The Global Institute's Yale Forest Forum Leadership Seminar Lunch Series provides opportunities to hear from leaders in forest management, conservation, or policy in an informal setting.
Speakers come from a wide range of organizations and perspectives, including government, NGOs and business, working at scales from local to international.Lunches take place Thursdays
at noon, in Marsh Hall, 360 Prospect St.
Food and beverages provided.
|
|
|
YALE FOREST FORUM LEADERSHIP SEMINAR
Speaker Biographies -- Spring 2008 |
Thursdays at 12:00 noon
Marsh Hall Rotunda,
360 Prospect Street,
New Haven, Connecticut
Lunch Provided -- Free and open to the public
In 1999, he studied as a post-doc for forest economics in the College of Natural Resources, Korea University, Seoul, Korea. In 2003, he was a visiting professor in Taiwan University in forest Biodiversity evaluation, Taipei, Taiwan.
Jan. 24, 2008
Eric Larson, Chris Bolick and David Garinger
Marsh Botanical Garden
"Marsh Garden, Past, Present and Future"
Eric Larson describes himself thusly: seedling stage: Missouri; sapling in Iowa; transplanted Kentuckian. Trained as a practical gardener at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. BA Skidmore College. Worked as Arboretum supervisor at Haverford College for fifteen years. Came to Yale in 2003.
Dave Garinger has been at Marsh Gardens since 1981. Dave grew up in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, attended Penn State University and came to Yale immediately after graduating from that institution's horticulture program. He also holds an MA from Southern Connecticut State University. Dave's duties involve the indoor collections and support of research and instruction, especially in working with growth chambers and greenhouse space.
Chris Bolick is a Massachusetts native. He holds a BA from Sarah Lawrence and worked as an intern for Living on Earth. He came to Yale in 2006 and became full time in 2007.
Back to Talks List
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
| Jan. 31, 2008
Ross Nelson
Earth Resources Research Scientist, The Biospheric Sciences Branch at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
"Sampling and Mapping Forest Resources Using Airborne Lasers"
Ross Nelson has been an Earth resources research scientist with the Biospheric Sciences Branch at the NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center since 1980. He received his BS in Forest Management from the University of Maine in 1974, an MS in Forestry/Remote Sensing from Purdue University in 1979, and his PhD in Forest Biometry from Virginia Tech in 1994.
In the 1980's, he began working with airborne LiDAR altimetry data to assess their utility for forest structural measurement, eg., forest canopy height, and for estimation of forest volume and biomass. Over time, this work has expanded to include the development of robust statistical frameworks for regional (e.g., county, state, province) and national LiDAR-based forest inventories.
He is currently working with forest statisticians and LiDAR scientists in the US, Canada, Norway, and Sweden to develop techniques whereby airborne LiDAR profilers and scanners are used as sampling tools for large-area inventory, with the ultimate goal of using these techniques with space LiDAR systems for global biomass and carbon measurement and monitoring. Back to Talks List
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|
|
Feb. 7, 2008
Phil Rigdon, MF ’02
Deputy Director, Yakama Nation Department of Natural Resources
John Vitello
Sr. Forester, Bureau of Indian Affairs
"Forest and Timber Management on Western Native American Lands "
Philip Rigdon has been the Yakama Nation Deputy Director of Department of Natural Resources for the last two and a half years. DNR Programs work to manage, co-manage, and protect the Yakama Nation’s ancestral, cultural, and treaty resources. Programs within DNR include Yakama Nation Fisheries, Forestry, Wildlife, Environmental Management, Cultural Resources, Tribal Historic Preservation Office, Water Resources and other related natural resource programs.
Previously Phil worked within the Yakama Nation Tribal Forestry program as the Fuels Manager, Timber Sale Administrative Forester, and Forest Development Forester.
He has a B.S. in Forest Management from the University of Washington (1996) and a Master of Forestry from Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (2002).
John Vitello has been with the Bureau of Indian Affairs for over 28 years, 22 of which were on three different Indian Reservations in the Northwest. John received B.S. and M.S. degrees from Southern Illinois University in 1977 and 1979. Following graduation and a brief stint with the Forest Service, he accepted a position in 1979 with the BIA on the Colville Indian Reservation in Washington State, where he worked for 5 years as a Timber Sale Officer. This was followed by 3 years on the Nez Perce Reservation in Idaho as a Sale Planner/Silviculturist; and nearly 14 years on the Yakama Reservation in Washington State as Silviculturist, Assistant Forest Manager, and Forest Manager. Since 2001, John has been working out of the BIA Central Office in Washington D.C. as Senior Forester.
Back to Talks List
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|
|
Feb. 14, 2008
Bill Bentley
Salmon Brook Associates
"Indian and American Forestry: Common History, Different Problems, New Complementarities"
William Bentley is the principal of Salmon Brook Associates in North Granby CT, and is Professor Emeritus of Forest Policy and Management at the College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse NY. He was on the faculties of Michigan, UConn and other universities, including an adjunct relationship with Yale from 1990-97.
