|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Bill Kunze, Pennsylvania State Director
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Nels Johnson, Director of Conservation Programs
Expertise: Conservation Biology, Forest Ecology, Ecosystem Services, Forest Ecologist
Nels has directed the Chapter’s conservation planning and activities since 2001. His areas of expertise include sustainable forest management, ecosystem management, setting biodiversity conservation priorities and protecting ecosystem services (e.g., ecological functions that benefit people, such as riverside forests filtering pollutants from drinking water sources). Before joining The Nature Conservancy, Nels worked for the World Resources Institute, where he authored or co-edited nearly two dozen books and articles on biodiversity conservation and forest management in the United States, Central America, the Caribbean, Southeast Asia and South Africa. He serves on the board for the Pinchot Institute for Conservation and on several advisory committees to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Nels holds a bachelor’s in biology from Reed College and a master’s in forest ecology from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
|
|
Todd Sampsell, Director of Conservation Operations
Expertise: Preserve Stewardship and Land Management, Hunting on Conservancy Preserves, Invasive Species Management, Aquatic Ecology
Todd Sampsell joined The Nature Conservancy in March 2006. For the two years prior, he served as executive director for the Central Pennsylvania Conservancy, and from 1999 to 2004 he was the director of northwest conservation programs for the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. Todd is an ecologist with broad experience and interest in aquatic and watershed research, invasive species research and management, land use impacts to aquatic systems, conservation planning and wildlife biology. He is also experienced in land trust development and operations, strategic planning, and land protection work. Todd holds a bachelor’s in biology from Bloomsburg University and a master’s in biology and environmental science from California University.
|
|
Dylan Jenkins, CF, Director of Forest Conservation
Dylan Jenkins, CF, Director of Forest Conservation
Expertise: Conservation Forestry, Old Growth Forest Restoration, Private Forest Landowner Outreach/Management, Public Forest Lands Management, Hunting on Conservancy Preserves
Dylan came to The Nature Conservancy in 2003 to initiate and manage Pennsylvania's Forest Conservation Program. His work with the Conservancy focuses on using silviculture, policy and private markets to restore the ecological and economic health of degraded eastern forests. Dylan also manages the Conservancy's North Central Highlands Landscape Program and the Conservancy's 3,000-acre West Branch Wilderness Preserve and Demonstration Forest in Clinton County, Pennsylvania.
Prior to joining the Conservancy, Dylan spent six years with the Virginia Tech College of Natural Resources developing and coordinating the Virginia Forest Landowner Education Program, where he designed educational programs on sustainable forest management including the nation's first web-based course for forest landowners. He served as chair of the Virginia Society of American Foresters (2002), was a member of the Society of American Foresters (SAF) National Committee on Forest Policy (2002-2005), is the recipient of SAF’s 2006 National Young Forester Leadership Award and currently serves on the SAF Certification Review Board. Dylan is an SAF Certified Forester and holds a bachelor’s in forest resource management from Clemson and a master’s in forest management and economics from Virginia Tech.
|
|
Bud Cook, Senior Project Manager, Northeastern Pennsylvania
Expertise: Cherry Valley National Wildlife Refuge, Pocono Mountain Region, Open Space Ballot Initiatives
The Nature Conservancy's first full-time employee in Pennsylvania, Bud joined the Conservancy in 1979 as state director for Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In 1990, he launched the "Pocono Bioreserve," which has developed into numerous conservation sites in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Since 1998, Bud has helped grassroots coalitions win more than $100 million in county and municipal land-conservation funds through ballot initiatives in Eastern Pennsylvania. Fluent in Spanish, Bud has also assisted Conservancy partner organizations in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Paraguay. Bud holds a bachelor’s in Spanish from Hamilton College and a master’s in political science from New York University, and he attended law school at the University of Barcelona.
|
|
Darran Crabtree, Director of Conservation Science
Expertise: Freshwater Ecology, Freshwater invertebrates and fishes, French Creek Natural History
Darran began working in French Creek in 2002. Prior to joining The Nature Conservancy, Darran was a part-time faculty member at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry teaching aquatic entomology and principles of zoology. Darran is an aquatic ecologist who has worked on a variety of research projects ranging from evaluating the ecological integrity of Northeastern lakes with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to developing spatial models to predict the response of aquatic plants to zebra mussels in collaboration with Cornell and Syracuse Universities. He earned a bachelor’s and a Ph.D. in environmental and forest biology from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry.
|
|
George Gress, Project Manager, Acopian Preserve and PA Fire Specialist
Expertise: Bog Turtle Research, Prescribed Fire Management Program
George began working with The Nature Conservancy as a volunteer and has been on staff with the Pennsylvania Chapter for over 10 years.
He manages the Conservancy's prescribed fire program in Pennsylvania, working with public and private partners to apply prescribed fire to fire-adapted ecosystems. George also conducts monitoring and research on populations of bog turtles on Conservancy lands and helps with other land management activities on Conservancy preserves.
|
|
Susan Fanok, Director, Upper Delaware River Landscape Program
Expertise: Eastern Pennsylvania Fens & Bogs, Upper Delaware River, Water Policy
Su came to The Nature Conservancy in 1998 as a hydrogeologist. As the Director of the Delaware River Program in Pennsylvania, Su is responsible for conservation efforts in the Delaware River Basin including conservation collaboration with the New York, New Jersey and Delaware chapters of the Conservancy. She holds a bachelor’s in geology and a master’s in fluvial geomorphology.
|
|
Patrick McElhenny, Land Steward
Expertise: Ecological Restoration, Prescribed Fire Management Program, Invasive Species
Pat has been with the Conservancy since 1998, working first as an ecological monitor and then as a research assistant and land steward at Fort Indiantown Gap.
He graduated from Penn State-DuBois with a degree in wildlife technology. Pat is the chapter’s contact for invasive species management and is a member of the prescribed fire crew.
|
|
Scott Bearer, Ph.D., Forest Ecologist
Expertise: Forest and Wildlife Monitoring and Modeling, Late-Successional Forest Restoration, Statistical Design and Analysis, Asian Forestry (China, Taiwan) and Wildlife (giant pandas) issues
Scott joined the Pennsylvania Forest Conservation Program (FCP) at the Conservancy in April 2006. His background is in landscape ecology, forest management and wildlife interactions, multivariate/spatial statistics and landscape level (& GIS) analyses. Scott serves as the lead scientist for the FCP and is focused on tasks including forest monitoring and modeling (GIS and nonspatial), experimental design and data collection for the Old Growth Forest Restoration Project and other major initiatives of the FCP.
Scott came to the Conservancy after completing a post-doctorate with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at Patuxent Research Refuge where he helped lead the development of the monitoring plan used to remove the bald eagle from the federal Endangered Species list. He holds a Ph.D. in landscape ecology from Michigan State University, where he investigated the effects of timber harvesting on giant panda habitat use in Sichuan, China. Scott completed his master’s at Clarion University (bat ecology), has a bachelor’s from Virginia Tech (forestry) and has worked for the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry and the Pennsylvania Game Commission. He is also an emergency medical technician, a forest firefighter, a team member of Appalachian Search and Rescue and has been a contracted welder and a hang gliding instructor.
Join The Nature Conservancy on
Facebook
Flickr
Twitter