Albert Marshall
Albert Marshall is a respected Elder of the Eskasoni First Nation. He has walked a creative life journey and learned to listen to the spiritual depth in all experiences. A survivor of the Canadian residential school experience, in which there was an attempt to completely eradicate the language, identity and cultural structure of First Nations communities, Albert has risen to become one of the most articulate witnesses of his culture's scientific and philosophic perspective. His quiet yet powerful wisdom has resulted in him being a strong leader in many cross-cultural initiatives. Albert has bought the depth of his understanding to science, philosophy, education and cultural issues. Strongly true to traditional ecological wisdom and Mi'kmaq cultural perspectives, Albert provides a powerful analysis of issues currently confronting society today. His thoughtful philosophy, based on thousands of years of complex cultural observation and knowledge, provide penetrating insights into the practice of science, the place of humans in the environment and the possibilities of collective understanding and collaborative action.
Richard David – Assistant Director of the Dept. of Environment, Mohawk Council of Akwesasne
Greetings to all those that dare to read this. Richard is a little mixed up. His father, Moses David was snipe clan of the Mohawk Nation and his mother was Lenora Abraham, eel clan of the Mic Mac Nation. Richard married Jane Willie, wolf clan of the Tsawataineuk Nation (Kwakiutl). Together, Richard and Jane have four children and four grandchildren. They have been married for almost 33 years (Oct. 7, 1967). Richard worked in a number of different jobs from Ironworker- Sandblaster-Parole Officer- Guidance Officer-Taxi Driver and now the Assistant Director of the Department of the Environment, Mohawk Council of Akwesasne.
One of Richard's most valuable resources is his ability to meet and develop a working relationship with people from all areas. He has helped First Nation Communities in their dealings with provincial and federal governments to better understand the hows and whys a particular project should work. Richard has worked in social sensitive areas such as a Fact-finder in the 1990 crisis at Akwesasne and in that has had to work in a hostile environment.
Richard comes from a family that includes the use of humor and he utilizes this in his presentations. He states "There is humor in every situation, look for it, it can be fun." Richard especially likes working with our youth. He states that "They are our key to the future. We talk about seven generations all the time, let's begin with them."
Richard has co-authored along with Les Benedict, a "Handbook for Black Ash Preservation Reforestation/Regeneration". Les & Richard were awarded a Forest Stewardship Recognition Award on May 8, 2002 in Ottawa for the efforts with this book. One of his hobbies is photography and that is demonstrated in his slide shows.
The basket making side of things includes that Richard has completed a number of basket making courses in Akwesasne and now has been teaching basket making for over three years. Richard's work has been demonstrated at a number of events including the Annual Arts Show at the Heard Museum (Phoenix), Foxwoods Casino & Museum, Rochester Museum of Arts, and his work has been documented on film for the Museum of Civilization (Ottawa-Hull) and with the Aboriginal People's Television Network.
Edward Eaton – Sr. Hydraulic Engineer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Edward Eaton is a Senior Hydraulic Engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District. Mr. Eaton has worked for the St. Paul District for 31 years and served as the Chief of the District's Water Control Section for more than 20 years. Since 1983, Mr. Eaton has served in the capacity of engineering advisor to three International Joint Commission (IJC) boards, including the International Rainy Lake Board of Control. In recent years he has also served as the District's technical specialist on IJC matters. Mr. Eaton is a registered professional engineer in the State of Minnesota. He received a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA in 1976.
Mary Jean Fenske – Senior Engineer, Air Policy Unit, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
Primary responsibilities: Currently working to improve visibility in BWCA and Voyageurs National Park, writing rules to streamline air quality regulations, and assisting with energy policy work.
Prior work experience:
In past, co-wrote the agency's climate change action plan, served as air toxics coordinator, and as an air permit writer.
Worked as a metallurgical engineer for seven years, including at the former North Star Steel in South St. Paul and for a foundry that served the taconite and other mining industries.
Education:
MS, Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering Minor, University of Minnesota.
