Senior Fellows
Edgar B. Brannon
Antony S. Cheng, Ph.D.
Perry R. Hagenstein, Ph.D.
Patrice Harou, Ph.D.
Dennis C. Le Master, Ph.D.
Catherine M. Mater
Char Miller, Ph.D.
Peter Pinchot
Jeff M. Sirmon
Harold K. (Pete) Steen, Ph.D.
Terence J. Tipple, Ph.D.
Senior Fellows Biographies
Edgar B. Brannon, Jr. (top)
Ed Brannon developed cutting-edge leadership programs for field professionals in the US Forest Service during his tenure as Director of Grey Towers in Milford, Pennsylvania. He utilizes his extensive knowledge of the history of forestry and conservation in America to provide programs that help professionals understand and use history to develop leadership skills and tackle complex natural resource issues. Ed has received numerous awards and recognitions including the distinguished Pinchot Medallion in 2004, the George H. Cook Distinguished Alumni Award, Cook College, Rutgers University, for outstanding achievement in professional and civic endeavors, and the Crystal Owl Award from the National Park Service Historic Preservation Training Center for his work in developing and promoting historic preservation. He has his Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture from Cook College, Rutgers University; a Masters in Science
in Geography from Rutgers University; a Masters in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; and advanced study in managerial leadership and natural resources from Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
Antony S. Cheng (top)
Tony provides experience and expertise in collaborative learning and public involvement in land and natural resource decision-making. Tony's specific emphasis is on community-based approaches to collaborative stewardship of public lands, especially in the Rocky Mountains region of the Western U.S. His broader research interests lie in design and evaluation of learning-based public involvement approaches, and in exploring the tensions between local interests and national priorities in public land and natural resource stewardship. Tony is an Assistant Professor of Forestry and Natural Resource Policy in the Department of Forest Sciences, Colorado State University (CSU). Prior to joining the faculty at CSU, he received his PhD in Forest Resource Policy from Oregon State University and a MS in Forest Resource Policy at University of Minnesota, and served as a Policy Research Fellow at the Forest Policy Center of American Forests, 1993-1994.
Perry R. Hagenstein (top)
Perry R. Hagenstein has been an independent natural resources economics and policy consultant since 1976. He is based in Wayland, Massachusetts. Perry is President of the Institute for Forest Analysis, Planning, and Policy, a nonprofit research and education organization; Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the New England Natural Resources Center, a nonprofit trust that works on interstate natural resources issues in New England; and Chairman of the Advisory Committee for the Forest Economics and Policy Program of Resources for the Future. He has degrees from the University of Minnesota (1952, forestry), Yale University (1953, forestry), and the University of Michigan (1963, Ph.D., forest and natural resources economics). His past positions include research forester, Fordyce Lumber Company, Arkansas (1956-58); principal economist, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, U.S., Forest Service (1960-66); senior policy analyst, U.S. Public Land Law Review Commission (1966-1970); research fellow, Harvard University (1970-71); and executive director, New England Natural Resources Center, (1971-76). Perry has served on numerous committees and boards of the National Research Council/National Academy of Sciences that concern natural resources, including five committees as chairman, and as a member of the NAS/NRC Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources, 1999-2005. He is a former President (1984-86) and Board member (1976-1997) of the American Forestry Association (now American Forests). Since 2004 he has been a member of the Real Estate Advisory Committee of the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Fund advising on the Fund's portfolio of timberland investments. He is a Fellow of the Society of American Foresters, a Senior Fellow of the Pinchot Institute for Conservation, and a National Associate of the National Academy of Sciences.
Dennis Le Master(top)
Dr. Le Master served on the Board of Directors of the Pinchot Institute for eight years (1994-02,) and has been the Institute's treasurer (1996-98), vice-chair (1998-00), and chair (2000-02). Dennis received his bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees from Washington State University. He received a Ph.D. in economics in 1974 and has since been an assistant professor of forest economics and policy at Washington State University (1972-74 and 1979-1980,) the Director of Forest Policy for the Society of American Foresters (1974-77,) a staff consultant on forestry for the Subcommittee on Forests in the U.S. House of Representatives (1977-78,) a full professor and Chair of the Department of Forestry and Range Management at Washington State University (1980-88,) and the head of the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources (1988-2004.) Additionally, Dennis has authored or co-authored over 90 scholarly publications. He is listed in recent editions of Who's Who in America, and in similar listings such as Who's Who in the Midwest.
Catherine Mater (top)
Catherine provides expertise on a wide range of Pinchot Institute projects based upon her extensive experience in assisting in the development of new engineering technologies and marketing strategies for secondary wood products and special forest products for both domestic and international markets. Catherine has a Master's Degree in Civil Engineering from Oregon State University. She has helped develop strategies to expand value-added wood products manufacturing throughout the United States and spearheaded efforts to identify and develop markets for lesser known wood species and special non-wood forest products such as pharmaceuticals, foods, florals, medicinals and oil extracts from national forest systems across the United States. Most recently, she has assisted softwood and hardwood product manufacturers and producer associations across the United States in identifying markets for sustainably harvested "green certified" wood products, and has served as the project manager for all certification pilot projects conducted on public forestlands in the United States. Working with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Catherine has co-authored a series of textbook case studies documenting the commercial viability of sustainable forest practices throughout the world.
