Board of Directors

FHS Board of Directors

Rebecca Barnard (WI) was named Forestry Certification Manager with Sappi North America in January of 2018, bringing 15 years of forest management experience to improve the control environment around product claims and advance forest policy objectives. External to her role with Sappi, she also serves on the Society of American Foresters (SAF) National Policy Committee and will serve as SAF President beginning in December 2023. Prior to joining Sappi, she served as the National Forestry Programs Manager for the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) from 2013-2018 and as the Forest Certification Coordinator for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) from 2008-2013. She earned a BS in Forest Ecosystem Restoration and Management from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and an MBA from National American University. She was elected to the Board in 2021 (Term: 2021-2024).

Stephen Brain (MS) is an Associate Professor in the History Department at Mississippi State University where he has been teaching since 2007. In 2018, he and Mark D. Hersey were selected as the new co-editors of the Environmental History journal, copublished by FHS and the American Society for Environmental History. He received his PhD in history from the University of California, Berkeley in 2007; an MA in Humanities from California State University/Dominguez Hills; and a BS in wildlife ecology with a minor in forestry from the University of Florida. He became an ex officio member of the Board in the spring of 2019.

Nicolette L. Cagle (NC) is a Senior Lecturer at the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. She also serves as the Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and is Director of the Communications Studio in the Nicholas School. Her background is in ecology, natural history, environmental education, and environmental communication. She also has experience in diversity, equity, and inclusion, especially in environmental fields. Her wide-ranging interests have resulted in publications encompassing myriad topics, from snake species-habitat relationships to comprehensive pedagogical approaches to significant life experiences in environmental fields. She holds a BS in Environmental Science and Natural Resources from the University of Illinois/Urbana and a PhD in Ecology from Duke University. She was elected to the Board in 2019. (Term: 2019-2025).

Edward Calder (Ned) Childs (CT) graduated with a BA from Harvard College in 1979 in German Studies, and an MF from Yale School of the Environment in 1983. Ned helped found The Land Concern, Inc. in 1985, which combined forestland management consulting with forestland real estate services. Ned has also served for some fifty years on the Board of Directors of the Great Mountain Forest Corporation located in Norfolk, Connecticut, which manages 7,000 acres of forestland in the northwest corner of the state. Great Mountain was founded by his late father, Edward C. Childs, and hosted Yale forestry students for field training for many years. He was elected to the Board in 2023 (Term: 2023-2026).

Daniel Christensen (NH) is former Director of Hancock Natural Resource Group where he served as CEO and President from 2004 to 2015. Under Dan’s leadership HNRG grew their investment management business to $14 billion under management with 6.3 million acres of timberland and 290,000 acres of farmland in six countries—US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, and Chile. He had joined Hancock Timber Resource Group in 1992 and served as manager of forestry operations, manager of acquisitions, and president and COO. From 1977 to 1991 he served in various positions with Diamond International Corporation and then Diamond Occidental Forest, Inc. During his career he has taken part in the conservation ownership of over 440,000 acres of forestland. He earned a BS in Forest Engineering from the University of Maine. He was elected to the Board in 2019 (Term: 2019-2025).

Vicki Christiansen (WA) served as the 19th chief of the U.S. Forest Service from October2018 to July 2021. Before assuming the role, Christiansen spent seven years with the Forest Service and 30 years with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources and Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management. She holds a BS in forestry from the University of Washington, and began working as a firefighter with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources while still a student. Vicki worked as a firefighter in Washington for 26 years, eventually serving as the Washington State Forester. She was elected to the Board in 2023 (Term: 2023-2026).

Sam Cook (NC) is currently the executive director of Forest Assets and VP of the Natural Resources Foundation for the College of Natural Resources at NC State University, where he coordinates the management of the forest assets owned or managed by the NC State Natural Resources Foundation, Inc. He serves as a Board member for Triangle Land Conservancy in Durham, NC (VP for the board of directors), NC Coastal Land Trust (Wilmington, NC) and a Resource Committee Advisor for the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) in Washington, DC, representing the Black Family Land Trust (VA). He has also worked with the USDA Forest Service Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station in Boise, ID, Duke Energy Progress (formerly Duke Power) in Durham, and the Forest Resource Division of International Paper Company. He holds an Associate Degree in Forestry and Environmental Science from Tuskegee University and a Bachelor of Science in Forest Management from North Carolina State University. He concluded a term as President of the Society of American Foresters in 2023. He was elected to the FHS Board in 2020 (Term: 2020-2026).

