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Who we are |
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ASCI President Raymond Curran, M.S. is an ecologist. For 30 years he was a scientist for the New York State Adirondack Park Agency and headed the environmental analysis unit for 25 years. In recognition of his science credentials he is a certified Senior Ecologist (Ecological Society of America Board of Professional Certification) and a Certified Professional Wetlands Scientist (Society of Wetland Scientists). He also has not-for-profit experience. He is a past trustee of the Adirondack Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, the Adirondack Land Trust and Past President of Ausable Valley Chapter of Habitat for Humanity. He has also been active with the Adirondack Research Consortium since its beginning. Currently he is an active interpreter of the natural environment - leading field trips, speaking on the subject, writing articles and teaching ecology at the State University of New York (Plattsburgh). Kara Page, M.A., is ASCI’s Vice President for Community Affairs and a founding member of the organization. Ms. Page is a community natural resources and development planning specialist with 16 years of experience working with nongovernmental organizations, government, the private sector, and rural communities. She has extensive experience in strategic planning, communications, and socioeconomic analysis and sustains solid skills in community-based participation, project management, fundraising, information technology, organizational evaluation, and sustainable agriculture and energy. Her experience is in the US, Africa, Latin America and Asia. Gregory A. Hill, M.S., is ASCI’s Treasurer. He is an innovative problem-solver and results-oriented strategist—extensively experienced in conservation planning, environmental education and natural area management. He holds more than thirty year’s professional experience as faculty in Natural Resource Management and Policy at Paul Smith’s College; Natural Resources Planner, Lake George Basin Planning Coordinator, and Assistant Director of Regulatory Programs with New York State Adirondack Park Agency; and Director of the Pine Lake Environmental Studies Center at Hartwick College, Oneonta. David Thomas-Train is an educator who has worked in private and public schools in the Adirondack region for thirty years and has incorporated environmental education into all of his curricula. He is currently organizing educational initiatives for the Adirondack Fire Tower Association, whose mission is to utilize the restored fire towers in the Adirondack Park to educate the public on the political and natural history of the Park within its uniquely sustainable mix of human and natural landscapes. He is also involved with wind power development on his family property. Another founding board member is Keith A. Wheeler, M.S., also President of Foundation for Our Future. FOF provides leadership for sustainable development nationally and internationally through the Center for a Sustainable Future. Keith is the current Deputy-Chair of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Commission on Education and Communication and the Project Director for the World Conservation Learning Network. Keith was the PI for a US Department of Education Technology Challenge Grant titled "Education for a Sustainable Future." Keith was the first Executive Director and CEO of Global Rivers Environmental Education Network (GREEN), a 135-nation non-governmental organization that was a recognized leader in watershed education and conservation. He was Assistant Director for the Adirondack Park Agency, leading the development of several multi-million dollar Environmental Education centers throughout New York State. Keith served as an internationally recognized research scientist and international development specialist for the USDA and for Cornell University. Keith holds graduate degrees in environmental and soil science from Cornell University and undergraduate degrees in science from Syracuse University. He has presented keynote addresses to business, scientific, technologic and education conferences throughout the world on a variety of environmental and educational policy issues. He has authored numerous peer reviewed publications, edited several books and dozens of general publications including the recent “Education for Sustainability: A Paradigm of Hope for the 21st Century” and "Pro-Con Environment." ASCI
board member Zoë Smith is also the Program Coordinator for the Wildlife
Conservation Society's Adirondack Program in Saranac Lake. She has
worked with communities and environmental issues in the Adirondacks for
15 years. She earned a BA in Natural Resource Economics from SUNY
Fredonia and is currently working on a MA in Administration and
Leadership at SUNY Plattsburgh. Current activities include
studying the effects of human - bear encounters in the backcountry areas
and in communities of the Adirondacks. She also is involved in park wide
educational efforts such as the Adirondack Forest Preserve Education
Program and Adirondack Collaborative Ecological Educators. She was also
instrumental in creating the Adirondack
Atlas published by Syracuse University Press in 2002.
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