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Pennsylvania Biodiversity Partnership 2004 Conference: Speakers & Facilitators

Economic Prosperity and Biodiversity Conservation:
Planning for Pennsylvania's Future
Harrisburg, PA
November 9-10, 2004

Charles Bier, Director/Zoologist - Natural Heritage Program
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Pittsburgh, PA
      Charles obtained a B.S. in Zoology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, with an emphasis on plant and animal ecology. He was first employed as a teacher/naturalist with the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania. Since 1981 he has worked for the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy in a number of roles involving science and stewardship, and in 1996 he was appointed Director of the Natural Heritage Program, with a staff of 15. The Natural Heritage Program works in partnership with The Nature Conservancy and Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to support the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program (PNHP). PNHP collects and manages biodiversity information for use in conservation decision-making in Pennsylvania and in North America as a member of NatureServe.
      Charles is a Research Associate at the Section of Invertebrate Zoology, Carnegie Museum of Natural History. He serves on several state and regional committees, including Chair of the Arachnid Technical Committee of the Pennsylvania Biological Survey and Chair of the Pennsylvania Biodiversity Partnership’s Science Task Force. His areas of interest are broad and include a wide range of fauna and flora, and their conservation.

Jacquelyn Bonomo, Vice President
Western Pennsyvania Conservancy, Pittsburgh, PA
      Jacqui Bonomo is vice president for Natural Resource Conservation at the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy (WPC). Since joining the staff in March 1999, the Resource Conservation department has tripled in size and budget and added major program areas in Watershed Assistance and Forestland Protection.
      Before joining WPC, Jacqui worked at National Wildlife Federation (NWF) for 13 years. Her last position there was as western vice president. She had oversight for offices in Portland, OR, and Anchorage, AK, and focused on public lands management, endangered species, and wetland protection issues. She laid the groundwork for the opening of a sustainable communities office in southern California. Jacqui directed the Portland office for five years during the height of the spotted-owl controversies and fight to protect remaining ancient forests. Her career at NWF began in 1985 when she worked out of the Washington, DC office as a regional representative to grassroot groups and agencies in the mid-Atlantic states, the Virginias, Carolinas, Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.
      Jacqui began her conservation career as a volunteer with the Sierra Club and worked to organize a large coalition to stop the construction of a dam to flood Nescopeck Creek in northeastern Pennsylvania. Before working in conservation, she held various positions with non-profit organizations and has experience in financial development, membership, public relations, and communications.
      Jacqui currently sits on several boards and advisory committees for the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association, Penn State School of Forest Resources, Sustainable Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellons’ Three Rivers Second Nature Project, the Department of Environmental Protection’s Water Resources Program, and Pennsylvania Biodiversity Partnership, for which she chairs the Funding Task Force.
      She is a graduate of Penn State and a certified paralegal. She has many passions and pastimes, most related to the natural world.

Randall Cooley, CEO
Westsylvania Heritage Corporation, Hollidaysburg, PA
      Randall Cooley is CEO of Westsylvania Heritage Corporation (WHC), which serves as a resource center for heritage conservation efforts in the central Appalachians. WHC also manages the Path of Progress National Heritage Tour Route that serves to guide visitors to stories and sites of Westsylvania, interpreting the cultural and natural heritage of this region.
      Randy worked for the Department of Interior for 32 years in the roles of National Park Ranger and Superintendent, and as the executive director of a federal commission focusing on the heritage of Southwestern Pennsylvania. He is a member of the Alliance of National Heritage Areas, past chair of the Citizen’s Advisory Council of Pennsylvania’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and serves as a member and/or officer on the board of directors of several corporations. Over the years he has received numerous awards for outstanding performance including the Honor Award for Superior Service from the Department of the Interior.
      Randy enjoys reading, woodworking, and music. He and his wife spend much of their leisure time traveling to visit their children and grandchildren. During these jaunts they take time to visit national parks and heritage areas.

James M. Drager, CEO
The Drager Group, Inc., Morgantown, PA
      Jim's background includes over 20 years of hands-on experience in the areas of executive management, consulting, manufacturing operations management, sales and marketing, quality assurance and project management with a variety of organizations including environmental, NGO, NFP, manufacturing and health and human service organizations.
      Since forming The Drager Group, Jim has worked with many local and national organizations in the successful development and implementation of strategic plans, focus groups, customized research, sales and marketing programs and team building processes. Additionally, Jim has been active as a speaker on the benefits of strategic planning, strategic marketing and market research, having lead seminars sponsored by various industry associations and local chambers of commerce.
      Jim serves as President of the board of the Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art, Millersburg, Pennsylvania, and has been involved with several volunteer organizations including Chairman of the Berks County Chamber of Commerce's Quality Partnership. He is also a member of the American Marketing Association.

