Conference Speakers Kathleen Ackley Kathleen is the communications director at the Pacific Biodiversity Institute (PBI). PBI is a nonprofit scientific research organization based in Winthrop, Washington. Focusing on the conservation of biodiversity and maintenance of ecological integrity in the Pacific region, PBI conducts scientific research in the fields of ecology, conservation biology and natural resource management. A graduate of Evergreen (she received her master's degree in environmental studies), Kathleen's area of expertise is helping grassroots activists move their campaigns through the use of sophisticated policy analysis, research and technical information. Her presentation at the Cascadia Activism and Ecology Conference will focus on the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology in the protection of our remaining wild lands and wild creatures. Dr. Bob Altman Bob is the OR-WA Partners in Flight Co-Chair for the American Bird Conservancy and is the author of two recent Bird Conservation Plans for Cascades forests published by Partners in Flight. Bob is one of the best known ornithologists in the Northwest, and an independent contractor who does a lot of work for Partners in Flight, government agencies, and the private sector. Dr. Andrew Brabben Dr. Andrew D. Brabban is currently a member of the, Molecular Biology faculty at The Evergreen State College. He has a B.Sc.(Hons) in Microbial Biotechnology, from the University of Liverpool and a Ph.D. in Genetics and Microbiology from the University of Liverpool. Andrew's Postdoctoral work was done at the University of Exeter and at Cornell University. He has worked in industry for ICI Biological Products and Chiroscience Ltd. His research focus has been on the use of biological systems in industrial processes. Frederica Bowcutt Frederica Bowcutt teaches botany at The Evergreen State College. Her specific interests are in environmental history, politics, and policies surrounding the applications of botanical knowledge in natural resource management particularly in public wildlands. Dr. Bowcutt seeks multicultural and multidisciplinary approaches to yield more socially just and democratic use of nature. She is currently engaged in ethnographic research on ecological restoration in Sinkyone Wilderness State Park within Mendocino County, California. She has interviewed timber workers, reinhabitors, and tribal people living around the park. Susan Brelin Bechio Susan Brelin Bechio is an Australian who lives in Coer d'Alene, Idaho. She teaches Integrated Ecology, a practice of healing that brings a deep honoring of self, inviting wholeness through our common connection to the earth. Her background includes Waldorf education for children, organic farming, home birth care, and environmental education in addition to teaching integrated ecology. In her own words: "We are all part of a land based community and this work is about personalizing that connection by looking at nature as a reflection of our inner process. Our sense of belonging to community has to have its roots in our fundamental nourishment which is in the land we live on and the inclusion of all its diverse systems." Bev Brown Beverly A. Brown is the Director of the Jefferson Center for Education and Research, a peer-based popular education organization based in southwest Oregon. Since 1995, the Jefferson Center has cooperated with SE Asian, Native American, low-income Anglo, and Latino "non-timber" forest workers to network across languages and three states to promote environmental justice in natural resources. Brown is the author of In Timber Country: Working People's Stories of Environmental Conflict and Urban Flight (Temple University, 1995), and co-editor with Agueda Marín-Hernández of Voices From the Woods (Voces de Bosque Adentro): Lives and Experiences of Non-Timber Forest Workers (Jefferson Center, 2000, available in Spanish and English). Susan Jane Brown Susan Jane Brown graduated from the Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College with a Juris Doctorate and the Certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law. For the past three years, she has worked extensively on the GPNF monitoring timber sales and assisting in the preparation of more than thirteen administrative appeals for timber sales on the GPNF, including analyzing virtually every timber sale environmental assessment on the GPNF since 1997. Most recently, she was instrumental in obtaining protection for and retaining in public ownership Fossil Creek and Watch Mountain on the GPNF in the Interstate 90 Land Exchange, completed in 1999. Similarly, Susan Jane is actively involved in forest monitoring on national forests east of the Cascade crest in Oregon and Washington. Andrew Carey Andrew Carey is the Research Team Leader for the Ecosystem Processes Research Program at the Pacific Northwest Research Station. He has a B.S. in Forestry and Wildlife, M.S. in Wildlife Management, M.S. in Organization Development, Ph.D. in Zoology and Entomology, and post-doctoral fellowship in Epidemiology. He's conducted ecological reseach in a dozen states across the country, on life forms ranging from ticks to spotted owls. He came to the Pacific Northwest in 1982 to coordinate research on wildlife in old-growth forests, including spotted owls. At present, he leads the Ecological Foundations of Biodiversity Research Team in