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2001 Conference
Welcome
Schedule
Speakers
Sponsors
Essay
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Pennsylvania
Biodiversity Partnership
2001
Conference: Speakers |
What
is the State of Biodiversity in Pennsylvania?
November 29-30, 2001
State College, PA
Joan
Clippinger, Coordinator of Education and Information
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Harrisburg, PA
Joan is Coordinator of Education and Information, Pennsylvania Department
of Conservation and Natural Resources. She also serves as the chair
of the PBP Education Task Force and is representing the findings of
this task force concerning the compilation of information regarding
biodiversity public support, understanding, and education.
Jennifer DeCecco, Research Assistant
Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
Jennifer DeCecco presently works as a Research Assistant with Jay Stauffer,
Pennsylvania State University, School of Forest Resources. She previously
worked for the University of Georgia as a Research Coordinator as well
as the Massachusetts Audubon Society. She mostly does work in avian
conservation and management
Nick DiPasquale, Secretary
Delaware Dept. of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, Dover,
DE
Nicholas A. DiPasquale has served as Secretary of the Delaware Department
of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) since April,
1999. Nick joined DNREC in 1993 as Director of the Division of Air and
Waste Management. Before coming to Delaware, he spent over six years
with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, where he served as
Director of the Water Pollution Control Program and as Director of Waste
Management. From 1983 to 1987, Nick served as staff for the Missouri
House of Representatives Committees on Energy and Environment; State
Parks, Recreation, and Natural Resources; Mines; and Labor. A native
of Rochester, NY, Nick is a U.S. Navy veteran, having served from 1970-1976
as an electronics technician and reactor operator aboard the USS Stonewall
Jackson, a Poseidon Class submarine.
Caren Glotfelty, Program Director for the Environment Program
Heinz Endowments, Pittsburgh, PA
Caren Glotfelty is the Program Director for the Environment Program
at the Heinz Endowments, whose focus in the environment is on sustainable
urban design, environmental enterprise and innovation, energy and the
environment, and watershed protection and ecosystem management. Prior
to joining the Endowments in 2000, Caren was the Maurice K. Goddard
Professor of Forestry and Environmental Resource Conservation at Pennsylvania
State University. She has a Master of Regional Planning from the University
of Pennsylvania and a B.A. from the University of the Pacific. Most
of her career has been in state government, including 13 years in the
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources, where she became
deputy secretary. Caren was the co-chair of the 21st Century Environment
Commission. She is on the Board of Directors of the Clear Water Conservancy
(Centre County), 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania, Alliance for the Chesapeake
Bay, and Pennsylvania Biological Survey.
Randy Gray, State Director
The Nature Conservancy, Conshohocken, PA
In March of 1998, Randy Gray became State Director of The Nature Conservancy
of Pennsylvania. Since that time, Randy has led the chapter through
a period of phenomenal growth, with increased support for The Nature
Conservancy's work and with increased scope of work throughout the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania. He also currently serves as Chair of the Pennsylvania
Biodiversity Partnership. Randy originally joined the Chapter’s
staff as Director of Protection in July 1997 following a 25-year career
in finance and administration, including 15 years in mergers and acquisitions.
An avid fly fisher, Randy was raised on a farm in North Carolina and
has had a lifelong interest in conservation and preservation.
Roger Latham, Consultant
Wallingford, PA
Roger Latham is a plant community ecologist. His basic research is on
plant diversity patterns, from micro- to global scales. He also does
conservation biology research and planning as a consultant for The Nature
Conservancy, Natural Lands Trust, and other wildland management organizations
and agencies.
Shane Mahoney, Executive Director of Science
Newfoundland & Labrador Dept. of Tourism, Culture, and Recreation,
St. John’s, Newfoundland
Born and raised in Newfoundland, Shane Mahoney is a biologist, writer,
and frequent lecturer on environmental and resource conservation issues.
He has a master’s degree from Memorial University of Newfoundland
and is completing his Ph.D. at the University of Calgary, Alberta, where
he is studying with Valerius Geist, the well-known animal behaviorist
and conservation writer. Shane has spent 20 years conducting extensive
field investigations of wildlife species as diverse as caribou, seabirds,
black bear, and moose, and has been published in many scientific journals.
He has authored or co-authored more than 120 scientific articles and
reports, spanning fields as diverse as animal behavior, parasitology,
predator-prey interactions, and population dynamics. In addition, he
has authored management plans and co-authored wildlife policies for
Newfoundland and Labrador. Over the past 20 years, he has been responsible
for a variety of wildlife management programs, including inventories,
quotas, and hunting seasons for big game species in Newfoundland. In
1992, he was appointed head of wildlife research and inventory for all
wildlife species in Newfoundland and Labrador, where he was responsible
for the creation and direction of a new wildlife research unit in the
province. In 2001, Shane was appointed to the new position of Executive
Director of Science in the Department of Tourism, Culture, and Recreation.
The position reports to the assistant deputy minister for Natural Heritage
and Recreation and is responsible for the design, development, operation,
and supervision of a provincial scientific research program for inland
fish and wildlife.
Jim McElfish, Director, Sustainable Land Use Program
Environmental Law Institute, Washington, DC
Jim McElfish directs the Sustainable Land Use Program at the Environmental
Law Institute, a research and policy nonprofit organization based in
Washington, DC. He is a graduate of Dickinson College and Yale Law School.
Bob McKinstry, Maurice Goddard Professor
Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
Bob was appointed in July 2001 to the Maurice Goddard Chair in Forestry
and Environmental Resources Conservation. He took a leave of absence
from Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP, and became Of Counsel,
where he was formerly co-founder and co-Partner in Charge of the 24
lawyer Environmental Law Practice Group. Bob practiced environmental
law for 20 years after receiving his J.D. and M.F.S. from Yale Law School
and Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, respectively,
and serving a two-year clerkship with the Chief Judge of the U.S. District
Court for the District of Delaware.
Dessie Severson, Associate Director
Allegheny Institute of Natural History, Bradford, PA
Dessie Severson received her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University
of Chicago. She earned a master's in Botany and a bachelor's in zoology
from the University of South Dakota. She is currently a professor of
biology at the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford, where she serves as
department chair and the associate director of the newly formed Allegheny
Institute of Natural History.
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