Calvin Ernst, Founder and General Partner
Ernst Conservation Seeds, Meadville, PA
      Calvin Ernst is a Penn State graduate, having earned a B.S. in Agronomy. He founded Ernst Crownvetch Farm in 1962. His interest developed further to include native grasses, wildflowers, and native wetland plants, later becoming Ernst Conservation Seeds. Calvin has been a consultant to state highway departments in the northeast, as well as landfills, various arboreta and institutions, several national parks, and a selection of government agencies.
      Ernst Conservation Seeds produces native seeds and plants on 2,100 acres in northwest Pennsylvania, as well as many eastern ecotypes of native flowers and grasses particularly adapted to wetland restoration, meadow establishment, and bioretention. Calvin is a consultant and supplier of live stakes, wattles, and brush layering materials for bioengineering. He is the general partner of Ernst Conservation Seeds, which includes his business partners: his wife, Marcia, and their three children, Andy, Michael, and Robin.

David Hackenberg, Proprietor
Hackenberg Apiaries, Lewisburg, PA
      David Hackenberg owns and operates Hackenberg Apiaries. David along with his son, David Richard, manage 2,500 colonies of honeybees for pollination of apples, blueberries, cherries, citrus, pumpkins, and vegetables in Florida, Pennsylvania, Maine, Virginia and New York doing about 6,400 pollination rentals yearly. Besides pollination of crops, David’s operation also produces a variety of different floral sources of honey, as well as production of honeybees for sale.
      David has been a migrating beekeeper, moving bees back and forth between the north and Florida for 39 years. Prior to 1994 David also ran a sizable honey processing and packaging operation. In January 1994 this was destroyed by a fire and with new change and developments in the food businesses, he decided to concentrate on beekeeping. Since then he continues to be a honey buyer for a large packer in the U.S. as well as a broker for bee hauling in eastern U.S.
      David and his wife, Linda, have four children: two sons, David R. who works and owns 1/5 of the bees, and Kevin who is involved in Film & Video Production, and two daughters: Jeanne who is continuing her education to receive her masters degree, and Betsy who graduated from college and is between jobs helping in the office, as well as a daughter-in-law, Beth (David R.’s wife) and two grandsons, Joseph and Justin.
      David is Past President of the American Beekeeping Federation and current member of the National Honey Board.

Ken Klemow, Professor
Wilkes University, Wilkes-Barre, PA
      Dr. Ken Klemow serves as the Chair of the Pennsylvania Biodiversity Partnership’s Biodiversity Informatics Task Force. He is a Professor of Biology and GeoEnvironmental Science at Wilkes University, Wilkes-Barre, where he teaches courses in Ecology, Field Botany, Plant Diversity, and Medical Botany. He serves as the Curator of Wilkes’s Rosenthal Herbarium, and Director of its Wetland and Restoration Ecology Laboratory. In his twenty-three years at Wilkes, Ken has involved over 50 undergraduate students in a variety of biodiversity-related projects, including wetland ecology and mapping; creating online taxonomic keys for vascular plants; restoring lands and waterways impacted by anthracite mining; and inventorying street trees in the Wyoming Valley.
      Ken organized the Ecological Society of America’s Education Section, currently serves on the ESA’s Education and Human Resources Committee, and spearheads its digital library for ecology education effort (EcoEd.net). Ken is a Certified Senior Ecologist and is listed in the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Registry of Wetland Consultants and Professional Botanists. He is an active practitioner of science, being the owner of a private consulting company that conducts wetland delineations and botanical assessments.
      Ken received his B.S. in Biology from the University of Miami and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Plant Ecology from the State University of New York’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse.

Scott R. Klinger, Director
Bureau of Land Management, Pennsylvania Game Commission
      Scott received his B.S. in Forest Biology from The Pennsylvania State University and his M.S. in Wildlife Ecology from Kansas State University. Scott spent nine years as a Wildlife Biologist and Forest Administrator with the Department of the Army in Kansas and Georgia. In 1991, he transferred to the Southern Region of the US Forest Service and served as the Neotropical Migratory Bird Coordinator and Wildlife Planner for the Southern Region of the US Forest Service and as the Forest Wildlife Biologist on the George Washington National Forest in Virginia and West Virginia. After transferring to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, he served as the Private Lands Biologist and Farm Bill Coordinator for the Pennsylvania Game Commission. In January 2004, he was promoted to Director, Bureau of Land Management and currently directs the management of over 1.4 million acres of State Game Lands.
      Scott serves on numerous International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Committees. In 2002, he received the Wildlife Management Institutes highest conservation award, the International Touchstone Award, for his farsighted creativity and tireless efforts to help frame, expand, and implement Pennsylvania’s Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), improving land, water, and wildlife conservation on 265,000 acres of private lands in 59 Pennsylvania counties. He is a member of the Society of American Foresters and is currently serving as President of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the Wildlife Society and as the Chair of the Pennsylvania Biodiversity Partnership’s Stewardship Task Force. Scott is a native Pennsylvanian and grew up on a farm in eastern Snyder County. He and his wife Jan reside outside Kreamer, Pennsylvania.

