Biographies
University of Montana (Christopher.armatas@umontana.edu)
Chris recently completed a Ph.D. in Forestry at the University of Montana. The focus of his Ph.D. was to better understand the applied field of ‘ecological economics’, which has been defined as a transdisciplinary approach that incorporates different ways of knowing with the goal of addressing practical issues. As an early career researcher, Chris's interests have evolved from a narrow focus on applying economic principles for sustainable natural resource management to a more holistic approach that better incorporates both quantitative and qualitative social science methods. After completing a Master’s degree at the University of Montana in Resource Conservation, Chris spent two years as a research associate working on issues related to ecosystem service valuation, social vulnerability to climate and land-use change, and applications of traditional phenological knowledge for adaptive management in the context of climate and fire. In addition, the experience of archiving the majority of wilderness social science data sets developed by the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute highlighted for Chris the broad range of issues and potential methods for addressing those issues in the field of protected area management.
USDA Forest Service (mbowker@fs.fed.us)
Mike is a social scientist with the Forest Service’s Southern Research Station, and the Agency’s RPA Specialist for Recreation. He holds a BA degree in biology from Bates College and a PhD in agricultural economics from Texas A&M University. He is also an adjunct graduate faculty at the University of Georgia, in the Dept. of Agricultural and Applied Economics, as well as the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, and serves as an associate editor for Leisure Sciences and the Journal of Parks and Recreation Administration. Mike’s current research includes studies on the economics and social science of forest and coastal recreation, including wilderness, urban forests, non-market valuation of wildlife and natural resources, and exploring linkages between ethnicity, environmental preferences, and recreation demand. Before joining the Forest Service in 1992, he was an associate professor of economics and business at the Faculty of Agriculture, Dalhousie University. He also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Samoa, where he taught high school math and science.
US Fish and Wildlife Service (james_caudill@fws.gov)
As a supervisory economist with the USFWS, James coordinates requests for project analyses and research with staff economists, manages and directs economic issues affecting Service priorities, and plans analytical work on wide variety of conservation and environmental issues. James's areas of focus include economic impact of outdoor recreation, economic impact of Federal hatcheries, economic valuation of ecosystem services, and conservation and environmental policy analysis. James was lucky to be introduced to the beauty of nature at an early age when he accompanied his father on many camping and hiking trips to the Mojave and Sonora Deserts and the Sierra Nevada and Sierra Madre mountains. James considers it an honor and privilege to have worked with two of the premier conservation organizations in the world, the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He hopes, in a small way, that his efforts have contributed to the conservation of natural resources for the benefit of both current and future generations.
US Fish and Wildlife Service (erin_carver@fws.gov)
Erin's goal is to provide quality economic analyses so that policy makers, both at the local and national levels, can put forth informed policies as they relate to communities. Working with the US Fish and Wildlife Service programs toward solutions to bridge conservation goals with economic viability is truly rewarding for Erin.
US Geological Survey (ccasey@usgs.gov)
Frank has been an Economist with USGS since 2010. He is also the Director of Conservation Economics for the nonprofit Defenders of Wildlife. Frank received his Bachelors from University of Florida and his Masters in Agricultural Economics from Cornell University.
Arizona State University (jeffrey.englin@asu.edu)
Jeffrey is a professor in the Morrison School of Agribusiness. He received his B.S. in economics from the University of Minnesota and his M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Washington. His areas of expertise include the economic valuation of natural environments, outdoor recreational activities, and forest disturbances. He has worked throughout North America and Europe. His current research focuses on long term effects of social change on the valuation of the environment, dynamic demographic change and its' effect on the social value of wilderness, valuation of wilderness forest ecosystems and the potential impacts of nearby development.
USDA Forest Service (denglish@fs.fed.us)
Don's current position as a Program Manager with the Forest Service focuses on recreation as a use of public lands and improving the methods used to both estimating visitation volume and describing its' characteristics. He also has an interest in economic issues relating to green infrastructure tools and practices. He worked for 21 years as a social scientist researcher with the Southern Research Station examining the demand for outdoor recreation and determining the value of recreation and its' effects on public lands and on the jobs and income of rural communities. Don earned a BA in political science from the University of Pennsylvania, a Masters in recreation and parks from Penn State University, and a Ph.D. in resource economics from the University of Georgia.
