates the collaborations with external
organizations and key constituents, and works as a policy analyst
on air and water quality issues. Ms. Preyer led the Conservation
Partnership project with Weyerhaeuser Company to address forest
management practices in sensitive coastal areas. She served as
the project coordinator for the Paper Task Force and co-authored
its recommendations for purchasing and using environmentally preferable
paper. She holds a Masters degree in Public Health Administration
from UNC-Chapel Hill.
David
Richardson
University of Capetown, South Africa
Dr. Richardson is Associate Professor and Deputy Director
at the Leslie Hill Institute for Plant Conservation, University
of Cape Town, South Africa. His primary research interest is the
ecology and management of plant invasions, with special emphasis
on invasions in the Cape region of South Africa, and on alien
tree invasions worldwide. He has a particular interest in the
genus Pinus. Although his interest started with an interest
in pines as invasive alien species in the Southern Hemisphere,
he has extended this to a more general interest in pine ecology
worldwide. Dr Richardson edited the book Ecology and Biogeography
of Pinus (Cambridge University Press, 1998). He is also author
or co-author of 113 refereed articles in journals and edited volumes,
co-author of a popular book on South Africa’s fynbos vegetation,
and co-editor of three other books, including Vegetation of
Southern Africa (Cambridge University Press, 1997). He is
currently Editor-in-Chief of the journal Diversity and Distributions
and Deputy Editor of Journal of Biogeography. In 2004, Dr Richardson
was appointed Deputy Director of the South African Department
of Science and Technology’s Centre of Excellence for Invasion
Biology.
William
H. Schlesinger
James B. Duke Professor of Biogeochemistry and Dean, Nicholas
School of the Environment and Earth Sciences
Dr. Schlesinger’s research focus is on the global biogeochemical
cycles of the chemical elements, especially on the role of soils
in the global carbon cycle. He has also worked extensively in
desert ecosystems and their response to global change, which often
leads to the degradation of soils and regional desertification.
His past work has taken him to diverse habitats, ranging from
Okefenokee Swamp in southern Georgia to the Mojave Desert of California.
He is the author or coauthor of more than 160 scientific papers
and the widely-adopted textbook Biogeochemistry: An analysis of
global change (Academic Press, 2nd ed.1997). He was elected to
the National Academy of Sciences in 2003. Dr. Schlesinger graduated
cum laude with an A.B. in biology from Dartmouth College; he received
his Ph.D. in ecology and systematics from Cornell University.
Jim
Siedow
Vice Provost for Research, Duke University
Dr. Siedow is the Vice Provost for Research at Duke University.
Dr. Siedow’s own research is focused on the study of oxidative
processes in higher plants with an emphasis on those related to
plant respiration. His laboratory characterizes the structural
and regulatory features of the unusual cyanide-resistant oxidase
found in plant mitochondria. A long-term collaboration with North
Carolina State University has led to elucidation of the molecular
mode of action of a toxin associated with the fungus responsible
for Southern Corn Leaf Blight. Dr. Siedow was the recipient of
the prestigious Trinity College Distinguished Teaching Award in
1984. He also spent a year as Program Director of the Cellular
Biochemistry Program at the National Science Foundation and has
served as an Associate Editor of the journal Plant Physiology
and Editor of Plant Science. He is currently an Associate
Editor of Plant Molecular Biology and on the Editorial
Boards of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Current
Opinions in Plant Biology and Genome Biology. Dr.
Siedow completed his Ph.D. in plant biochemistry from Indiana
University.
Dennis
Stevenson
New York Botanical Garden
Dr. Stevenson is Vice President for Botanical Science at The New
York Botanical Garden. His research interests focus on the study
of cycad biology and this area of interest has taken him to worldwide
field work in conservation efforts to lab work on cycad biochemistry
and molecular biology. His current focus in cycad biology and
their role in the human disease Guam Dementia. The long-term goal
is therapy for human neurodegenerative diseases. His other main
research project is finding genes involved in the origin of the
gymnosperm cone and seed. Dr. Stevenson received his doctorate
in Botany from The University California.
Thomas
Urban
CellFor, Inc.
Mr. Urban is President and CEO of CellFor, Inc. in Vancouver,
British Columbia. He began his professional career with Goldman,
Sachs & Co. in 1988 in the Mergers and Acquisition group in
New York and Los Angeles. After spending two years with Goldman,
he left to join the world leader in agricultural seeds, Pioneer
Hi-Bred International, as the Country Manager of Romania based
in Bucharest. After a brief period as a business case writer at
the Harvard Graduate School of Business, he continued his work
with Pioneer as the Director of Marketing for the French operation
based in Toulouse, France. In 1998, Pioneer was purchased by E.I.
DuPont de Nemours and, in 1999, Mr. Urban moved to Paris, France
to head the worldwide cereals seed business for DuPont. In 2002,
he returned to the U.S. as a Director in the DuPont strategic
planning group where he focused on DuPont’s $6.0B agriculture
portfolio including seed, crop chemicals and soy protein. In 2004,
he left DuPont to join the early-stage forest genetics company,
CellFor, Inc. Mr. Urban received his undergraduate degree from
Middlebury College and a Masters of Business Administration from
the Harvard Graduate School of Business.
David
Wear
Southern Research Station, USDA Forest Service
David Wear is with the research branch of the U.S. Forest
Service, located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Since
1995 he has managed a research program in the economics of natural
resource use, valuation, and management and conducts research
in the areas of forest management, land use changes, and forest
policy. He also recently served as co-leader of an interagency
assessment of the sustainability of forests and their uses within
the southeastern United States: The Southern Forest Resource Assessment.
Dr. Wear’s research work has led to more than ninety publications
since 1989 in three areas of research: (1) forest policy and economics
(2) land use, and (3) ecosystem management. Dr. Wear holds Adjunct
Faculty appointments at Duke University and North Carolina State
University. He holds a Ph.D. in Forest Management and Economics
from the University of Montana.
Kathy
Jo Wetter
ETC Group
Dr. Kathy Jo Wetter works as a researcher for the Ottawa-based
Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration (ETC Group),
a civil society organization dedicated to the conservation and
sustainable advancement of cultural and ecological diversity and
human rights. To this end, ETC group supports socially responsible
developments of technologies useful to the poor and marginalized
and addresses international governance issues and corporate power.
Wetter has worked in ETC Group's Carrboro, NC office since 2001.
She holds a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill in the field of Art History.
Alvin
Yanchuk
British Columbia Ministry of Forests
Dr. Yanchuk is Senior Scientist and Forest Genetics Program
Manager at the Ministry of British Columbia in Victoria, B.C.
Canada and Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia,
Vancouver.. From 1988-1995 he was technical advisor of quantitative
genetics with the B.C. Forest Service. Prior experience includes
lodgepole pine geneticist for the Alberta Forest Service. Among
his other professional accomplishments he is Consultant to the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on the
subject of forest genetic resources. Dr. Yanchuk is a member of
the Forest Genetics Council of British Columbia and Chairman of
the Forest Genetics sub-committee for the Science Council of B.C.
He received his Ph.D. from the University of Alberta, Edmonton
in 1986.
