Plenary Speakers

Our SAF2024 Plenary sessions and speakers will explore the convention theme of "The Resources We Manage." Get to know our speakers by reading their bios below (listed alphabetically).

 

 Sophie Beckham, Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer at International Paper

Plenary III Panelist: Planning for an Uncertain Future: Challenges and Opportunities 

Sophie Beckham is Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer at International Paper (IP), where she works across the enterprise to advance sustainability strategy development and the company’s Vision 2030 sustainability goal achievement. She also serves as the company’s primary external spokesperson and thought leader on issues related to sustainability and stewardship. Her career is dedicated to driving sustainable business outcomes through purposeful leadership in consumer goods and forest product manufacturing sectors. Sophie has helped to advance IP’s planet stewardship initiatives since 2013. She has served in various roles, including senior manager, Natural Capital Stewardship, and most recently, Chief Sustainability Officer, including responsibility for the company’s Community Engagement work. She was appointed an officer of the company in 2022. She holds a Master of Forestry degree from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, now known as the Yale School of the Environment. 

Kyle Cunningham, PhD, State Forester for Arkansas Department of Agriculture’s Forestry Division 

Plenary II Moderator: Regional Challenges and Perspectives on Managing Our Forest Resources   

Dr. Kyle Cunningham is currently the State Forester for the Arkansas Department of Agriculture’s Forestry Division. Dr. Cunningham took this role in July 2023. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Cunningham worked as a Research and Extension Professor for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture for over 19 years. His research interests have included natural regeneration of oak and shortleaf systems across the southern US, and forest vegetation management for wildland fire risk reduction. During his time in Arkansas, Dr. Cunningham has worked diligently to provide sound forest management information and assistance to family forest landowners, industry, conservation partners and natural resource professionals across the state and region. Dr. Cunningham holds BS and MS degrees in Forestry from Mississippi State University and a PhD from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in Applied Science. He is active in the Society of American Foresters, Southern Group of State Foresters, and National Association of State Foresters. 
 

Tony D’Amato, PhD, Professor at University of Vermont 

Plenary III Panelist: Planning for an Uncertain Future: Challenges and Opportunities 

Dr. Tony D’Amato is a Professor of Silviculture and Applied Forest Ecology and Director of the Forestry Program at the University of Vermont. Prior to joining the University of Vermont in 2015, he was a faculty member for seven years at the University of Minnesota and Bullard Fellow at Harvard University’s Harvard Forest. His research focuses on long-term forest dynamics, disturbance effects on ecosystem structure and function, and silvicultural strategies for conferring adaptation potential within the context of global change, including introduced insects and pathogens. He has published extensively on these topics, including recently co-authoring two ecological silviculture textbooks. He was elected an SAF Fellow in 2023, is an SAF Certified Forester (CF), and has been a Forest Stewards Guild Member since 2011. Dr. D’Amato received his BS in Forest Ecosystem Science from the University of Maine, MS in Forest Science from Oregon State University, and PhD in Forest Resources from University of Massachusetts. 
 

Beth Dodson, PhD, WA Franke College of Forestry and Conservation at the University of Montana 

Plenary II Panelist: Regional Challenges and Perspectives on Managing Our Forest Resources   

Dr. Beth Dodson is a Professor of Forest Operations and Forestry Program Director within the WA Franke College of Forestry and Conservation at the University of Montana.  Dr. Dodson received a BS in Forest Resources from the University of Idaho and MS in Forest Engineering, MBA, and PhD in Forest Engineering from Oregon State University.  While in Oregon, she spent five years as an owner of a logging and consulting business and served one year on the Forest Engineering faculty at OSU.  Since 2005 Dr. Dodson has made the University of Montana home.  Dr. Dodson’s teaching and research focuses on the application of conservation forestry principles to interior west forests, which UM has defined as the management of forests to meet a wide range of social, environmental, and economic goals.  Her best days are when she has the privilege of working with former students as colleagues.  
 

McKaylee Duquain, Inventory Department at Menominee Tribal Enterprise’s Forestry 

Plenary II Panelist: Regional Challenges and Perspectives on Managing Our Forest Resources   

McKaylee Duquain is an enrolled member of the Menominee Nation. She grew up on the Menominee Reservation, only leaving to pursue her education at UW-Madison. After receiving her Bachelor's Degree in Forest Sciences, she returned home to work on her forest. After two years of working for the Inventory Department at Menominee Tribal Enterprise's Forestry, she left home once more to pursue her Masters in Conservation Sciences at UMN-Twin Cities. In 2020 McKaylee returned home again, this time to lead the Inventory Department, which is her current position. The Inventory Department is in charge of managing the GIS database housing much of the Menominee Forest’s data, as well as managing the everchanging harvest schedule that encompasses 167,000 acres of sustained yield forest and monitoring 50,000+ acres of other forested and natural areas on the reservation. Fieldwork is collected by her department based on the harvest schedule, and this data is used to make sustainable treatment decisions. Along with prioritizing sustainable management for the Menominee forest, she is always making sure that the effects of her decisions today, will only benefit the resource and the generations to come.  
 

Andrew Fast, State Forestry Industry Specialist and Extension Professor at University of New Hampshire  

Plenary I Panelist: Unveiling the Human Dimension: Foresters Engaging with Stakeholders   

Andy Fast is the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension’s State Forest Industry Specialist and Extension Professor and has served in this role since 2019. His primary responsibilities include providing statewide leadership and support to the forest industry through educational programing, business attraction and retention, economic development, and research. Andy joined the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension as an Extension County Forester in 2008. He is a licensed New Hampshire forester and has experience in a range of land management related positions in the northeast and western United States. He has an MS in Natural Resource with a concentration in Forestry from the University of New Hampshire.  