US Geological Survey (gguala@usgs.gov)
Gerald "Stinger" Guala is the Branch Chief for Eco-Science Synthesis in the Core Science Analytics and Synthesis Program of the Core Science Systems Mission Area of the United States Geological Survey. His duties include directing the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS), which is the Federal standard for the names of biological organisms, and Biodiversity Information Serving Our Nation (BISON), the Federal clearinghouse for species occurrence data with more than 260 million records currently. He also facilitates other activities at the national level to deliver, integrate, analyze and visualize Federal and non-federal biodiversity information. For example, he is Co-Chair of the Whitehouse OSTP Committee on Environment
and Natural Resources and Sustainability (CENRS) Subcommittee on Ecological Systems (SES) Working Group on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Informatics (BioEco), which is leading the effort to implement EcoINFORMA, the Federal strategy for integration and delivery of environmental data laid out by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Dr. Guala holds a B.S. in botany from Michigan State University and a M.S. and Ph.D. in botany from the University of Florida.
Conservation Economics Institute (evan@conservationecon.org)
Evan has conducted a number of economic impact analyses, meta-analyses, non-market valuations, and ecosystem service valuations. He has published in academic journals, magazines, and books. He is co-editor of the Island Press Foundation Series book, Human Dimensions of Ecological Restoration. Recent conservation economics projects include: A net present valuation of a proposed takeover of Idaho federal lands; a review of the economic impacts of mining near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness; a global meta-analysis of willingness to pay for preservation; and a choice experiment determining demand for conservation on the Tongass National Forest. Evan Hjerpe holds a Ph.D. in forest economics and management from Northern Arizona University, where he also was a visiting assistant professor. He was previously Senior Economist for The Wilderness Society. His expertise includes wilderness economics, conservation benefits, recreation economics, ecological restoration, and ecosystem services. In 2011, Evan was appointed to the federal Forestry Research Advisory Council by USDA Secretary Vilsack.
USDA Forest Service (tholmes@fs.fed.us)
Tom is a Research Forester with the Southern Research Station, USDA Forest Service. His love of the outdoors, combined with an enthusiasm for developing economic tools that can be used to promote the protection of natural systems, led to a Ph.D. in Natural Resource Economics at the University of Connecticut. For more than three decades, his research has focused on understanding how human well-being can be enhanced by protecting ecosystem services provided by a healthy natural environment. He has conducted studies on a variety of topics including the benefits of protecting forest health across the urban-to-wildland gradient, the value of watershed protection and restoration, the benefits of wilderness protection, and contemporary strategies for tropical forest conservation. Tom is Co-Chair of the International Union of Forest Research Organization Working Group on the Social Dimensions of Forest Health and is Adjunct Professor at the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. Most recently, Tom helped establish the Wilderness Economics Working Group at the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute and serves as its current Leader. He enjoys skiing, paddling, hiking, biking and backpacking.
US Fish and Wildlife Service (kevin_kilcullen@fws.gov)
Kevin Kilcullen is a resident of Falls Church, Virginia and began his career in 1975 as a student intern. He became head of the Refuge System’s Visitor Service’s Branch in 2002 and headed up national programs in environmental education natural resource interpretation, cultural and heritage preservation, youth and volunteer programs and numerous projects, assisting more than 220 nonprofit Refuge Friends organizations across the country. The results of Kilcullen’s works are delivered directly to visitors on most of the 551 national wildlife refuges and 37 Wetland Management Districts in the Refuge System every day.
US Fish and Wildlife Service (andrew_laughland@fws.gov)
Drew began his career as a biologist but soon realized that all of the big changes in the environment are based on individual decisions about other things. Those decisions are driven by economic realities. A fish stock isn’t wiped out because people want to wipe it out but because each individual wants to do what’s best for him and his family. To change ecological outcomes, you need to change the economics. Damage assessment, benefit-cost analysis, and impacts analysis draw attention to unintended and unforeseen consequences of private behavior and government actions. They help adjust the economic environment so that public and private decisions yield better outcomes. Drew's goal is to guide private and government decisions toward environmentally better outcomes.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ashley.list@alaska.gov)
Ashley currently serves as a Natural Resource Manager for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, where she works with the ANILCA Program, addresses state and federal issues, and facilitates land management planning and coordination. She has also worked as a Natural Resources Specialist for the Division of Coastal and Ocean Management and the Division of Mining, Land and Water. She has also worked with the Sitka Ranger District, the Anchorage Forestry Sciences Lab, and on the Kenai Peninsula. Ashley earned her BS in forest resources and her Masters in natural resources from the University of Idaho.