BS, Metallurgical Engineering, University of Wisconsin
Licenses: Professional Engineer
Other interests:
Running, sea kayaking, cross country skiing, playing for the Bombers women's hockey team, leading a Girl Scout troop
Craig Halla – Regional Manager, Forest Capital Partners
Born and raised in Wisconsin, Married 24 years with 2 Daughters ages 18 and 20.
Attended the University of WI Stevens Point and graduated with BS degrees in Forest Management and Soil Science in 1981.
Following Graduation, worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs as a Forester for 2.5 years on 4 N. MN reservations
Worked for Boise Cascade Corp in Int'l Falls for 20 years as a procurement Forester to Forest Supervisor in charge of Silviculture and all operational Land Management.
Currently working for Forest Capital Partners as Regional Manager in International Falls following Boise Land sale in 2005.
Chris Holbeck – Environmental Planning and Partnerships Specialist, Voyageurs National Park
Chris Holbeck is the Environmental Planning and Partnerships Specialist at Voyageurs National Park with experience in four National Parks and a background in physical and biological resource management, remediation, native plant restoration, burned area emergency restoration, abandoned mine restoration, air and water resource management, and program development. He lives on Rainy Lake with his wife and two children and enjoys living and working in the place people come to vacation.
Joe Hunter – Sustainable Sturgeon Culture
Joe Hunter is a Graduate of Sir Sandford Fleming College's Aquaculture Technician Program. Since graduating with honours in 1995, Mr. Hunter has been one of the very few people in Canada that have experience in the artificial propagation of Lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens).
Since 2003, Joe has been the sole operator of the hatchery at Rainy River First Nations (formerly Manitou Fish Hatchery). Although the Rainy River First Nations is no longer directly involved in the business, Mr. Hunter continues to fulfill its obligations to the fisheries by releasing newly hatched fry back into the Rainy River on an annual basis. This is not a "stocking" effort. Joe will explain how this part of the business supports the sustainability of the operation and the entire Lake sturgeon fishery. He will also provide participants with insight into the beliefs and teachings of his Elders and how being given this responsibility has broadened his views of nature, culture, and science.
Matthew Julius – Associate Professor of Biology, St. Cloud State University
Dr. Matt Julius is an associate professor of biology at St. Cloud State University. He has been a faculty member at SCSU for six years, and began his tenure there after completing his graduate work at the University of Michigan's Center for Great Lakes Research. His research interests involve the systematics and ecology of the diatoms, an important group of micro algae. His ongoing research projects involve the effect of emerging contaminants on the primary production community of aquatic systems, the role of diatoms in the foodweb, and the classification of algae. He currently mentors a number of undergraduate and graduate research students in pursuit of these projects.
Kari Layman – Hydraulic Engineer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Kari Layman is a Hydraulic Engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District. Ms. Layman has worked for the St. Paul District for 9 years and served as secretary to the International Rainy Lake Board of Control/International Rainy River Water Pollution Board for 6 years. Ms. Layman is a registered professional engineer in the state of Minnesota. She received a master's degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN and a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN.
Peter Lee – Chair, Department of Biology, Lakehead University
Peter Lee is Chair of the Department of Biology at Lakehead University, Director of the Lakehead University Environmental Laboratory and Director of the Lakehead University Aquatic Toxicity Research Centre. Dr. Lee received his Hon. BSc. in Biology from the University of Waterloo, his M.Eng. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Western Ontario and his Ph.D. in Botany from the University of Manitoba. He was the first Canadian to receive a Ph.D. studying wild rice. Dr. Lee has worked on wild rice in the public, private and academic sectors. He was Director of the Northern Ontario Wild Rice Extension Services at Lakehead University from 1981 – 1995. He has published many papers and reports on wild rice including co-authoring the book "Wild Rice in Canada." His current research has a focus on water chemistry and toxicology but he still maintains an active interest in wild rice, most recently involved in studies on southern wild rice.
Ilka Milne – President, Rainy River Valley Field Naturalists
Ilka Milne grew up in arctic Quebec and central Ontario. She graduated with a B.Sc. in Biology from Queen's University and a M.Sc. in Forestry from Lakehead University. While her research projects there focused on modeling forest wildlife habitat at the landscape level with interpreted satellite imagery, she developed a passion for the particular and minute world of mosses, liverworts and lichens, which is why Ilka's laundry often contains lichen encrusted bits of bark and mossy remains.