Char Miller (top)
Char contributes both wit and wisdom as one of the nation's foremost scholars on the Progressive-era Conservation Movement and its key leaders, among them Gifford Pinchot. Having received his PhD in History from Johns Hopkins University in 1981, Miller serves as Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. Author of more than 450 publications on history and conservation, his work includes: Ground Work:Conservation in American Culture (Forest History Society, 2007), Gifford Pinchot and the Making of Modern Environmentalism (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2001, 2004), Deep in the Heart of San Antonio: Land and Life in South Texas (Trinity University Press, 2004), and The Greatest Good: 100 Years of Forestry in America (SAF, 2005); he is editor of Fluid Arguments: Five Centuries of Western Water Conflict, On the Border: An Environmental History of San Antonio, Water in the West: A High Country News Reader, American Forests: Nature, Culture, and Politics, and Out of the Woods: Essays in Environmental History.
Peter Pinchot (top)
Peter is currently the Director of the Milford Experimental Forest in Milford, Pennsylvania as well as the Director of the Institute's Ecomadera Project in Ecuador. He received his B.S. in biology from Charter Oak College before earning his Masters in Environmental Studies at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Previously, Peter has been an organic dairy farmer in Van Hornesville, New York (1970-78,) the Director of a psychological counseling center in Westport, Connecticut (1978-1983,) a lead partner in a rehabilitation project in Brooklyn, NY (1983-1984,) and the Founder and Director of the Pocono Streams Project (1995- Present.) Additionally, Peter has done extensive research in the areas of deer management, forest restoration, and invasive species control. But, Peter's current focus is on the Pinchot Institute's Ecomadera Project in Ecuador where he is attempting to establish community based enterprises in sustainable forestry, high value wood products, and agroforestry with the goal of slowing the progressive process of deforestation and replacing it with a sustainable rural economy based on forest conservation and raising the standard of living of rural communities.
Jeff M. Sirmon (top)
Jeff retired from the USDA Forest Service in April 1994, after 35 years with the Forest Service. While with the Forest Service Jeff worked on three National Forests, in five Regional Offices and served two separate terms in the Washington Office. His most recent assignments were Regional Forester and Deputy Regional Forester in the Intermountain Region, R4 (1974-82), Regional Forester, Pacific Northwest Region, R6 (1982-85), Deputy Chief Programs and Legislation (1985-92), and Deputy Chief, International Forestry (1992-94). While serving in these positions, Jeff was often engaged in the key policy, administrative, and legal natural resources issues of the last two decades. As the first Deputy Chief for International forestry, Jeff led the effort to define this new mission and positioned the Forest Service to be a key player in the development of international forest policy during the preparations for the Earth Summit (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. Jeff was a member of the U.S. delegation to UNCED. He also led the U.S. delegation to the 1Oth World Forestry Congress in Paris in 1991.
Harold (Pete) Steen (top)
Pete brings to the Pinchot Institute a wealth of experience and scholarship in both history and forestry. Early in his career, he worked in both forest management and forestry research with the USDA Forest Service in the Pacific Northwest. After receiving his PhD from the University of Washington in 1969, Pete joined the Forest History Society, serving as its President from 1978-1997. From 1984-1997, he also served as adjunct professor at Duke University in history and at the Nicholas School of the Environment. His research and writing have focused on the history of public lands and the agencies that manage them. Steen's major publications include: The U.S. Forest Service: A History (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1976); Origins of the National Forests (Durham, NC: Forest History Society, 1992), and Forest Service Research: Finding Answers to Conservation's Questions (Durham, NC: Forest History Society, 1998).
Terence J. Tipple(top)
Terry holds a PhD in Public Administration and Policy from Virginia Tech, a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from the Maxwell School of Citizenship, Syracuse University, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental and Forest Resource Management from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Prior to coming to work at the Pinchot Institute, he was on the Legislative Affairs Staff of the U.S. Forest Service. His previous Forest Service experience involved a variety of field assignments including that of District Ranger. Terry came to the Agency as a Presidential Management Intern. Prior to working for the Forest Service he worked for NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC, the Department of Community Development, City of Syracuse, N.Y., and the Parks and Recreation Department, Town of Bethlehem, N.Y. Terry's research interests are in the areas of complex organizations and management processes. His work has appeared in Public Administration Review, Society and Natural Resources , The Environmental Professional , and the Journal of Forestry . He serves as a regular reviewer for Administration and Society and Public Administration Review. Recently, he co-authored a graduate level textbook entitled, Public Personnel Administration: Confronting the Challenges of Change (Prentice Hall, 1996). Terry has also helped design and deliver courses on Meeting Management and Consensus Methodologies, Group Facilitation and Leadership, and Communications within the Forest Service.
