Board of Directors

David Wagner is a retired principal of the professional services firm KPMG LLP, where he served as Deputy General Counsel and as an advisory principal in the Risk Management group.  Following retirement, David has acted as a consultant to the US and International KPMG firms.  David joined the board of the institute in 2017 and previously chaired the audit and budget and finance committees.  David grew up in Kansas and is a lifelong conservationist.  He is twenty years into a project to establish a native grass prairie at his property in Hop Bottom, Pennsylvania.

David received a bachelor's degree in theatre from Grinnell College and his law degree from the University of Iowa.  Following law school David was a law clerk to the Honorable Harold D. Vietor, chief judge of the US District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, and in private practice before joining KPMG.  David resides in New York City.

The Director of Bham Now, a modern local media company, Pat Byington is a longtime conservationist.  Former Executive Director at the Alabama Environmental Council and Wild South. Publisher of the Bama Environmental News for more than 18 years. Career highlights include  playing an active role in the creation of Alabama's Forever Wild program, Little River Canyon National Preserve, Dugger Mountain Wilderness, preservation of special places throughout the East through the Wilderness Society and the strengthening (making more stringent) the  state of Alabama's cancer risk and mercury standards. 

Ms. Collier has over 25 years of experience in environmental management,  water resources, and land use planning. She is the Senior Advisor for  Watershed Management and Policy at the Academy of Natural Sciences in  Philadelphia, PA. At the Academy, Carol holds an active leadership role  supporting the work of the Patrick Center for Environmental Researchin monitoring and improving the health of watersheds in the Delaware  River Basin. She previously served as Executive Director of the Delaware  River Basin Commission (DRBC).  Prior to joining DRBC, she worked for  Governor Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania, heading up his 21st Century  Environment Commission and served as Regional Director of the Southeast  Region, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.  She also  worked 19 years in the private sector.  She is educated in aquatic  biology and regional planning, is a licensed professional planner, a  member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and a Senior Certified Ecologist. 

Having spent the past 31 years in Europe and the Middle East, Tamara Chant recently returned to her native home of Milford, Pennsylvania to  join her children and parents. A Smith College graduate, Tamara managed  marketing and sponsorship for Top Marques Monaco, a luxury car and goods  exhibitor, in Monaco and Abu Dhabi. Tamara began working with  non-profit organizations after completing a certification in fundraising  at NYU, shifting her focus toward activism for vulnerable populations.  She was recently appointed Executive Director of Safe Haven of Pike County, a domestic violence and sexual assault resource agency. Tamara  also serves as a board member for the Nepal Orphans Home and the Good Shepherd Child Care Center. 

Emile has been the Manager of Science and Stewardship at the New Jersey  Conservation Foundation since 1989. He received a doctorate in Ecology in 1988 for research on bird communities and vegetation landscapes in New Jersey’s Pine Barrens. Dr. DeVito develops management plans for NJCF’s 20,000+ acres of holdings designed to protect and enhance biological diversity. Emile educates government officials, advocacy groups, land trusts, teachers and  students on forest-interior habitat and migratory stopover needs of Neotropical songbirds. He is a trustee of the Pinelands Preservation Alliance and the NJ Natural Lands Trust. He serves on the Endangered and Non-Game Species Advisory Committee within the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife, the New Jersey Invasive Species Council, and the Science  Advisory Committee of the NY-NJ Trail Conference.  

Chris Hepburn, Ph.D., was originally a research psychologist then a land  use activist. The purchase of a home in Hardwick with acres of woods and fields led Chris to what she believes is her true calling: wildlife habitat restoration and advocacy. With help from knowledgeable friends and nonprofit organizations, she has been working for twelve years to  improve the habitat where she lives and she likes to share what she’s learned as well as the joy of seeing bees, birds and other animals benefiting from her work. Chris has a Forest Stewardship Plan and has also placed most of her property into a Conservation Easement. 

Doug MacCleery retired from the U.S. Forest Service in April 2010. He is a

professional forester who has worked in natural resource management at both the

field and policy levels. He obtained bachelor’s and masters degrees in forestry and forest policy from Michigan State University. Doug spent his early career in

northern California as a field forester for the Forest Service. He then left the Forest

Service for experience in the private sector, taking a position as a forest policy

analyst for the National Forest Products Association in Washington, D.C. Between

1981 and 1987, he was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Natural Resources and the

Environment in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a position which has policy

oversight over the Forest Service and Soil Conservation Service (now the Natural

Resources Conservation Service).

