SFI Conference speakers announced

Featured speakers at Linking Future Forests to Communities, which runs Sept. 27 to 29 at the Hilton Clearwater Beach hotel, will include:

• Sam Cook, executive director of forest assets at North Carolina State University’s College of Natural Resources and Forestry. Cook will represent the Centre for Heirs’ Property Preservation, discussing the organization’s work and the importance of capturing the value of minority family forestlands across multiple generations.
• Matthew Reddy, director of the World Business Council on Sustainable Development’s forest solutions group. Reddy will explore the role of corporate procurement decisions and key performance indicators for forest management supply chains in driving global sustainable development.
• Dr. Christy Slay, director of research with The Sustainability Consortium. Slay will speak on how her organization is working to improve the sustainability of consumer products and provide tools for brand owners to help assess these products. She will also speak about The Sustainability Consortium’s paper and pulp commodity mapping project, which is used to determine risks of deforestation around the world.

Other speakers will include:
 

• Kathy Abusow, president and CEO, Sustainable Forestry Initiative Inc.                
• Craig Blair, president and CEO, Resource Management Service LLC       
• Nina Goodrich, executive director, GreenBlue            
• John Hagan, president, Manomet    
• Jim Hubbard, deputy chief, state and private forestry, USDA Forest Service
• Dylan Jenkins, vice-president of portfolio development, Finite Carbon
• Jim Karels, state forester, Florida Forest Service          
• Glenn Mason, assistant deputy minister, national capital region, Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada                  
• Alison McGee, coastal plain project director, The Nature Conservancy               
• Bettina Ring, state forester, Virginia Department of Forestry                
• Sean Ross, director of forest operations, Lyme Timber                
• John Stewart, director of corporate engagement and sustainability director, Boy Scouts of America

For more information about the conference, visit www.sfiprogram.org/annual-conference/annual-conference-2016/.