Colorado State University (John.Loomis@colostate.edu)
Dr. Loomis earned his Ph.D. in economics from Colorado State University. After teaching at University of California-Davis for eight years and being promoted to Associate Professor, he returned to Colorado State University where he has been since 1993 as a Professor. He is a Fellow of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, and a Fellow in the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association. Dr. Loomis has been researching the economic values of wilderness since the early 1980’s when at Colorado State University. The article with Richard Walsh and Richard Gillman on Valuing Option, Existence and Bequest Demands for Wilderness (Land Economics, 1984) was the first to estimate what are now called passive use or non use values of Wilderness, along with recreation use values. In 1991 Dr. Loomis published two papers in the USDA Forest Service GTR-SE-78 proceedings on the Economic Value of Wilderness: (a) the benefits of big game hunting from Wilderness designation in Montana; (b) Future economic values of Wilderness. Dr. Loomis recently completed studies on the regional economic impacts and economic values of visitors climbing 14,000 foot peaks in Colorado, several of which are located in designated Wilderness areas in Colorado. Finally, Dr. Loomis has been a pioneer in valuation of ecosystem services. He led a study on the economic value of ecosystem services that was published in Ecological Economics that served as a template for a Chinese study on ecosystem valuation. He has also coauthored a paper on classification, measurement and markets for ecosystem services.
USDA Forest Service (dmccollum@fs.fed.us)
As an economist at the Rocky Mountain Research Station, Dan McCollum studies people and natural resources. That includes values people place on goods and services not sold in markets. It also includes how local economies and communities are affected by economic activity resulting from resource management. At the moment, he is working on projects dealing with woody biomass utilization and how that can factor into forest management and community development and resilience. Dan has a B.S. in Economics and Biology from Illinois Institute of Technology, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dan strives to be: Faster than a raging wildfire, able to jump through randomly arranged and ever-rearranging hoops in a single bound without missing a step. Able to conduct state-of-the-art research on any given topic and produce management-applicable results at a moment's notice while spending no money. Able to instantly provide input to policy makers based on answers to questions that were not asked in studies that were not funded. In short, to be a Forest Service research economist.
Bureau of Land Management (rmoore@blm.gov)
Dr. Rebecca Moore is Senior Economist at the Bureau of Land Management in the Washington Office Division of Decision Support, Planning and NEPA. She holds a Ph.D. in Applied Economics from the University of Wisconsin, a B.A. in Geology from the University of Colorado, and was previously an Assistant Professor of Natural Resource Economics at the University of Georgia. She has experience in all aspects of environmental and natural resource economics, with particular expertise in nonmarket valuation, ecosystem services, and landscape-level analysis. Her work has covered a wide range of natural resource management challenges, including non-timber forest values, wild horse and burro management, stream health improvements, and the social cost of carbon.
US Environmental Protection Agency (neale.anne@epa.gov)
Over the past 25 years as an EPA researcher and the previous five years as an EPA contractor employee, Anne has worked on many exciting and rewarding projects, including the U.S. atomic testing program, the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Bioremediation project, the National Surface Water Survey, the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program, the Landscape Indicators for Pesticides Study for Mid-Atlantic Coastal Streams, and for the past several year, EnviroAtlas. She has a broad background that includes landscape ecology, geospatial and statistical analysis, and field studies. She has focused on examining relationships between spatial patterns of landscape characteristics and conditions of and risks to ecological resources and ecosystem services. Specifically, she developed empirical models relating nutrients, pesticides, sediments and bird species diversity to general landscape characteristics in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. For the past several years, Anne has been applying the experience gained over her career to lead the EnviroAtlas effort. This effort, led by EPA, is the product of multiple agencies and other organizations. The online, interactive EnviroAtlas contains a wealth of geospatial data and other resources and supports decision-making at multiple levels of governance, serves as an educational tool, and informs additional research. The EnviroAtlas is populated with research conducted by the team and includes hundreds of geospatial indicators of ecosystem services supply, demand, and drivers of change.