Olympia, Washington. The team's focus is on developing scientific information and designing management systems for restoration and sustainable management of second-growth forests. Karen Coulter Blue Mountain Biodiversity Project Tim Cullinan Tim Cullinan is the Director of Science and Bird Conservation for theWashington State Office of the National Audubon Society in Olympia. His primary areas of expertise are forest ecology, theintegrated management of forests and wildlife, and the ecology andconservation of migratory birds. Before joining the staff at Audubon,Mr. Cullinan obtained experience researching waterfowl migration, waterfowl nutrition and habitat use, songbird population assessmentmethods, and wildlife responses to forest management. His currentprojects include evaluating implementation of the Endangered SpeciesAct in Northwest landscapes, and leading The Important Bird Areas inWashington project, an effort to identify and protect the sites mostessential to long-term bird conservation in Washington. Mark Des Marets Mark Des Marets has been a grassroots organizer with many organizations in both Oregon and Washington for the last 15 years. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Studies from the Evergreen State College focusing on Mycology and Ecological Agriculture. He helped co-found Northwest Resistance Against Genetic Engineering in the spring of 1999. Erica Guttman Erica Guttman works for the Native Plant Salvage Project here in Olympia. The NPSP salvages native plants from development sites and uses them for restoration and re-vegetation projects. Erica has edited two books, Winter in the Woods and Gardening with Western Washington Native Plants. Cylvia Hayes Cylvia Hayes is Founder and Director of Earth Connections of Central Oregon. With 13 years of experience in environmental education and advocacy, she specializes in sustainable living, environmental ethics, and culture and the environment. Ms. Hayes is a recent graduate of the Oregon League of Conservation Voters Environmental Leadership Institute. She holds a Masters in Environmental Studies from The Evergreen State College. In both 1999 and 2000, Ms. Hayes was honored by her community with an Earth Hero Award. Ms. Hayes believes that the effort to shift society toward a more sustainable paradigm will only occur if political actions are accompanied by measures that effectively address individual and societal value systems. Dr. Peter Impara Dr. Peter Impara is a member of the faculty at The Evergreen State College. He received his Ph.D. in Geography from Oregon State University, where he studied the fire history of the central Oregon coast range. He has spent several years in developing countries on natural resource management projects. He has an M.S. in Energy Management from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. in Biology from Colgate University. Dave Jennings David is the Forestry Chair for Black Hills Audubon Society, chair of Audubon's Washington State Forest Issues Committee, and serves as an environmental representative on the Southern Cascades Provincial Advisory Committee (the PAC for the GPNF). He also serves on the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife's Wildlife Diversity Advisory Council. His academic education was in forestry and wildlife resources. Prior to working in Washington, David served as the forestry chair and vice chair of the Oklahoma Chapter of the Sierra Club. Mac Lojowsky Mac Lojowsky is a poet living in Tenino, Washington. His poetry can be described as having a political ecology theme, yet it also encompasses aspects of Zen Buddhism, earning a paycheck and defining place in 21st century America. He has worked as a park ranger in Alaska, a city worker in Olympia and an agitator in Ohio. Mac's writings have appeared in Works in Progress, the Humanist, the Bear Deluxe and the Earth First! Journal. Dr. John Longino John T. (Jack) Longino is a member of the faculty at The Evergreen State College, in Olympia, Washington, where he teaches in the Environmental Studies Program. He got his PhD at the University of Texas in Austin, studying the population ecology of Heliconius butterflies in Costa Rica. Subsequently he became interested in the taxonomy of Neotropical ants, and has since been involved in the publication of taxonomic research, research collection development at major natural history museums, and Web-based publishing of identification guides and species accounts for the Costa Rica ant fauna. For the past 10 years he has been Scientific Director of Project ALAS, a long-term, large-scale inventory of tropical arthropod biodiversity in Costa Rica. This interdisciplinary project combines taxonomy and ecology, applying quantitative methods to traditional museum collecting. As Scientific Director, Longino has used his dual ecology/taxonomy background to design and administer the project, and to publish on statistical aspects of biodiversity assessment. He divides his time between Evergreen and Project ALAS by sharing a position with his wife, Dr. Nalini Nadkarni. Alice Di Michelle Alice Di Micele has recorded seven independent solo albums, and has appeared on countless anthology projects including Musicians United to Sustain the Environment (M.U.S.E.) and Circle of Life. In her thirteen year career, Alice has established a wide and dedicated following of fans who appreciate her