Suzanne Cuthbert (WA) is the Vice President Timberlands Strategy & Technology at Weyerhaeuser. She holds a MBA from Laurentian University and is a Chartered Professional Accountant. Suzanne has 34 years of forest industry experience starting in manufacturing and including 20 years of those with Weyerhaeuser. Her career with Weyerhaeuser started in 1999 on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, as a logging division scaling clerk and progressed through Finance with a variety of roles including Division Accounting Manager, Director of Finance & Planning, and Timberlands Controller. In 2015, she assumed responsibility for Timberlands strategic planning and forestry research and was named to Vice President of that organization in early 2017. She was elected to the Board in 2021 (Term: 2021-2024).

Lynne Heasley (MI) is an environmental historian and professor in the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at Western Michigan University. She is the author of A Thousand Pieces of Paradise: Landscape and Property in the Kickapoo Valley; The Accidental Reef and Other Ecological Odysseys in the Great Lakes; and co-editor of Border Flows: A Century of the Canadian-American Water Relationship. Her earliest research was in West Africa, including an article in Environmental History entitled “On Walking Contested Land: Doing Environmental History in West Africa and the U.S.” She earned a BS from Miami University; a MS from the University of Wisconsin (Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies); and a PhD in Forest and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Madison. She was elected to the Board in 2022 (Term: 2022-2025).

Mark D. Hersey (MS) is an Associate Professor in the History Department and Director of the Center for the History of Agriculture, Science, and the Environment of the South at Mississippi State University. In 2018, he and Stephen Brain were selected as the new co-editors of the Environmental History journal, copublished by FHS and the American Society for Environmental History. He received his PhD in U.S. environmental history from the University of Kansas-Lawrence in 2006. He became an ex officio member of the Board in the spring of 2019.

Bob Izlar (GA) retired in December of 2020 from his position as Director at the Harley Langdale, Jr. Center for Forest Resources at the University of Georgia. Prior to this position, he spent eleven years as the Executive Director for the Georgia Forestry Association. His interests are in forest finance, forest operations, forest business management, and forest policy and he has traveled extensively in Canada, Central America, Asia, Europe, South America, and the South Pacific.  His academic achievements include a B.S. and Masters in Forest Resources from the University of Georgia and a Masters in Business Administration from Georgia Southern University. Bob is a retired Colonel in the United States Army Reserve with 36’ years of service. He was elected to the Board in 2015 and is now serving as immediate-past chair (Term: 2015-2024).

Brent Keefer (NC) has been the CEO of American Forest Management, Inc. (AFM) since 2020. He brings over 30 years of experience to his position of CEO where he is responsible for leading the AFM organization, which includes 50 offices throughout 9 regions and over 290 employees. Prior to joining AFM, he served as the President of Hancock Timber Resource Group and Senior Managing Director, Head of Timberland Investments of the Hancock Natural Resource Group (HNRG) where he led the overall timberland investment business. Prior to joining HNRG in 1998, Brent was Manager of Forest Systems for Rayonier, Inc. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative and on the Board of Directors of the National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO). He holds a BS in forest resource management and a MS in forest biometrics, GIS, and remote sensing both from Virginia Tech. He was elected to the Board in 2021 (Term: 2021-2024).

Rachel D. Kline (CO) is a Supervisory Historian for the Forest Service Enterprise Program, working in all aspects of history management for the last 13 years. Her work assists agency program managers with adherence to the National Historic Preservation Act (1966), advising line and staff of responsibilities related to historic properties and resources with special regard to addressing effects to cultural resources. She supports program areas by leveraging history as a management tool to create efficiencies, reduce costs, and fulfill the agency’s mission and priorities. She is skilled in research, oral history, records curation, and NHPA compliance work, as well as writing historical contexts and interpretive content. She has written extensively on agency administrative and recreation architecture. She holds a PhD from the University of New Hampshire, where she explored the history of women in conservation and the Forest Service. She earned a MA in Public History from Colorado State University, specializing in historic preservation, archives, and museum studies. She was elected as the Forest Service Liaison to the Board in 2020 (Term: 2020-2026).