Key-Log Economics, LLC (spencer@keylogeconomics.com)
Spencer Phillips is a natural resource economist with more than 20 years’ experience helping people, communities, and institutions understand and attain the benefits of improved land stewardship. He is founder and principal of Key-Log Economics, which helps NGO and other clients move, as Aldo Leopold urged, the “key-log [of incomplete economic thinking]…to release the evolutional process for [a land] ethic.” He does this by bringing solid economic information to bear on land use, ecosystem management and community development decisions, and by crafting policy and market solutions that foster positive, sustainable connections between community, economic, and ecosystem health. His current research focuses on ecosystem service values – especially as affected by climate change, public land and resource management, and water quality regulation – and on the economic development implications of land stewardship. He holds a BA in economics from the University of Virginia and a PhD in Agricultural and Applied Economics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and he is the first recipient of the Edward Ames Award for Scholarship and Conservation Advocacy. Backpacking on a snowy Mt. Rogers in 1983 re-connected Spencer to wildlands and sparked his passion for exploring the intersections of wilderness with human spiritual and economic development. Whenever possible, he continues that exploration by skiing, hunting, canoeing, fly fishing and hiking.
USDA Forest Service (rrasch@fs.fed.us)
Rebecca is currently the Regional Social Scientist for Region 1, in Missoula, MT. Prior to her appointment with the Forest Service, Rebecca served as the Senior Project Manager and Statistical Consultant for the Social Science Research Council, conducting both quantitative and qualitative research and analysis for their Measure of America program. Rebecca has also worked for several non-profit organizations focused on sustainable development and environmental policy, including Global Giving, the Environmental Defense Fund and TechnoServe. Rebecca served as an agro-forestry and micro-enterprise development volunteer in the Peace Corps. Rebecca holds a B.A. in American Studies from Wesleyan University, an M.B.A. from the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia, and a Ph.D. in Sociology and Certificate in Demography from the Graduate Center at the City University of New York. Her areas of expertise include spatial demography, environmental sociology, climate change vulnerability and income inequality. Within the WEWG, Rebecca is focusing on how national demographic trends may be influencing Wilderness values and uses.
US Fish and Wildlife Service (nancy_roeper@fws.gov)
Nancy is a National Wilderness Coordinator. She earned her B.S. in Biology at Ithaca College and her M.S. in Zoology at the University of Maryland, College Park. She has worked in Wilderness stewardship in the National Wildlife Refuge System.
National Park Service (roger_semler@nps.gov)
Roger is the Cheif of Wilderness Stewardship for the National Parks Service. He has worked with the NPS since 1977. He has been the wilderness manager for Glacier National Park and has also served as the Polebridge district ranger and at Katmai National Monument, Hawaii Volcano National Park and Gates of the Arctic National Park.
US Geological Survey (cshapiro@usgs.gov)
Carl is the Director for the Science and Decisions Center of USGS, where he has worked on adaptive decision-making and ecosystem services as well as resilience and sustainability. He also teaches graduate courses at the School of Public Affairs at American University in Washington, DC and co-founded A Community on Ecosystem Services. Carl received his B.A. in government from the College of William and Mary and his PhD in economics from George Mason University.
The Evergreen State College (stumpffL@evergreen.edu)
Prior to her work in academia Linda served in management positions in the National Park Service and USDA Forest Service in the areas of ecosystem planning, park and wilderness management and tribal relations. The primary foci of her academic work in public policy is international administration and the exploration of local and indigenous knowledge and values as they are expressed through participatory governance institutions, tribal economic initiatives and policy. Linda, a San Carlos Apache, was a founder of the Tribal Governance track while she served as MPA Director from 1998-2001 and developed of the tribal curriculum and governance program in cooperation with tribal leaders, along with new electives in Tribal Forestry, International Environmental Policy and other areas for the Master of Environmental Studies Program. She continues to develop relevant curriculum on tribal policy and environmental issues emanating from climate change, wildfire and wilderness. She is co-director, editor, faculty workshop and case writer for the NSF-sponsored the Enduring Legacies Project. She is currently working on a book on Native cases and one on indigenous knowledge applications. She conducts interdisciplinary research including work on wilderness and water, wildfire, indigenous and watershed issues with the WEWG Group, the Aldo Leopold Institute, agencies and tribal governments. Her research work takes her to India, South Africa, Alaska, Spain, Guatemala and the Yucatan. Her current journal publications focus on water issues, sacred sites, tribal policy and cultural strategies under conditions of climate change. Hiking with her dogs, basket-weaving with natural dyes and promoting policies to protect indigenous lands and waters are her favorite activities.
