ONE GOOD WORLD ECOngress: Legal Wood Sourcing & Building Green Markets

CLICK ON THE ABOVE INVITE OR AGENDA TO REGISTER

ECONGRESS BIOS 1/10

1. Green Policy

RICHARD C. J. SOMERVILLE
Richard C. J. Somerville is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego. He is an expert on computer simulations of the atmosphere. Among many honors, he is a Fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Meteorological Society. He was a Coordinating Lead Author for the 2007 4th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a body that shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. Richard comments frequently on climate and environmental issues for the media. He has received awards from the American Meteorological Society for both his research and his popular book, The Forgiving Air: Understanding Environmental Change. Richard received a Ph. D. in Meteorology from New York University.

LINDA KRAMME
Linda is Manager of World Wildlife Fund's Global Forest & Trade Network-North America program (GFTN-NA). Established in 1991, GFTN is the world's longest-running and largest forest and trade program of its kind. Its global technical experts assist companies in understanding the sources of their forest products, implementing responsible sourcing policies, and increasing the amount of credibly certified products in their supply chain. Prior to WWF, Linda worked with Rainforest Alliance's SmartWood program as an FSC chain-of-custody auditor and project manager for U.S. companies seeking Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification. She also spent thirteen years at The Nature Conservancy, managing land stewardship and conservation real estate projects in the U.S. Linda received a Masters from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

KAREN STEER
Karen Steer is a Project Manager at the Forest Stewardship Council-US (FSC-US), where she is responsible for a variety of activities aimed at maintaining the high integrity of the FSC system while increasing system uptake. As lead in the initiative to revise the US FSC forest management standard, Karen brought diverse stakeholders together to find common ground on what constitutes exemplary forest management in the US. Karen came to FSC from Sustainable Northwest, a regional conservation-based development organization. She has also held positions with the Wilderness Society, the National Park Service Social Science Program, and the Peace Corps. Karen holds a BS in Environmental Science and an MS in Environmental Management from Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

ELINOR COLBOURN
Elinor Colbourn is a Senior Trial Attorney with the Environmental Crimes Section, Environment and Natural Resource Division, U.S. Department of Justice. Elinor specializes in cases involving violations related to fish, wildlife and plants and has prosecuted numerous cases under the Lacey Act, Endangered Species Act, and Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Many of her cases are international in nature and are conducted in coordination with law enforcement officials in other nations. She has received the Justice Department’s John Marshall award for her work relating to 2008 Lacey Act Amendments, the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award (2nd highest Dept honor), and the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Regional Director’s Conservation Award. Elinor holds a law degree from Yale Law School, a Master of Science in Environmental Sciences from Johns Hopkins University, and a BA from Wake Forest University.

BEN CASHORE
Ben Cashore is a Professor of Environmental Governance & Political Science at Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, the first graduate forestry training program in the US founded in 1900. Ben holds a PhD in political science from the University of Toronto and BA and MA degrees in political science from Carleton University, and is Director of the Yale Program on Forest Policy and Governance, housed within the Global Institute of Sustainable Forestry. His major research interests include global forest policy and governance institutions, private certification and eco-labeling systems, and governmental regulatory processes. He has published numerous articles and books including Governing Through Markets: Forest Certification and the Emergence of Non-State Authority, which was awarded the International Studies Association’s 2005 Sprout prize for Best Book on international environmental policy and politics.

2. Forests to Factories

SCOTT POYNTON
Scott Poynton has served as Executive Director of The Forest Trust (formerly Tropical Forest Trust) since its inception in 1999. His expertise in timber operations comes from two decades of managing a variety of complex public and private sector forestry and wood production initiatives in 19 countries. Scott helped establish TFT while Managing Director of a subsidiary of ScanCom International, the world’s largest supplier of wood outdoor furniture products, where he developed a company policy to verify the legitimacy of tropical timber used by its Southeast Asian suppliers and manufacturers. He prior served as a forestry specialist for the World Bank, where he led forestry-related economic development efforts in Romania, Vietnam and India. Scott holds a Master of Science (Forestry) from Oxford University where he was awarded the Oxford Forestry Institute’s Jubilee Prize.

MARK HAYES
Mark Hayes is a Market Development Manager for Hardwoods & Industrial products at Weyerhaeuser. He has over 20 years of experience in the international wood products industry, primarily in sales and marketing of value-added US hardwood products to furniture manufacturers in Asia, Europe and North America, as well as managing solid and engineered flooring sales of plantation-grown Eucalyptus from Brazil. His extensive business travel has taken him throughout Asia including Japan, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, and throughout Europe, including Italy, Germany, Denmark, Holland and the UK. Mark is also fluent in Japanese.