unique "groove-funk acoustic soul" style. She describes her music as follows: "Lyrical content varies...I write about life, love and the state of things as I see them. Music to me is inherently spiritual...it is a connection of humans, earth and the divine." Evergreen's Cooper Point Journal has stated "if ever there could be a musical leader of today's spiritual ecology movement, it is Alice Di Micele." Jasmine Minbashian Jasmine Minbashian, Conservation Director, has had six years of experience organizing environmental campaigns in France, the Arctic, Antarctica, and the Northwest, and serves on the official Water Supply Advisory Committee for Seattle Public Utilities and the board of the Gifford Pinchot Task Force. Dr. Nalini Nadkarni Dr. Nalini Nadkarni is a Member of the Faculty at The Evergreen State College, in Olympia, Washington, where she teaches in the Environmental Studies program. Her research is focused on the ecology of tropical and temperate forest canopies, particularly the role that canopy-dwelling plants play in forests at the ecosystem level. She carries out field research in Washington State and in Monteverde, Cos ta Rica. She has published two books and over 50 scientific articles in scientific journals in the area of forest canopy ecologyand forest ecosystem ecology. Nalini has presented a number of endowed lectures at academic institutions around the country. In 1994, she co-founded and is President of the International Canopy Network, a not-for-profit organization that fosters communication among researchers, educators, and conservationists concerned with forest canopies. She spends a great deal of energy on public outreach to the general public, children, and policy-makers on mattersconcerning forest canopies and forest conservation. She has appeared in numerous television documentaries, and was most recently featured as a canopy scientist in the National Geographic television special ontropical forest canopies, titled "Heroes of the High Frontier", which won the Emmy Award for Best Documentary Film of 2001. A new project she initiated involves the creation of a multi-disciplinary forest access facility on The Evergreen State College campus. Nalini splits a single faculty position at Evergreen with her husband, Jack Longino, who studies tropical insect biodiversity. They have two children, Gus and Erika, who accompany them on research trips to the tropics. Dr. Lin Nelson Lin Nelson is a TESC faculty member who specializes in issues of environmental health and community development. She is renown for her understanding of the internal politics of environmental, labor and social justice movements, and has taught programs on these topics at TESC. Her credentials include: B.A., Sociology, Elmira College, 1970; M.A., Sociology, Pennsylvania State University, 1970; Ph.D., Sociology, Pennsylvania State University, 1981. Peter Nelson Peter is the Policy Coordinator for the Pacific Crest Biodiversity Project and is a lifelong resident of the Pacific Northwest. He is a graduate of the Political Science department of the University of Washington (Public Policy, 1993). For the past 3+ years in his role as Policy Director for the Pacific Crest Biodiversity Project in Seattle, he has focused primarily on the political, social, economic and ecological components of ecosystem management under the Northwest Forest Plan. Lucia Perillo Lucia Perillo is a young poet whose unusual work marries speech like naturalness to intellectual complexity and emotional power. She has developed a signature voice marked by an urban speed and a narrative style driven by characterization and drama. Perillo is an associate professor in the Creative Writing Program at Southern Illinois University. She received a B.Sc. (1979) in wildlife management from McGill University and an M.A. (1986) in creative writing from Syracuse University. Prior to teaching, she worked as a naturalist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and for Mount Rainier National Park. She is the author of three volumes of poetry: Dangerous Life (1989), The Body Mutinies (1996), and The Oldest Map with the Name America (1999). Her poems have appeared in such periodicals as The New Yorker, The Kenyon Review, and The Atlantic Monthly. She also writes reviews, fiction, and essays, for which she received an Illinois Arts Council grant in creative nonfiction. For her poetry, Perillo has received the Poetry Society of America's Farber First Book Award (1989), the Morse Prize (1989), a PEN/Revson award (1991), Purdue University's Emery Poetry Prize (1996), Claremont College's Tufts Discovery Award (1997), and the Beloit Poetry Journal's Chad Walsh Prize (1998). Robert Michael Pyle Robert Pyle was born in 1947 in Denver and raised in Aurora, Colorado. His BS in Nature Perception and Protection and MS in Nature Interpretation from the University of Washington were followed in 1976 by a Ph.D. from Yale University's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. In 1971, during a Fulbright Fellowship at the Monks Wood Experimental Station in England, Pyle founded the Xerces Society for invertebrate conservation, and later chaired its Monarch Project. Bob has worked as butterfly conservation Consultant for Papua New Guinea, Northwest Land Steward for The Nature Conservancy, and guest professoror writer at Portland State, University of Alaska, Evergreen State,and