In 1987, he returned to the U.S. Forest Service in Washington, D.C., where he was a

Senior Policy Analyst in the Forest Management division. His work in the

headquarters office of the Forest Service was varied – he was a primary architect of

stewardship contracting in the Forest Service and also focused on writing about the

historical evolution of forests and forest policy in the United States, as well as in

evaluating and promoting forest policy reforms in the U.S. Forest Service and the

U.S. forest sector in general. He has also active in writing and speaking on the

environmental and land use history of U.S. forests. He authored American Forests: A

History of Resiliency and Recovery and other writings on forest history and policy.

Doug retired in 2010. 

In retirement, he did consulting work on forest policy

internationally, especially in Bulgaria and Peru and is on the Board of Directors of

the Forest History Society.

Dr. Masino is the Vernon D. Roosa Professor of Applied Science at Trinity College and a joint appointment in Neuroscience and Psychology. Her research focuses on promoting and restoring brain health, with a particular interest in adenosine, and on the relationship among metabolism, brain activity and behavior. For nearly 100 years a metabolic therapy called a “ketogenic diet” has been used to treat seizures, and recent mechanistic insights - including the role of adenosine – hold translational implications for brain health and diverse disorders.

In addition to her laboratory research Dr. Masino is interested in how public polices can improve brain health - with a special focus on New England’s amazing forests - and involved in local educational and environmental issues. During 2018-2019 she is a Charles Bullard Fellow in Forest Research at Harvard, and published a paper on the benefits of proforestation for climate change mitigation, biodiversity, and public health. 

Jim Peña, Regional Forester for the Pacific Northwest Region (R6), retired from the US Forest Service in 2018 after a 40-year career.


Peña previously served as associate deputy chief for the National Forest System in the agency's Washington, D.C., national headquarters, leading the National Forest System programs of forest management, range management, engineering, recreation/heritage/volunteer programs, natural resource management and watershed/fish/wildlife/air/rare plants.


Prior to coming to this position, he was the deputy regional forester for state and private forestry in the Pacific Southwest (California) Region. Peña also had experience from multiple agency-wide special assignments such as acting director of human capital management, agency liaison to undersecretary for natural resources and environment, the re-engineering team for human resources, and the National Fire Management Review.


He held positions as forest supervisor, deputy forest supervisor and district ranger beginning in 1991 in California, Oregon, and Washington.


Peña began his career with the Forest Service as a forester trainee on Oregon's Rogue River National Forest in 1978. He graduated from Humboldt State University in California with a bachelor's of science degree in forest resource management in 1980.


Peña is a member of the Society of American Foresters. He and his wife, Debbie, have two sons.

Peter is the Director of the Institute's Ecomadera Project in Ecuador and President of Ecomadera Forest Conservation LLC, representing the non-profit and social venture sides of creating an economic alternative to rapid deforestation in Ecuador’s northern coastal plain. He received his Masters in Environmental Studies at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Previously, Peter has been an organic dairy farmer in upstate New York, a partner in a ghetto rehabilitation social venture in Brooklyn, NY, founder of the Pocono Streams Project, and for the past 10 years, the Director of the Milford Experimental Forest, engaged in research on white tailed deer management, American chestnut restoration, and community forestry.

In Ecuador, Peter is directing the Pinchot Institute’s program focused on developing a sustainable silviculture and conservation strategy for the native forests of the Choco ecoregion. This program includes studies in forest taxonomy, forest regeneration, more efficient timber harvesting, biodiversity conservation planning, and entering FSC certification. At the same time, Peter is an entrepreneur coordinating the expansion of the Ecomadera business enterprise by building a large community forest landholding, by launching production of engineered flooring and balsa laminates (used in wind turbines), and by establishing a sales network in the US northeast to sell flooring directly to green contractors. Through this process Ecomadera has become a hybrid business venture that combines community leadership, professional business and technical management, private investment, and NGO oversight to create a sustainable local economy based on forest conservation.

Julia has been the Executive Director of the New Jersey Highlands Coalition since the launch of the organization in 2006. Julia provides the comprehensive strategic direction and financial management for the Coalition. Julia’s enriched experience includes having been the first Executive Director of the Great Swamp Watershed Association, a not-for-profit environmental organization founded to preserve and protect the 36,000 acres of the Great Swamp watershed. Julia is Chair of the Board of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, a Board member of the New Jersey Environmental Lobby, and recently was appointed by the Governor to serve as a Public Member of the New Jersey State Planning Commission. 

Mark is the Director of Conservation Policy Engagement at the Appalachian Mountain Club, overseeing direct and indirect advocacy and conservation communications for the nation's longest serving conservation and recreation organization. He serves as a governing board member of the Low Impact Hydropower Institute and as the Race Director of the Lehigh Classic Downriver Race. An Eagle Scout, Mark lives with his family in Pennsylvania where they enjoy hiking, camping, and paddling at every opportunity.