Mark Madison (WV) is an environmental historian and historian of science currently working as National Historian for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in charge of their Heritage and Partnership Branch. He conducts educational outreach, designs museum displays, and helps maintain 500,000 item National Conservation Training Center Archives/Museum. Mark also teaches environmental history, environmental ethics and environmental film at Shepherd University. He previously taught evolutionary biology, history of science, and philosophy of science at University of Melbourne and Harvard University and spent 3 years doing tropical reforestation in the Philippines as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer. He served many years as the Treasurer of the American Society for Environmental History (ASEH) and is currently serving as Treasurer of the International Consortium of Environmental History Organizations (ICEHO). His passions include fly fishing and family. He was elected to the Board in 2022 (Term: 2022-2025).

Peter Mertz (NH and TX) co-founded Global Forest Partners LP in 2003 and prior to his retirement served as the firm’s CEO and Chief Investment Officer. He continues to serve as Board Chair of five private equity timberfunds. Prior to co-founding GFP, he served as Managing Director of UBS Timber Investors, the predecessor business to GFP since 1997. He began his forestry career as a field forester in Arkansas with Weyerhaeuser Company and has over forty years of forest management and investment experience. He holds a BS in Natural Resources (Forestry) and an MBA from the University of Michigan. He is a Certified Forester and has been a member of the Society of American Foresters since 1974. He serves on the External Advisory Board for the School of Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan and was the Volunteer Chair for the School and a member of the University Leadership Council for their most recent $5 billion Capital Campaign. He also has served as a member of the National Advisory Board for the Michigan Congenital Heart Center, and as a Trustee and member of the Investment Committee for the Montshire Museum of Science. He was elected to the Board in 2021 (Term: 2021-2024).

Donald A. Motanic (OR) has been Technical Specialist for the Intertribal Timber Council since 1995. He earned a B.S. in Forest Engineering from the University of Washington in 1978. Prior to joining the ITC, he worked for 17 years with the Bureau of Indian Affairs including as Forest Engineer for the Yakima Agency; Forest Manager for the Umatilla Agency; Forest Manager for the Spokane Agency; and Regional Forester for the Northern Rockies Region. He was the first tribal representative on the National Wildfire Coordinating Group. He is involved with SAF, the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, Washington Ag Forestry Leadership Foundation, WSU-Vancouver Native American Advisory Council and past president with Wisdom of the Elders, Inc. He is a member of the Confederated Tribe of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. He was elected to the Board in 2021 (Term: 2021-2024).

Dave Nunes (FL) has more than three decades of timber industry experience, and today serves as Chief Executive Officer of Rayonier, Inc. Dave joined Rayonier in June 2014 as Chief Operating Officer, and shortly thereafter assumed the additional role of President and CEO following Rayonier’s spin-off of its Performance Fibers business. Before joining Rayonier, he served as President and CEO
of Pope Resources/Olympic Resource Management from 2002 to 2014. Dave joined Pope Resources in 1997 as director of portfolio management, working with third-party investors and timberland owners to develop and manage timberland investment portfolios. He was elected to the Board in 2023 (Term: 2023-2026).

Frederick W. Piasecki (PA) has spent 36 years in various levels of responsibility at the Piasecki Aircraft Corporation a family owned aerospace engineering company founded by his father, Frank N. Piasecki. Responsibilities include design, structures analysis, aerodynamics, management, wind tunnel test, flight test and lab testing of novel and new aviation technologies.  Fred is a patent holder of various aviation, transportation and wind turbine designs.  Wood and wood products are used in one of the companies UAV designs being supplied to the USG.  Fred served on the Board of the Dietzgen Corporation, a high-quality large format engineering and architectural paper supplier from 1989 till 2001 and served on the executive compensation/selection committee. Fred currently serves as a director of the American Helicopter Museum and Education Center located in West Chester, PA, which serves to preserve and educate the public on the technical and historical events in the helicopter industry. In support of the educational mission, he has given lectures in support of the STEM program in his spare time. An active private pilot who enjoys travel with family, sailing, woodworking and teaching the young. He was elected to the Board in 2022 (Term: 2022-2025).

