Dr. Brett Butler is a national and international expert on forest ownership who has authored over 100 articles and reports on this subject. As part of the U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Forest Inventory and Analysis program, he coordinates the National Woodland Owner Survey and co-directs the Family Forest Research Center. He is an adjunct professor in the University of Massachusetts, Department of Environmental Conservation and the Editor-in-Chief for the journal Small-scale Forestry. He earned his Ph.D. from Oregon State University and his B.S from the University of Connecticut.

Sarah Butler is a Research Fellow at the University of Massachusetts Department of Environmental Conservation/ USDA Forest Service’s Family Forest Research Center (FFRC). She works on the Timber Products Output survey (TPO) as well as the National Woodland Owner Survey (NWOS). She uses NWOS data to explore various topics related to family forest owner characteristics, behaviours and attitudes. Her work also includes the Tools for Engaging Landowners Effectively (TELE) project and various other projects related to family forest owners.

Sarah received a B.S. from Indiana University in Environmental Science with a concentration in ecological systems and a M.S. from the University of Maine in Forest Ecology.

USDA Forest Service, Research Forester

https://www.fs.fed.us/research/people/jcaputo

70% of Massachusetts’ forests are family forests. As extension faculty, my work integrates research and outreach to family forest owners. The goal of this integrated approach is to learn about family forest owners in order to better inform their decisions. A main focus of my work is to help landowners decide the future of their land through conservation based estate planning. I am also interested in silvicultural approaches to increasing forest resiliency. My outreach methods focus heavily on peer learning, social networks, and internet based tools. I am the co-director of the Family Forest Research Center.  I also serve on the board of the MA Land Trust Coalition and am the Chair of the MA Forester Licensing Board.

Research Social Scientist USFS

https://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/people/kfloress

Vance is a Research Fellow at the University of Massachusetts Department of Environmental Conservation/ USDA Forest Service’s Family Forest Research Center (FFRC). He specializes in geospatial data analytics focused on environmental datasets, geospatial programing & automation, and geostatisitics. HIs areas of interests include natural resource modelling and conservation. HIs work focuses on mapping forest ownership patterns across the US and linking it to the National Woodland Owner Survey (NWOS) in efforts to better understand trends at small scale areal units.

Vance received a B.S. from the University of Florida in Geography and a M.S. from the University of Colorado Denver in Environmental Science with a focus in Geospatial Science.

Michigan State University - Assistant Professor

https://www.canr.msu.edu/people/emily_huff

Retired UMASS Professor & Extension Forester

http://eco.umass.edu/people/faculty/kittredge-david-b/

Marla Lindsay is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Massachusetts Department of Environmental Conservation/ USDA Forest Service’s Family Forest Research Center (FFRC). As a natural resource economist, her work involves conducting forest owner research related to current public policy topics and issues related to land use change.

As a member of the FFRC, she seeks to increase our understanding of family and other private forest owners in the context of topical policy and land use issues. Her main focus areas include exploring forest owners’ intentions and decisions related to conservation-based estate planning, specifically that related to land use change, and interdisciplinary collaboration to better understand the landscape impacts of invasive forest insect pests on privately-owned forest land. She is interested in developing a better understanding of the social and economic impacts of regional land conservation efforts, and recently has been exploring USDA Forest Inventory & Analysis data to understand forest ownership changes over time. In the past, she has assisted in the analysis of the USFS Forest Stewardship Program, conducted analyses of the USDA Forest Service’s National Woodland Owner Survey to understand forest owner decisions and intentions, and conducted primary research related to the social and economic dimensions of carbon sequestration and biomass harvesting by family forest owners.

Marla earned a B.A. from Smith College in Mathematics and an M.S. from the University of Maryland, College Park, in Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics under mentorship of Dr. Nancy E. Bockstael. Before coming to UMass, Marla worked as a Senior Associate at Industrial Economics, Incorporated in Cambridge, MA for 15 years. In this capacity she conducted economic policy research for a variety of Federal and State agencies, as well as private entities; her analyses evaluated environmental management decisions, estimated ecosystem values, informed policy choices, and supported litigation efforts.

Amanda Robillard is a Research Fellow at the Family Forest Research Center, a collaboration between the USDA Forest Service and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She focuses on the implementation of the NWOS, undergrad wrangling and general operations of the FFRC. She is also working on the minority landowner project and efforts to increase response rate for the NWOS and UNLS.
She received a B.S. in Fisheries Biology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and her M.S. in Fisheries Science from Oregon State University. In her free time, she enjoys strongman, birding, and baking.

Emma Sass is a Research Fellow at the University of Massachusetts Department of Environmental Conservation/ USDA Forest Service’s Family Forest Research Center (FFRC). Her primary interests are forest management and conservation and how identity influences our relationship to forests. Her work focuses on the implementation and analysis of the National Woodland Owner Survey (NWOS), including a survey of large, corporate forestland owners and a survey for woodland owners in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Other projects include research on how landowners in the eastern and central U.S. feel about oak forests and their management as part of American Forest Foundation’s White Oak Initiative.

Emma received a B.S. from Tufts University in Biology and Environmental Studies and a M.S. from the University of Vermont in Natural Resources with a concentration in Forest Science.

USFS - Operations Research Analyst

https://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/people/Snyder