Paul Lyskava, Executive Director
Pennsylvania Forest Products Association, Hershey, PA
      Paul Lyskava has been the Executive Director the Pennsylvania Forest Products Association (PFPA) since 2002. PFPA is the state’s largest trade association for the forest products industry, representing approximately 220 companies and organizations engaged in or serving the various sectors of the forest products industry. PFPA educates public officials and the general public on forest management issues and the impact of the industry on the state’s economy. It also keeps the industry on the forefront concerning responsible forest management and government rules.
      Prior to joining PFPA, Paul served as the Executive Director of the Hardwoods Development Council (HDC), a bureau of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, for nearly four years. His previous professional experience also includes working in various economic development and governmental affairs positions for the Pennsylvania Rural Electric Association, a Harrisburg-based trade association. Paul serves as Chair of the Pennsylvania Biodiversity Partnership’s Policy Task Force
Paul is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and earned a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Penn State. Paul, his wife Kathleen, and son Sean, reside in Camp Hill.

Eric Martin, Co-Owner
Wilderness Voyageurs, Ohiopyle, PA
      Eric is an avid outdoor athlete, spending as much time as possible in a kayak, on a mountain bike, or prospecting for trout. He competed in whitewater slalom kayaking, spending ten years on the U.S. National Team. Eric graduated from the University of Maryland with a B.S. in International Recreation Marketing. Presently he is the co-owner of the family business, Wilderness Voyageurs, based in Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania. Wilderness Voyageurs is the oldest whitewater outfitter east of the Mississippi River, celebrating more than 40 years in business. Under Eric’s leadership, the company has greatly expanded its offerings, among them, interpretive trips for senior citizens and curriculum-based school field trips. Eric has been very active in the tourism industry both on the state and national level.
      Eric has served on numerous committees, including the Ohiopyle Boro Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee; Allegheny Trail Alliance, Interpretive Concept Plan Steering Committee; facilitator of the “Summit on Tourism,” sponsored by Senator Kukovich; Pennsylvania Tourism Strategic Plan recreation representative; Conservation and Natural Resource Advisory Council; and the Board of Directors of America Outdoors.

Andrew McElwaine, President & CEO
Pennsylvania Environmental Council, Harrisburg, PA
      Andrew McElwaine is the President and CEO of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC). For thirty years PEC has served as Pennsylvania’s leading environmental education and advocacy organization, emphasizing sustainable use of land and resources, conservation of essential watersheds and innovation.
      Prior to joining PEC, Andrew was Director of Environment Programs at the Pittsburgh-based Heinz Endowments, where he helped to create their environment programs and served as their first environment program director. In addition, he served as an Alternate Commissioner on Governor Ridge’s Commission on the 21st Century Environment, and is a Board member of the Great Lakes Protection Fund, Environmental Resources Trust, Sustainable Energy Fund of Central Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Biodiversity Partnership. In 1998, he co-founded Enterprising Environmental Solutions, Inc. (EESI), a non-profit corporation devoted to the use of market forces to improve environmental quality.
      Andrew is an adjunct faculty member at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. He served as a staff member of President George H. Bush’s Commission on Environmental Quality, and as a legislative assistant and subcommittee staff director for the late U.S. Senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania. He was also Director of Congressional Affairs for the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries. He holds a M.S. degree from Carnegie Mellon University, a M.A. degree from George Mason University, and a B.A. degree from Duke University.

Ben Moyer, Outdoor Writer and Conservation Consultant
Farmington, PA
      Ben Moyer is a native western Pennsylvania author, editor, columnist, and conservation consultant whose writing on natural resource issues and the outdoor experience has appeared in numerous local, state and national publications. He is outdoor columnist and feature writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and from 1992 until January 2002 he worked as Editor of Pennsylvania Sportsman magazine.
      Ben’s writing has garnered numerous awards from the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association and the Mason-Dixon Outdoor Writers Association. He was honored as Conservation Communicator of the Year for 2001 by the Pennsylvania Audubon Society in recognition of a series of articles on the impacts of white-tailed deer on biodiversity in Pennsylvania.
      He is a Past President and Board Chairman of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association, and a member of the Mason-Dixon Outdoor Writers Association and the Outdoor Writers Association of America. He has served as a member of the Governor’s Sportsmen’s Advisory Council and the Pennsylvania Deer Management Working Group.