In 2004 she joined the Nature Conservancy of Canada as their Northwestern Ontario Program Manager. Serving on the Rainy River Valley Field Naturalist's organizing committee for the 2005 Great Lakes Odonata Meeting, she found her eye for detail turning to dragonflies.. She is now rarely seen without a net in summer and contributes sightings to the Ontario Odonate Atlas. In her work and otherwise Ilka has organized and participated in many citizen science projects, believing that local ownership of environmental issues will result from strengthening involvement in and awareness of the science which describes them. And yes, now her pockets may also contain bits of dragonfly exuviae.
Mike Phillips – Site-level Program Coordinator, Minnesota Forest Resources Council
Mike Phillips grew up as an "army brat" and lived in many places. He graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Forestry from Michigan State University and received his Master's degree in Soil Science from Oregon State University. He then spent six years in New Zealand getting his Ph.D. in Soil Science and living the life as a country gentleman.
Mike has worked in Minnesota for the past 22 years managing programs for pesticides, soils, and water quality and wetlands protection. He has an adjunct faculty appointment and is a member of the graduate research faculty; College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences; Department of Forest Resources; University of Minnesota. When working for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (Forestry), Mike chaired the process for the development of Minnesota's forestry best management practices to protect water quality and wetlands required under the Federal Clean Water Act and the MN Wetland Conservation Act. For the past 11 years, Mike has worked for the MN Forest Resources Council (MFRC) to develop, implement, and monitor the application of timber harvesting and forest management guidelines to protect riparian resources, soil productivity, cultural resources, and wildlife habitat. He has become experienced in the use of broad collaborative approaches for integrating science into the development and application of practices and guidelines to protect resource functions and values while conducting forest management activities.
Currently, Mike is chairing a scientific committee evaluating the science of riparian forest management that will inform discussions for the revision of the MFRC's existing riparian guidelines. He is also providing oversight to the to the MFRC committee charged with the development of guidelines for the sustainable harvest of woody biomass from forestland and brushland.
Leah Prussia – Deputy Director, White Earth Land Recovery Project
Leah Prussia was born and raised west of the White Earth Reservation. She has one son, Zaryn, who is an enrolled member of the Pillager Band of Ojibwe. Leah is the Deputy Director of the White Earth Land Recovery Project/Native Harvest. Prior to her hire with WELRP, Leah was the Social Service Supervisor for Adult Programs in Wadena County for 5 years. Leah has an extensive background in mental health services, family violence issues, and program administration. Leah's education includes a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Moorhead State University and a Master's degree in Social Work from the University of North Dakota.
Paul Radomski – Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Paul Radomski is a research scientist with Minnesota DNR. He has worked for the DNR for the last 20 years on issues such as water level regulation, fish harvest quota management, sportfishing regulations, and shoreline alteration and development. He was the science advisor for Minnesota's Alternative Shoreland Management Standards project.
Richard Rothaus – Assistant Vice President for Research and Faculty Development, St. Cloud State University
Richard Rothaus has nearly two decades of research experience in North America, Central America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Formally trained as an ancient historian and archaeologist, even before he had finished his dissertation on ancient religion, his interests had turned to environmental history. Richard's research focuses on the use of multiple datasets and proxy data from different disciplines (biology, palaeontology, geomorphology, archaeology) to address questions of human and environmental interaction. In addition to research on wild rice, Richard is studying the role of the monsoon in facilitating Bronze Age traffic between the Near East and the Mediterranean, and co-seismic coastline change in Greece. Richard's current positions include Assistant Vice President of Research, founder of the Cultural and Environmental Landscapes Laboratory, Professor of History, and Consulting Archaeologist for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.