ANTONIO LAROSA
Italian-born furniture designer Antonio Larosa is the Chair of Furniture Design at the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD), one of the largest and most prestigious design programs in the world as recognized by BusinessWeek. Tony studied architecture, design, city planning and archaeology, receiving a Doctor in Architecture from Milan Polytechnic University before moving to the US. For 20 years he ran an independent architect-designer practice, and his work has been featured at international design shows including Milan, Koln and Moscow, in publications including Domus, Vogue, and Interior Design, and TV programs such as MTV and The Apprentice. Family is also important to Tony as the interior design Expert Advisor for iParenting Media, the world’s largest network and media company focused on parenting.

ROGER JONES
Roger Jones is VP/Global Logistics for Century Furniture Industries, a Top 25 home furnishings manufacturer emphasizing the luxury market. In this role, Roger developed Century’s purchasing infrastructure and expanded the web of vendors around the world. He also developed its Responsible Purchasing Policy for Wood products and is currently developing an internal system to collect and manage sustainability data related to compliance with the Lacey Act amendments. He began his career at Century as an Industrial Engineer, holding various positions including Plant Manger, Manager of Engineering, Director of Planning & Procurement and Director of Advanced Manufacturing Engineering where he created Century’s Technical Center). Roger earned an MBA from Wake Forest University and his BA from the Furniture Manufacturing & Management Center at North Carolina State.

3. Factories to Markets

CHRIS KNOWLES
Chris Knowles is an Assistant Professor of Forest Products Marketing in the Department of Wood Science and Engineering at Oregon State University. Chris also serves as Assistant Director of the Oregon Wood Innovation Center where he provides assistance to professionals in Oregon's forest products industry. His research focuses on green building and the decision making process for structural building products. Chris received his PhD in Wood Science with a focus on forest products marketing from Oregon State University.

JEFF HILLER
Jeff Hiller is a founding Board Member and current President of the Sustainable Furnishings Council, the largest and fastest-growing organization in green furnishings. An accredited LEED AP and published writer, Jeff is also the lead developer of GREENleaders Certified Sustainability Training, the first accreditation program for green residential, and of an annual national consumer study on green awareness, attitudes and behaviors. Formerly VP Marketing/Four Hands Imports, a 3-time INC 500 Fastest Growing private company; owner The Arrangement, a thriving retail furniture chain; and VP Account Director/Leo Burnett, a Top 5 national ad agency. Jeff is a graduate of Dartmouth College with High Honors.

CHRISTINA NICHOLSON
Christina Nicholson is Director of Sustainable Development for Williams-Sonoma, Inc, a Top 10 home furnishings retailer including its Pottery Barn and West Elm divisions. Her role is to identify opportunities to implement best practices in sustainable sourcing and management throughout the organization. Christina has a well-rounded perspective on retail, having begun her career as a financial analyst with apparel retailer The Gap before joining Williams-Sonoma in the Direct Marketing department. While working in marketing, she returned to school to study Sustainable Design at U.C. Berkeley. Christina earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from The Ohio State University.

KARI FOSTER
Kari Foster is an ASID designer, founder and partner in Associates III Interior Design, one of the leading firms in Colorado and a renowned specialist in green interiors. She literally wrote the book on green design, publishing with her partners Sustainable Residential Interiors in 2007. Her firm has been in business for 40 years and pioneers for over a decade in promoting sustainable materials and best practices on their residential projects throughout the West.

JEFF PETERSEN
Jeff Petersen is Executive Director of Architectural Digest, the most prestigious and successful media property in the home/design category. A 30-year veteran of AD, he has been at the forefront of industry developments while holding every senior management position in the advertising department from regional manager to publisher. Jeff wrote the magazine’s first marketing plans, reorganized the staff into category specialists, hired overseas representatives, and initiated a series of market studies for the benefit of core advertising categories that became recognized as one of the best sources of marketing information. A long-time supporter of The Advertising Club, Jeff has held key positions including President and Chairman and spoken at numerous events including the American Home Furnishing Alliance, Luxury Kitchen & Bath Show, Lenoir-Rhyne University Furniture Forum and WithIt (Women in the Home Industries Today).

www.sustainablefurnishings.org/civicrm/event/info