Edward F. Schroth, Adjunct Professor
Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA
      Edward F. Schroth serves as an adjunct professor in the Biology, Education, and Environmental Science departments at Duquesne University. He has been director for four years of a summer camp for middle school students entitled Solving Environmental Mysteries Using Science (SEMUS). At Carnegie Mellon University, he designed and conducted teacher workshops on biodiversity, acid deposition, and comparative biology.
      He formerly taught at the Quaker Valley School District for 36 years. During his tenure at Quaker Valley, he initiated programs in independent student research, environmental science curriculum for elementary and secondary programs, and sponsored "Up the Creek," a stream biology club that conducted field research on local streams in western Pennsylvania. He has organized and conducted four different student delegations to China for academic field biology exchanges with Chinese students and faculty both at Quaker Valley (1994, 1997 & 1999) and Duquesne University (August 2004). Ed is co-chair of the Pennsylvania Biodiversity Partnership’s Education Task Force.

Blaine Puller, Forest Manager
Kane Hardwood, a Collins Company, Kane, PA
      Blaine Puller is the forest manager at Kane Hardwood, a Collins Company in Kane, Pennsylvania. His responsibilities include supplying the sawmill with logs and the management of the 126,000-acre Collins Pennsylvania Forest. Oversight of the nine-person forestry department involves sales and marketing, forest management, public relations, Forest Stewardship Council certification, and oil and gas activity.
      Blaine received a B.S. degree in Forest Science from the Pennsylvania State University in 1972 and has worked at Collins for 29 years in various forestry positions. Prior to working for Collins, he was employed as a logger and worked in timber procurement and other forest management positions.
      His interests include all outdoor activities and motorcycle riding. A native of McKean County, he is a member of the Norwich Volunteer Fire Department and is active in the local community.

John Rawlins, Associate Curator
Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, PA
      Raised on a sheep ranch in eastern Oregon, Dr. John Rawlins studied vertebrate zoology, cell biology, and statistics as an undergraduate at Oregon State University, then insect systematics at Cornell University. After receiving a doctorate at Cornell, he became an Assistant Professor of Zoology at the University of Texas, Austin, for several years before moving to Carnegie Museum of Natural History as the curator in charge of the Section of Invertebrate Zoology.
      John’s research interests emphasize the morphology and phylogeny of Lepidoptera with a special focus on the immature stages of moths and a globally active interest in biotic inventory and the use of insects (especially moths) as indicator systems for habitat conservation and resource management.
      Some current projects include a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded biotic inventory of invertebrates and plants on Hispaniola, assisting an NSF-sponsored inventory of butterflies in Ghana, molecular and morphological studies on phylogeny of world cutworm moths and their relatives, federally funded State Wildlife Project for Invertebrate Species of Special Concern in Pennsylvania, and collaborative work on Neotropical ghost moths and Pennsylvania fireflies.
      John administers the Section of Invertebrate Zoology at Carnegie Museum of Natural History and curates its rapidly growing Lepidoptera collection with global strength in every lineage of moths and butterflies, especially tropical Africa, the Caribbean, and the New World tropics.

Sue Thompson, President
Pennsylvania Biodiversity Partnership, Pittsburgh, PA
      Dr. Sue A. Thompson is the President and CEO of the Pennsylvania Biodiversity Partnership, a public-private partnership to conserve biodiversity statewide. A botanist by training and specialist in the Jack-in-the-pulpit plant family (Araceae), Sue counts among her special research interests ethnobotany and pollination biology, as well as biodiversity. She has an undergraduate degree in anthropology from Harvard University; a master's in botany from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in plant biology from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. Her extensive field research experience covers Africa, South America, Central America, the Caribbean, and North America - including Pennsylvania.
      Sue has authored over 70 scientific papers, reports, and popular publications, including "Status of vascular plants in Pennsylvania" and treatments of Araceae (Jack-in-the-pulpit family) and Acoraceae (sweet flag family) for the Flora of North America. Sue has been active for over 20 years in biodiversity and conservation in Pennsylvania, including appointments to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Advisory Council, the Wild Resource Conservation Fund Advisory Committee, and the Vascular Plant Technical Committee of the Pennsylvania Biological Survey.