 

Eli Jensen, Owner and Founder of Ironwood Forestry, LLC 

Plenary I Panelist: Unveiling the Human Dimension: Foresters Engaging with Stakeholders   

Eli Jensen is the owner and founder of Ironwood Forestry, LLC. He holds a BS in Forestry and Masters of Forestry from Northern Arizona University. He is an SAF certified forester, and an active member of SAF as well as the Association of Consulting Foresters. His professional focus is forest restoration in the Southwest through innovation and workforce development. As an advocate for interdisciplinary collaboration, Jensen actively engages with professionals from diverse fields, and is dedicated to a future where technology and innovation synergize with classic forestry practices to address pressing challenges in the field.  
 

Ali Kosiba, Extension Assistant Professor at the University of Vermont 

Plenary III Moderator: Planning for an Uncertain Future: Challenges and Opportunities 

Alexandra (Ali) Kosiba is a forest ecophysiologist and Extension Assistant Professor of Forestry at the University of Vermont. As the State Extension Forester, she creates resources and conducts applied research to help landowners, foresters, and decision-makers better understand the impacts of climate change and other stressors on Vermont’s forests and management techniques to improve forest resilience. Kosiba serves as a regional educator on forest carbon science and management and is the state lead on the Vermont Forest Carbon Inventory. She also works on various forest health topics, like planning and management for at risk tree species, land planning for maintaining critical forest services, and forest monitoring.  
 

Tim Martin, PhD, University of Florida School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences 

Plenary II Panelist: Regional Challenges and Perspectives on Managing Our Forest Resources   

Tim Martin has been a part of the faculty at the University of Florida School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences since 1997.  He received a BS in Forest Management from Oklahoma State University (1990), and MS (1992) and PhD (1997) degrees in Tree Physiology from the University of Georgia and University of Washington, respectively.  Martin previously served as Associate Director and as Co-Interim Director for the School, and he currently serves as Undergraduate Coordinator for the Forest Resources and Conservation and Natural Resource Conservation programs.  He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in natural resource management and tree physiology and conducts research on forest biology and silviculture in southern pine forests.  Much of Martin’s research program has involved participating in or leading networks of researchers focused on understanding forest function and dynamics across multiple scales, including the AmeriFlux eddy covariance network and the regional PINEMAP loblolly pine climate adaptation and mitigation project.  He is a co-Director of the Forest Biology Research Cooperative, a regional industry-university collaborative focusing on interdisciplinary applied research in southern pine plantations. Over Martin’s career, he has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles (H-index = 46) and has been Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator on over $25 million in extramural research grants.  
 

Bruce Ripley, Chief Innovation Officer for the College of Natural Resources at the University of Idaho 

Plenary III Panelist: Planning for an Uncertain Future: Challenges and Opportunities 

Bruce Ripley is the Chief Innovation Officer for the College of Natural Resources at the University of Idaho. Over the last 35 years, Ripley worked in industrial forestry across North America, from Northern New England to the Intermountain west and the border Pacific Northwest and across the South and Southeast. He has extensive experience in designing and managing GIS systems, forest planning, growth and yield, and financial analysis. More recently, Ripley joined the University of Idaho to support its commitment to advance the science of high precision digital forestry using LiDAR and other remote sensed data. 
 

Steven Roberge, University of New Hampshire 

Plenary I Moderator: Unveiling the Human Dimension: Foresters Engaging with Stakeholders    

Steven Roberge is the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension’s Forestry Specialist and Professor. In this role he oversees the system of county Extension foresters, coordinates outreach to forest owners and professionals, and implements the State’s Forest Stewardship Program. His primary role is to transfer research to forest owners and natural resource professionals. Roberge and his team provide stewardship options for forest owners to help manage the state’s private forestland. He also serves as UNH Extension’s Maple Specialist, providing programming and training for NH’s maple producers. Roberge chairs the New Hampshire Forester Licensing Board, serves on the New Hampshire Forest Advisory Board, and serves as chair of the US Forest Service Region 9 Cooperative Forest Management Committee. He received the Granite State Division Society of American Foresters Outstanding Forester of the Year Award in 2022. Roberge earned a BS in Forest Science from the University of New Hampshire, a Masters of Forest Science from Yale University, and a graduate of the Northeast Silviculture Institute for Foresters in 2017. At home, Roberge tends to maples that he taps every spring and thinks about trees every day.  
 

Heather Slayton, Tennessee Department of Agriculture, Division of Forestry (TDA-DF)  

Plenary I Panelist: Unveiling the Human Dimension: Foresters Engaging with Stakeholders       

Heather Slayton is the tenth State Forester/Assistant Commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, Division of Forestry (TDA-DF). She is responsible for directing the activities of the Division of Forestry in state forest management, wildfire prevention and suppression, reforestation, landowner assistance programs, forest health initiatives, urban forestry programs, and forest inventory. Slayton began working at TDA-DF in 2012 as a forest health specialist and soon transitioned to the role of Forest Health and Sustainability Unit leader where she additionally administered all forest health, water quality, rural, and urban forest management programs. In 2018, Slayton was promoted to the Assistant State Forester where she oversaw the major administrative functions of the Division and provided executive leadership to the State Forest Unit, Reforestation Unit, Forest Health and Sustainability Unit and the Forest Data and Analysis Unit. Prior to her state service, Slayton worked as a consulting forester in Virginia, North Carolina, and east Tennessee. Slayton grew up in Danville, Virginia and earned a BS in Forestry from Virginia Tech and an MS in Forestry from University of Tennessee. In her spare time, she enjoys golfing, boxing, road biking, hanging with her pups, and working on her 10-acre farm in Rutherford County.