Vivian Zofia Piasecki (PA) is excited at the prospect of being a dedicated member of the Board of Directors at the Forest History Society, bringing a fresh perspective and strong passion for forest conservation and history. Recently graduated from Ithaca College having earned a bachelor's degree in Religious Studies and Anthropology with a concentration in Faith and Health, Vivian possesses a solid academic foundation to her commitment to the preservation of forest history and sustainable management of forests. Vivian's interest in forest conservation and history is rooted in a deep appreciation for the intricate relationship between humans and the natural world. She was elected to the Board in 2023 (Term: 2023-2026).

Jonathan Prather (NY) is a partner in Perella Weinberg Partners (a leading global institutional asset manager) and manages the firm’s Industrials practice.  Prior to joining Perella Weinberg Partners, Mr. Prather was a Managing Director in Goldman Sachs & Co.’s Global Industrials Group, where he managed the global paper and forest products investment banking franchise. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs in 2006, Mr. Prather was a Director at UBS in the Global Industrials Group.  Prior to joining UBS, Mr. Prather was a Financial Analyst at Simpson Investment Company. Mr. Prather received a BA with honors from the University of Colorado in History and International Affairs and a MBA from Harvard Business School. He was elected to the Board in 2016 (Term: 2016-2024).

Charles W. Rasmussen (NC) is the CEO of P&G Manufacturing Inc., a manufacturer of specialty air filtration equipment for critical applications. Throughout his career, he has held various positions with Weyerhaeuser Company in its Timberlands division in both Mississippi/Alabama and North Carolina. His responsibilities covered the entire forestry cycle from planting to harvesting. In addition, he has worked at U.S. Bancorp in Management Accounting and the Special Assets Group.  He is a trustee of the Clearwater Investment Trust, a multi-fund mutual fund family as well as a board member of NuStar Inc., a manufacturer of car wash systems and material handling. He received a B.S. from the University of Vermont in Resource Economics and an MBA with a concentration in Finance from East Carolina University. He was elected to the Board in 2018 (Term: 2018-2024).

Amélie Roberge (ON) is Director General of the Canadian Wood Fiber Centre (CWFC), a research branch within the Canadian Forest Service. She oversees research focused on the characterization, production, and optimization of wood fiber in Canada, providing real-world solutions to the sustainability and competitiveness of Canada’s forest sector. Previously, she was Director of the Strategic Science Policy and Engagement Division of the Canadian Forest Service, responsible for federal, provincial and territorial relations, as well as strategic science and policy integration. Before joining the Canadian Forest Service in 2011, Amélie worked as a forester for the Quebec Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks. She was elected to the Board in 2023 (Term: 2023-2026).

Clark W. Seely (FL) is a professional forester and currently president of Seely Management Consulting, Inc. He has over 40 years of experience in forestry, natural resource management and organizational leadership. His consulting practice and expertise focuses on natural resource policy and organizational management. The company was created in 2010 following his retirement from the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) as the Associate State Forester and 35 years of service. He is also currently adjunct faculty with the Natural Resource Policy and Administration Master’s Program at the University of Florida, School of Forest Resources and Conservation, where he teaches courses on public land management, human resources and organizational management. Clark has been a professional member of the Society of American Foresters (SAF) since 1977, was elected Fellow in 1996, and became a Certified Forester in 1997. He was nationally elected SAF Vice-President in 2015 and served as President and Chairman of the Board in 2016. In 2018, as Past President, he is serving on the national Board of Directors Nominating Committee and also serving as Chair of the newly formed national Leadership Advisory Group. He was the 2012 recipient of the Society of American Foresters' John A. Beale Memorial Award, recognizing his long-term leadership, dedication and contributions to the forestry profession. Clark graduated with honors from the Oregon State University, College of Forestry with a BS degree in Forest Management. He is also a graduate of the Covey Executive Excellence Program. He was elected to the Board in 2018 (Term: 2018-2024).