Ingrid E. Schneider, Ph.D. - UMN Department of Forest Resources & Tourism Center
With a primary focus on visitor/community behavior and attitudes, Dr. Schneider works with various national, state, and local organizations to understand and plan for enhanced visitor management. Schneider has published more than 25 refereed journal articles, crafted numerous technical reports, and made presentations in a variety of academic and other professional settings in the U.S. and beyond. Ingrid teaches and does research on recreation resource visitors, nature-based tourists and the communities and organizations that host them. A South Dakota native, Ingrid received her B.S. in Technical Communication and M.S. in Forest Resources from the University of Minnesota. After receiving her doctorate in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management from ClemsonUniversity, Ingrid was Associate Professor at Arizona State University, and served as a market analyst for LodgeNet, Inc. Currently she is an Associate Professor in Forest Resources and Director of the TourismCenter at the University of Minnesota.
Robert Shimek – Special Projects Coordinator, Indigenous Environmental Network
Robert Shimek currently serves as the Mining Projects Coordinator for the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) headquartered in Bemidji, Minnesota. He is a Red Lake Ojibwe who has spent most of his life living on the White Earth Reservation in northwestern Minnesota. Before coming to IEN in 1997, Mr. Shimek served as a Community Organizer for the White Earth Land Recovery Project, a Native land rights community group on the White Earth Reservation. He has also served in numerous capacities with various organizations and agencies in Northern Minnesota and elsewhere.
Mr. Shimek brings years of hands on experience in working with Elders and Practitioners of Traditional Healing Arts. Through this experience, he has acquired a unique insight to the environmental impacts of industrialization on Native Culture. From industrialized forestry to atmospheric and water born deposition of various toxics, numerous avenues of exposure are adversely affecting Indigenous People and the integrity of their cultures. Giving voice to these concerns has been and continues to be the primary focal point of Mr. Shimek's work.
Trent Wickman – Air Resource Specialist, Superior National Forest
Trent grew up in northern Minnesota and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He attended Michigan Tech University in Houghton, MI and received a B.S. in Biology and an M.S. in Environmental Engineering. After graduation in 1996 he worked as an Air Permit Engineer for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for five years drafting and issuing air permits for new industrial sources. Since 2001 he has worked for the Superior National Forest as their Air Resource Specialist assessing the impact of air emissions from industrial sources to forest resources and also supporting prescribed burning operations through various smoke management activities.
In his spare time Trent prays for snow so he can go X-C skiing, watches college hockey, fishes and chases his two boys (ages 9 & 6) around.
Chad Yost
Chad Yost was raised in the Pike-Sandy area, located between Virginia and Tower, Minnesota, and is a fourth-generation Iron Ranger. His grandparents, mother and uncle riced Big RiceLake, Little Rice Lake and various other wild rice lakes along the Iron Range. Chad graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in Biology and has worked as a biological technician for the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service in Colorado, Arizona and Wyoming. Recently, Chad spent two summers with the Superior National Forest conducting plant surveys within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, and is currently a graduate student at Saint Cloud State University.
Chad's current research utilizes opal silica plant fossils known as phytoliths to reconstruct the paleodistribution and abundance of wild rice on Lake Ogechie, located within Mille Lacs Kathio State Park. Phytolith analysis provides direct evidence for the past presence and abundance of wild rice and is a completely novel approach to understanding wild rice paleoecology. As well as working on the Lake Ogechie wild rice restoration feasibility study, Chad and his advisor, Dr. Mikhail Blinnikov were recently awarded an NSF grant to expand their wild rice phytolith analysis across a wider geographic area.
John Zasada
John lives in Grand Rapids, MN--his "home town". He is now retired but worked for the U.S. Forest Service as a research forester for 40 yrs in coastal and interior Alaska, western Oregon, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Education was at Macalester College, Yale School of Forestry, University of Michigan and University College of North Wales.
He now spends a lot of time in the woods gathering bark and other woody plant materials and uses these materials, especially birch bark, to weave baskets and other items. The basketry is the traditional style of birch bark weaving that developed in Scandinavia and Russia/Siberia. A key interest is trying to understand the connections between how trees grow and how the use of bark, wood and roots relates to the "natural" growth of these materials. One other interest is helping to increase the use of plant materials that are commonly wasted or destroyed during most forest management/harvesting operations.
Other outdoor activities follow the seasons--kayaking/canoeing, skiing, skating, deer hunting, and hiking with his dogs. He takes classes at North House Folk School and teaches at the Folk School and at community art centers in northern Minnesota.