University of Vermont (bvoigt@uvm.edu)
Brian Voigt's research interests include developing and applying computer based systems for modeling land use change and the interaction between humans and their environment. His interests also include: ecosystem services and natural hazards, addressing existing and emerging environmental issues through participatory modeling and spatial analysis, and creating knowledge to facilitate improved environmental management. Brian's current research topics include modeling freshwater ecosystem services and the spread of infectious disease in Tanzania and modeling environmental tradeoffs resulting from alternative development patterns in Chittenden County, VT, USA.
Outdoor Industry Association (jwahl@outdoorindustry.org)
As OIA’s Government Affairs Manager, Wahl promotes OIA’s recreation policy goals, focusing on securing increased funding, access and infrastructure for outdoor recreation and promoting the outdoor industry agenda in Washington, DC. She plays a key role in policy development and analysis, political engagement and grassroots organizing. Wahl comes to OIA from the Department of the Interior (DOI), where she worked in the Office of the Secretary on external affairs and youth engagement in the outdoors. Wahl also managed the first lady’s Let’s Move Outside! and Let’s Move! In Indian Country initiatives on behalf of the DOI and other agencies. Wahl received her undergraduate and graduate degrees in American government and politics from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. She is still addicted to politics and the news but is also an avid outdoorswoman, who loves kayaking, climbing, hiking and running.
Resources for the Future (walls@rff.org)
Margaret Walls’s current research focuses on issues related to urban land use, ecosystem services, parks, and energy efficiency. She has analyzed transferable development rights programs for managing land use in urban fringe areas, assessed the value of different types of parks and open space, and investigated energy efficiency issues in buildings. In 2008 and 2009, she was the study director for the Outdoor Resources Review Group. From 2010 to 2013, Walls was the first appointee to the Thomas J. Klutznick Chair at RFF. Walls has published widely in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Public Economics, National Tax Journal, Journal of Urban Economics, and Journal of Economic Literature, among others.
Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, Rocky Mountain Research Station, USDA Forest Service (awatson@fs.fed.us)
As a Supervisory Research Social Scientist, Alan has focused on education in Human Dimensions of Natural Resources Planning and Management, international leadership in science methods to understand stewardship implications of human relationships with wilderness landscapes, science history in wilderness use and user trends, public purpose marketing, effects of recreation fees on relationships with wilderness, understanding conflicting demands, trust, public attitudes towards intervention and restoration, relevance of nature protection to quality of life, and engaging tribal communities in climate change adaptation planning.
USDA Forest Service (pwinter@fs.fed.us)
Pat works as a Research Social Scientist for the Urban Ecosystems and Social Dynamics Program, where their research interests include underlying factors in environmentally sustainable behaviors paired with approaches and tools to foster them; dynamics of social trust in natural resource management; considerations of cultural diversity in recreation service delivery and communications; perceptions of risk and influences on related attitudes and actions; and sustainable recreation and tourism.
Pat earned a B.A. in psychology from the University of California, Irvine and a M.A. and Ph.D. in psychology from the Claremont Graduate School.
USDA Forest Service (swinter@fs.fed.us)
Susan Winter is an Economist with NFS-WO Ecosystem Management Coordination.
USDA Forest Service (ericwhite@fs.fed.us)
Eric's current research is focused on social and economic outcomes from forest collaboration and accelerated restoration, recreation use on public lands and the economic effects on local communities, and the ecological and social outcomes from collaborative natural resource management across landscapes of public and private ownership. He is interested in research that contributes to better understanding of 1) how resource management, including collaborative efforts, influences the supply of ecosystem goods and services from landscapes, 2) how people and industries use ecosystem goods and services, and 3) how that use affects the well-being of human communities and individuals.