Ruth Anna Stolk (DC) is presently a Smithsonian Research Associate, writing about US Conservation in the early 1900s. She was recently awarded a Bell Research Grant by the Forest History Society at Duke University. She holds a BA and MA in English Literature at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In her 35 years with the Smithsonian and related institutions, Ruth has created powerful programs that changed the way people think about conservation, science, and environment. She has forged connections through hosting hundreds of live and web-based conversations to harness the power of science in our culture. She led the elite team that produced and built audiences for Earth Optimism Summits from 2017-22. Earth Optimism reached more than 400 million people worldwide on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day in 2020, including being one of the themes of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall in Washington, DC. She was elected to the Board in 2022 (Term: 2022-2025).

Paul Sutter (CO) is a Professor of History at the University of Colorado Boulder. He received his PhD from the University of Kansas in 1997, he then served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Virginia from 1997-2000, and he was a member of the History Department at the University of Georgia from 2000-2009. Paul is the author of Driven Wild: How the Fight against Automobiles Launched the Modern Wilderness Movement (University of Washington Press, 2002) and Let Us Now Praise Famous Gullies: Providence Canyon and the Soils of the South (University of Georgia Press, 2015); he is co-author of The Art of Managing Longleaf: A Personal History of the Stoddard-Neel Approach (University of Georgia Press, 2010); and he is co-editor of Environmental History and the American South: A Reader (University of Georgia Press, 2009) and Coastal Nature, Coastal Culture: Environmental Histories of the Georgia Coast (University of Georgia Press, 2018). Paul has published numerous articles and book chapters on the American wilderness movement, southern environmental history, U.S. imperial environmental history, and environmental historiography, including a 2013 state-of-the-field essay in the Journal of American History. He is the series editor for “Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books,” published by the University of Washington Press, and he was the founding editor of the “Environmental History and the American South” book series published by the University of Georgia Press. Paul has held fellowships from the National Humanities Center, the Smithsonian Institution, the Huntington Library, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Institutes of Health/National Library of Medicine, and the Rachel Carson Center for Environment & Society. He is currently working on a book, tentatively titled “Pulling the Teeth of the Tropics: Environment, Disease, Race, and the U.S. Sanitary Program in Panama, 1904-1914.” He was appointed to fulfill Christopher R. Boyer’s remaining term of service (Term: 2021-2026).

Tom Temple (WA) was Vice-President, Wood Products and Southern Resources at PotlatchDeltic Corporation (2008-2021). His prior positions included Vice-President, International Sales and Panel Marketing, at Canfor in Vancouver, BC, and Vice-President, Sales and Marketing at Slocan Forest Products before the two companies merged. He also worked as Executive Vice-President at Rossi American Hardwoods and General Manager, Lumber for Plum Creek Timber Company prior to moving to Vancouver in 2003. Temple earned a Bachelor of Science in Forestry from Oregon State University (1979) and a MS in Forestry from the University of New York at Syracuse (1981). He has served on many industry associations such as the American Plywood Association, Canadian Wood Council, COFI International Market Access Committee, and the BC Forestry Innovation and Investment Advisory Board. He was elected to the Board in 2022 (Term: 2022-2025).

Marshall D. Thomas (GA) began with F&W in 1978 as a field and technical forester, eventually rising through the ranks of the company to become its President. Since 1988, Mr. Thomas has led F&W through a period of rapid growth and service-area expansion that now includes numerous offices in the US, Uruguay, Brazil, and Europe. He has a BS from the University of Florida in forestry and an MBA from Georgia Southern University. In addition to a variety of memberships in forestry associations, he is also a past president of the Albany Boys and Girls Club. He was elected to the Board in 2019 (Term: 2019-2025).

Daowei Zhang (AL) is Alumni and George Peake Jr. Professor of forest economics and policy and Associate Dean for Research at Auburn University’s College of Forestry, Wildlife, and Environment. He received his BS, MS, and Ph.D. degrees from Southcentral University of Forestry and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, and University of British Columbia, respectively. He worked at the Ministry of Forestry, China Development Bank, and FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) and was on the Board of Directors of Pinchot Institute for Conservation. He is the editor-in-chief for Forest Policy and Economics and has worked in 20+ countries in the areas of forest economics, policy, finance, timberland investment, and forest products market and trade. He was elected to the Board in 2023 (Term: 2023-2026).