Lewis & Clark College. He has lectured for scientific, literary,and general audiences in many cities and countries, taught numerous field courses and creative writing seminars, been on the faculties of Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory and the Port Townsend, Pacific Northwest, Sitka, Whidbey, Desert, Art of the Wild, and Western Montana writing conferences, and appeared on NPR's E-Town. He receiveda 1997 Distinguished Service Award from the Society for Conservation Biology. A professional writer, Pyle has published hundreds of papers,essays, stories, and poems, in many journals. His fifteen booksinclude The Thunder Tree, Wintergreen (winner of the 1986 JohnBurroughs Medal for Distinguished Nature Writing), Where Bigfoot Walks: Crossing the Dark Divide, the subject of a Guggenheim Fellowship; Chasing Monarchs: Migrating with the Butterflies of Passage, Walking the High Ridge: Life as Field Trip (in the Milkweed Credo Series), as well as Nabokov's Butterflies, the Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Butterflies, and the Handbook forButterfly Watchers. The Butterflies of Cascadia will appear in 2000. Anovel, Magdalena Mountain, and a book about his rural home and valley are in progress. He lives on a tributary of the Lower Columbia River with with botanist and silkscreen artist Thea Linnaea Pyle. Scott Saunders Scott Saunders has an M.A. in Human Development from Pacific Oaks College with a specialization is Leadership and Community Work. For the past 10 years he has been facilitating drumming with groups large and small to support social change. Paul Stamets Paul Stamets is founder and C.E.O. of Fungi Perfecti, a mycological research facility and gourmet mushroom farm in the foothills of the Olympics. His books include The Mushroom Cultivator, Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms, and Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World. He received his BS in Taxonomy and performed his post graduate studies of microbiology and electron microscopy here at The Evergreen State College. Pauls current projects include medicinal mushroom research and mycology based ecological restoration. Dave Werntz Dave is Science Director for the Northwest Ecosystem Alliance where he has worked on public land and endangered species conservation for over five years. After obtaining a degree in Biology/Conservation from Grinnell College, Iowa, Dave conducted some of the initial inventory work on spotted owls and old-growth in the Pacific Northwest. He received M.S. in Forest Ecology/Conservation Biology from the University of Washington in 1994, and now works to achieve biological conservation through strategic application of science, policy, and law. Chris Van Daalen Chris van Daalen serves is a Northwest grassroots organizer, freelance writer and advocate who has been engaged with environmental, rural community, and worker organizations for more than ten years. He currently works for the Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment (ASJE), a Labor / Environmental coalition, promoting forest and watershed restoration and the high-skill / high-wage job opportunities the complex work can generate. ASJE was born from Washington steelworkers' and California forest activists common struggle against the Maxxam Corporation. Chris works with ASJE and a number of Labor, Environmental and Community groups to convene and facilitate dialogue among diverse stakeholders to develop common policy and program initiatives in restoration and quality jobs. Chris' background is as a forest activist and rural community development specialist. He co-founded and coordinated forest-protection efforts for two national grassroots coalitions, the Student Environmental Action Coalition and Save America's Forests, the latter a Washington, DC-based advocacy group he led from 1990-92. Raised in a Northwest rural timber-dependent community however, he could not ignore the impact that logging restrictions were having on Northwest communities, and he determined to help find economic alternatives. He returned to the Northwest in 1993, and spent the next 5 years working with a 4-county rural development organization in Southwest Washington, helping develop program and funding resources for the largest employer of dislocated timber workers doing watershed restoration in the state-Columbia Pacific Resource Conservation and Development. He helped promote sustainable forestry and conservation of non-timber forest products, work that helped him forge relationships with workers' and rural community advocates around the region. In 1998, he left that job to pursue region-wide efforts as a consultant, focused on restoration and sustainable community development. Chris is currently self-employed, operating a small firm in Olympia, WA: Grass Lakes West Consulting. His company is named after a feature of the watershed he calls home, and he serves on the Board of the Capitol Land Trust to help protect the area's forests and wetlands. Sarah Vekasi Sarah Vekasi grew up in rural Northwestern Montana. She believes that only when social and economic change are included in an ecological revolution will true change manifest. She moved to Randle in 1999 to work on the Watch Mountain Campaign and she now currently is the staff organizer for the Gifford Pinchot Task Force in Olympia and Randle, Washington. Go back to the previous page