Bill's experience in the private sector includes managing Forestry Research for the Crown Zellerbach Corporation, working for the Ford Foundation in India, and being a senior program officer for Winrock International working primarily in South and Southeast Asia. His current consulting assignments include managing the Connecticut Forest Conservation Forum and conducting research on carbon sequestration by Connecticut's forests for the Connecticut Forest and Park Association.
Bill earned his BS in Forestry from California, a Master of Forestry from Michigan, and returned to Berkeley for his Ph.D. in agricultural economics. He was a Bullard Fellow at Harvard and a Fulbright Fellow in New Zealand.
Bill and his wife, Ann, manage a 35 acre woodlot that is part of their farm, which is one the original 10 tree farm licenses in Connecticut. They are active in several local conservation efforts, including Granby 4-H, the Granby Land Trust, and the McLean Game Refuge. Back to Talks List
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|
|
Feb. 21, 2008
Kirsten Valentine Cadieux
Visiting Fellow, Yale Program in Agrarian Studies
"Conspicuous Production: Working landscape, sustainability, and the aesthetics of farm and forest work"
Valentine Cadieux studies the cultural geography of land use change at the urban-rural interface, particularly the relationship between urbanization, nature conservation, and agriculture activism. She uses landscape analysis, ethnography, historical research, and critical social theory to examine relationships between landscape ideologies and land use practices. She has taught courses on cultural and urban geography and agriculture and the environment.
Cadieux received an A.B. in Visual and Environmental Studies from Harvard and Radcliffe, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the Department of Geography at the University of Toronto, specializing in cultural landscape geography and focusing on metropolitan edge and exurban landscapes in the Greater Golden Horseshoe of southern Ontario and in the Canterbury region of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Her current research compares early and current exurbanization in southern New England, particularly in the context of efforts to integrate urbanization and productive land use, and around the question of how power is expressed in the landscape by certain groups in their efforts to materialize environmental stories about production, progress, and sustainability.
Back to Talks List
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|
|
Feb. 28, 2008
Marie Therese Ndiaye
Rede Brasileira Agroforestal (REBRAF, Brazilian Agroforestry Network)
Marie Therese Yaba Ndiaye is a PhD candidate at the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). She earned her BS in Agronomy from the same university and masters degree from Aalborg University in Denmark. She is currently a Predoctoral fellow in the Department of Political Science at Yale.
Her research focuses on two related issues: 1) the potential contribution of non-timber
forest products (NTFP) to the livelihoods of those living near dry forests; and 2) the impact of the decentralization of forest administration on local livelihoods and the health of forests. Her research focuses on the Sambande and Keur Samba Dia forests in Senegal. She is a member of Poverty Environment Network (PEN) coordinated by CIFOR and recently completed a one year round
survey of household and village level as part of PEN?s first global comparative and quantitative review of the role of tropical forests in poverty alleviation.
Back to Talks List
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|
|
TUESDAY Mar. 4, 2008
P.K. Joshi
Associate Professor, Department of Natural Resources, TERI University
"Biodiversity Characterization at the Landscape Level using Remote Sensing & GIS - an Indian Perspective"
P.K. Joshi is an Associate Professor, TERI University, New Delhi. His research interests include geospatial (remote sensing, GIS, GPS) modeling, vegetation analysis and climate change & ecological studies, and forestry/biodiversity characterization and landscape ecology.
Previously he worked as a scientist at the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (NRSA), Dept. of Space GOI, Dehradun India, and before that Adjunct Faculty at the Center for Space Science and Technology Education in Asia and the Pacific, Dehradun India.
Dr. Joshi holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc. from Gurukula Kangri University, Haridwar India, a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences, RS & GIS Applications from the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (NRSA), and an M.Sc in Sustainable Development and Climate Change from Sikkim Manipal University, New Delhi.
Back to Talks List ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|
|
Mar. 6, 2008
The Forests Dialogue Steering Committee
The Forests Dialogue (TFD) is a group of individuals from diverse interests and regions that are committed to the conservation and sustainable use of forests. Through a shared understanding of forest issues from their own dialogues, members of The Forests Dialogue work together in a spirit of teamwork, trust, and commitment. They believe that their actions and relationships can help catalyze a broader consensus on forest issues and encourage constructive, collaborative action by individual leaders that will improve the condition and value of forests.
