The following North Carolina residents currently serve on the board of directors for the Friends of Plant Conservation.
President: C. Bruce Williams, PhD
Bruce completed a Doctorate in Agronomy from Auburn University. He is active in horticultural consulting, turfgrass culture and other forms of agriculture. He served two terms as the Associate Editor of HortTechnology Journal and has authored dozens of scientific articles, technical columns, and garden brochures. He is a Certified Professional Horticulturist, Certified Plant Professional, a N.C. Licensed Pesticide Consultant, and a Certified N.C. Landscape Contractor Instructor. He has produced and hosted the long running weekly “DownEast Gardner” television show and a garden column for over 18 years in local newspapers and magazines. In 2007, he developed his own garden television production-Grow Your Own with Dr. Bruce that currently airs on multiple stations. From 2006-2008, he was awarded the Presidential Silver Volunteer Service Award for his agricultural service to developing countries. He lives with his wife, Marsha in Wilmington and enjoys time with his family.
Vice President: David Blevins, PhD
completed both B.S. and M.S. degrees in Forestry from NCSU. He completed a Ph.D. in Forest Ecology from the Univ.of British Columbia in 2004. He is currently involved in a project to create photographs for a coffee table book on the natural communities of North Carolina. While in British Columbia, he worked with several conservation groups as a photographer, including The Land Conservancy of British Columbia, the Allouette River Management Society, E-Flora and E-Fauna of British Columbia, and the Richmond Nature Park Society. For the last three years, he has worked as a research associate with the Forest Nutrition Cooperative in the Forestry Department, NCSU.
Secretary: Katherine K. Schlosser
a masters degree in liberal studies led to a career in human relations and communication. Following retirement, she focused on her passion--plants-- devoting 20 years to volunteer service. An author and lecturer, she has served on local and national boards for plant related organizations, and as chair of the National Herb Garden at the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D. C. She is the founder of GreenBridges, a national conservation project for individuals, public gardens, and restoration sites. She has lectured across the country on a variety of plant topics, and was recently selected to receive the Foster Award for Excellence in Herbal Literature for her book, The Herb Society of America’s Essential Guide to Growing and Cooking With Herbs (LSU Press, 2007).
She is editor for the Friends of Plant Conservation, NC Native Plant Society, and writes a column on native plants for her local newspapper.
Treasurer: Kurt Schlimme
graduated from Univ.of Michigan with a B.S. in Environmental Policy and from Duke University in 2006 with a Master’s of Environmental Management. His master’s work at Duke University involved leading a study focusing on the effectiveness of sheep grazing in the restoration of the native coastal grassland ecosystem on the Massachusett’s island of Nantucket. Prior to attending Duke, He worked in various positions, including serving as a Deputy Shellfish Constable with the Town of Wellfleet on Cape Cod, working with USGS on a California spotted owl research project in Yosemite National Park, and serving for a year with AmeriCorps Cape Cod, an environmental service program dedicated to the conservation, protection, and restoration of Cape Cod’s natural environment. Kurt currently serves as the Director of Stewardship for the Eno River Association in Durham.
Membership: Tom Harville
Tom is a born, bred and educated Tarheel. He served in the U.S. Air Force for 26 years, flying as a navigator/bombardier in B-52s and various staff jobs. He retired in 1992 as a colonel and came back home and worked for NCDOT for 14 years running the Personnel Assessment Center. When he returned, North Carolina native plants became an avocation and he joined the N.C. Native Plant Society. He currently serves as the president of the Society and is an avid proponent of preserving our native flora.
Strategic Planning: Paul Hosier, PhD
a professor of Biology at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where he has taught and held administrative positions for 36 years. Paul received his B.S. in Biology (Plant emphasis) from New Paltz State University in New York, his M.S. degree in Botany from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and his Ph.D. in Botany from Duke University. His research areas include coastal plant ecology, off-road vehicle use on the coast and coastal geologic processes affecting coastal vegetation. He teaches courses in ecology, coastal management and barrier island ecology. He has held several administrative positions at UNCW, including Assistant Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Associate Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs and most recently, Provost and Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs.