Attending Members
- Mubariq Ahmad, Director, WWF Indonesia, Indonesia
- Mohamed Bakarr, SVP and Executive Director, Center for Applied Biodiversity Science, USA
- Marcus Colchester, Director, Forest Peoples Programme, UK
- Gerhard Dieterle, Forest Advisor, Agriculture and Development, The World Bank
- Peter Gardiner, Natural Resources Manager, Mondi, United Kingdom
- Bill Ginn, Managing Director, The Nature Conservancy, Global Forest Initiative, USA
- James Griffiths, Director, Sustainable Forest Products Industry Working Group, WBCSD, Switzerland
- Peter Kanowski, Head, School of Resources, Australian National University
- Matti Karjula, Senior Vice President, Wood Supply, Stora Enso, Finland
- Mikhail Karpachevskiy, Forest Coordinator, Biodiversity Conservation Center, Russia
- Lars Laestadius, Team Leader, Forest Landscapes Initiative, World Resources Institute, USA
- Stewart Maginnis, Head, Forest Conservation Programme, IUCN, Switzerland
- James Mayers, Head, Natural Resources Group, International Institute for Environment and Development, Scotland
- Cassie Phillips, Vice President, Sustainable Forests and Products, Weyerhaeuser, USA
- Carlos Alberto Roxo, Director, Corporate Relations and Environmental Affairs, Aracruz Celulose, Brazil
- Antti Sahi, Director, Forestry, MTK Forestry Group, Finland
- Liz Sandler, Director, American Tree Farm System, American Forest Foundation, USA
- Roberto Smeraldi, Director, Amigos da Terra - Amazonia Brasileira, Brazil
- Ken Strassner, Vice President, Environment and Energy, Kimberly-Clark, USA
- Bill Street, Representative, Woodworkers Department, IAM, USA
- Justin Ward, Vice President - Business Practices, CELB, Conservation International, USA
- Emmanuel Ze Meka, Executive Director, ITTO, Japan
- Gary Dunning, Executive Director, TFD Secretariat, USA
Back to Talks List ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
|
Mar. 27, 2008
Tamara Stark
Forest Campaign Manager, Greenpeace, China
"Changing China: The Challenges of Tightening its Timber Imports and Trade"
Tamara Stark has worked with Greenpeace internationally for over 10 years, focusing on forests protection, improving practices within the logging industry, and the development of the Forest Stewardship Council in Canada. From the late 1990s until recently, Ms Stark led Greenpeace's successful campaign to gain protection of one of the largest areas of temperate rainforest in the world, located on the coast of British Columbia. In 2006, she relocated to Beijing, where she now heads a team of 8 Chinese staff, working to protect forests globally and to transform illegal and destructive trade flow patterns.
Back to Talks List
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|
April 3, 2008
Firooza Pavri
Assistant Professor of Geography, University of Southern Maine
"Vulnerability and Resource Dependency in India's Western Ghats"
Firooza Pavri received her Ph.D. from Ohio State University and is currently Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Southern Maine. Her research examines the causes of environmental change and utilizes satellite imaging and remote sensing technology to monitor anthropogenic or climate induced modifications to forest and wetland ecosystems.
An on-going research project in the tropical forests of India's Western Ghats examines forest resource dependency across the rural population and considers their vulnerability to forest cover loss. Another project uses high resolution aerial imagery to document and monitor wetland marshes in the Plum Island Estuary of northeastern coastal Massachusetts. In the past, she has worked on monitoring wetland environments in the Great Plains of the US Midwest and elaborating on the climatic and anthropogenic conditions leading to observed changes in wetland cover.
Firooza's research has been funded by NASA among other sources. She teaches courses on environmental geography, international development, remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems.
Back to Talks List
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|
WEDNESDAY, April 9, 2008
Robert Glennon
Manager, Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program, USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service
"Forest Protection, Restoration, and Management in USDA Easement Programs"
Robert Glennon is a forester with 28 years of service as a federal employee with the Natural Resources Conservation Service and Fish and Wildlife Service, working in 20 states throughout the eastern half of the country.
He began working for the USDA, NRCS, in 1979 as a Soil Conservationist in the Field Office in Hackettstown, NJ (Warren and Sussex Counties). He then worked as a Plant Materials Center Manager and Plant Materials Specialist in Beltsville, MD, Brooksville, FL, Harrisburg, PA (covering the area from Massachusetts to Florida to Texas to Kentucky) 1982-1995.
From 1995-2000 Glennon served as Ecologist for Wetlands and Riparian Areas in Little Rock, AR, and from 2000-2005 was a Natural Resource Planner for the National Wildlife Refuge System, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Edenton, NC. In 2006 he became Manager of the Farm and Ranch Lands.
He holds a B.S. in Forest Management from the College of Agriculture and Environmental Science, Rutgers University and an M.F.R. in Forest Resources, School of Forest Resources, Pennsylvania State University.