Policy & Governance: Mark Rose
developed an orchid breeding program in 1969 and has produced thousands of successful hybrids. He has operated certified nurseries in three states. He serves as a speaker and consultant on orchid culture and hybridization, native wildflowers, pesticide application and fertilization, having made more than 500 presentations to orchid societies, garden clubs and professional organizations across the U.S. and Canada. He has served as a founding member and past treasurer of the Native Orchid Conference, Inc., a national non-profit organization with meetings held across the U.S. and Canada. During his professional career, he has been recognized for many honors including awards from the American Orchid Society and Royal Horticulture Society, Eastern Orchid Congress, and was the recipient of the Holland Trophy (an international competition sponsored by the Dutch Embassy) in the 1993 inaugural competition and in 1995, 1996 and 1998. He is an active member of several professional organizations. In 2006, he was appointed to the N.C. Plant Conservation Board representing citizen conservation organizations.
Programs: Mike Kunz
born and raised in Littleton, Colorado. He obtained his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Colorado at Boulder in Environmental, Populations and Organismic Biology. His research focused on plant ecology and invasive plants in the Rocky Mountains, short grass prairie and the desert grasslands of Arizona. Before moving to North Carolina, he taught high school science in Denver, Colorado. Here in North Carolina, he has held the position of Conservation Ecologist since 2005 and works on the in situ and ex situ conservation of rare plants in the Southeastern United States, land management and protection, outreach and education.
Education: Tom Baugh
a biologist with a focus on ecology and a career in natural resource management and conservation biology.. In addition to other academic and professional work, Tom has a Bachelor of Science in Zoology and a Master of Science in Biology. His work has taken him from fishes in the deserts of the American West to manatees in the lagoons of Florida to the seagrasses, mangroves, and plant communities of the Southeastern US coasts and the Caribbean, into urban ecology, and now to the Southern Appalachian Mountains. He has worked for two federal natural resource agencies and one university, taught on the secondary, community college, and private university levels, and published in the popular, technical, and scientific media. He is a member and active in a number of professional organizations and special interest organizations. His work has been cited in Science Citation Index and similar professional indices.
Education: Andy Wood
B.S. degree in Wildlife and Fishery Science from Texas A&M University in 1981. He is currently the Education Director for Audubon North Carolina, a post he began in October 2000. Prior to his post with Audubon, he served for 13 years as the Education Curator for the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher. In addition, Andy is a member of the Non-game Wildlife Advisory Committee for the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. He is also a founding Steering Committee member for the N.C. Birding Trail-an initiative designed to enhance and develop bird-related tourism to help support sustainable tourism opportunities in North Carolina, with a focus on economically distressed communities. In addition to his education work Andy is the principle investigator for the propagation and study of two rare freshwater snails, both endemic to southeastern North Carolina. From 1987 to the present, Andy has reported his observations in nature as a weekly radio commentator on Wilmington’s public radio station WHQR, and a compilation of this work has recently been published in Andy’s first book: Backyard Carolina: Two Decades of Public Radio Commentary. Andy and his wife, Sandy, live in Hampstead, N.C. with their two sons, Robin and Carson.
Resource Development: Marsh Smith
B.S. degrees in Economics and Psychology from Duke University in 1984 and from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1989 with a J.D. After law school, he attended Armor Officers’ Training at Fr. Knox, Kentucky as a member of the North Carolina Army National Guard. After fulfilling these obligations, he practiced law as an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center in Chapel Hill. After returning to Southern Pines, he opened a law office and practiced law as a solo practitioner until forming the firm of Cunningham, Dedmond, Peterson, and Smith from 1992-2003. As of June 1, 2003, he practices in the law office of Marsh Smith, P.A. Specific areas of practice include environmental law, real property law (transactions, conservation transactions and litigation) and on occasion capital litigation. Mr. Smith lives near Southern Pines on Mill Creek in the log house in which he grew up. He now shares this home with two dogs, a cat, and his children-Everet, his daughter, and Walker, his son.