Back to Talks List
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|
| |
|
|
April 10, 2008
Lynn Lyford
Executive Director
Si Balch
Director of Community Forest Stewardship
New England Forestry Foundation
"An Inside Look at a Forestry Non-profit: The New England Forestry Foundation"
Prior to joining NEFF in 2007, Lynn Lyford was Vice President of Cooperative Education at Northeastern University. An avid conservationist, she is a member of the Board of Directors of the Trustees of Reservations where she has served as Vice Chair and chaired the Trustees' Field Operations Committee. She also has served as Regional Director of Global Government Affairs for EDS in New York and New England, and was Executive Director of the Massachusetts State Office of Minority and Women Business Assistance. Prior to her work in Massachusetts state government, she served in the cabinet of Maine Governor John McKernan, Jr. as Commissioner of Economic and Community Development.
Lynn received a master's of business administration in finance from the Wharton School and a bachelor's degree in art education from the State University of New York. She also holds certificates in management and leadership from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and Thunderbird, the American School of International Management. Lynn resides in Winchester, MA with her husband, Richard.
Sidney (Si) Balch has been the Director of Community Forest Stewardship at NEFF since 2004. He is responsible for stewardship and planning on 23,000 acres of fee ownership, and overseeing monitoring on 1.1 million acres of conservation easements. Mr. Balch has been involved with forest certification for since 1995. Prior to working at NEFF he spent over thirty years with forest industry in New England, most recently overseeing more than 600,000 acres of forestland. He has recently traveled learning about forest management in Russia and France. Mr. Balch has a degree in forestry from the New York State College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|
TUESDAY, April 15, 2008
Varghese Paul
Fellow, Forestry and Biodiversity Group, TERI University
"India's Biodiesel Program: Promises and Challenges"
Varghese Paul has more than 12 years of experience in the forestry and rural development sector in India. He is currently working as Fellow with the forestry and biodiversity group of TERI. He has worked on a large number of multidisciplinary research and implementation projects funded by World Bank, SDC, UNDP, EC, JBIC and Union/State Governments. His areas of interest include joint forest management/ community forest management, private sector forestry, farm/agroforestry, climate change (both mitigation and adaptation components), and biofuels.
He has worked with forest-fringe communities in various parts of the country, devising strategies for improving and diversifying their livelihood base. Recently he has conducted a social and institutional assessment of the forestry sector in Jharkhand and Assam with a view of strengthening participatory forest management. He has coordinated a pioneering attempt by TERI to facilitate corporate involvement in forest management and rural development in Eastern Ghats region of India.
His expertise goes beyond traditional forestry and rural development activities. He has experience in designing carbon sequestration projects in India and devising strategies for tapping carbon offset funds for local communities. He has conducted a case study on impacts of climate change on forest ecosystems and subsequently on the livelihoods of forest dependent communities in Western Himalayas. In the biofuel sector, he is currently coordinating the plantation component of a complete value chain (seed to wheel) project in Andhra Pradesh. He has conducted a study on issues related to land degradation and biodiversity in the seven GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) Countries. He is member of many multi-country network projects related to forestry, climate change and biofuels. He has several publications to his credit.
Back to Talks List
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|
|
April 17, 2008
James McWillaims
Assistant Professor of History, Texas State University
"The Pen and the Plow: the Agrarian Origins of Economic Entomology"
James E. McWilliams is an associate professor of history at Texas State
University. He specializes in colonial and early American history, and U.S. environmental history. He is currently finishing a book on American Pests: Our Losing war on Insects from Colonial Times to DDT, while a fellow in Yale's Agrarian Studies Program.
McWilliams is the author of A Revolution in Eating: How the Quest for Food Shaped America (2005) and Building the Bay Colony: Economy and Society in Early Massachusetts (2007).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|
May 1, 2008
Ying Zhang
Professor of Forest Economics in Beijing Forestry University
"The State of Green GDP Accounting for Forest and Green Policies in China""
Zhang Ying is a professor of forest economics in Beijing Forestry University. His interests are in forest economics and environmental statistics and has pursued both theoretical and experimental research activities in forest economics and management, regional economics, environmental statistics, and Macroeconomic statistics.
Dr. Zhang graduated from the College of Economics and Management of Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China in 1989, majoring in forest economics and management. After graduation he taught and conducted research on forest economics in China and abroad, focusing on green accounting for forest and environmental statistics in China.
In 1999, he studied as a post-doc. for forest economics in the College of Natural Resources, Korea University. In 2003, he served as a visiting professor in Taiwan University in Forest Biodiversity Evaluation, Taipei, Taiwan.
Dr. Zhang is a General Deputy Secretary of the Professional Committee of the Forestry System Engineering of China and a member of the Chinese Environmental and Economic Society. Currently he is a Fulbright Scholar in Forest Economics at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.
He has published over 70 papers and 14 books in this field and earned 4 state awards in China.
Back to Talks List
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
| |
|
Global Institute of Sustainable Forestry
360 Prospect Street • New Haven, CT 06511 USA • 203.432.5117
|
