Leadership Team
HUGHES SIMPSON
coordinator, Water Resources and Ecosystem Services at Texas A&M Forest Service
Hughes Simpson coordinates the Texas A&M Forest Service Water Resources and Ecosystem Services programs. In this position, he provides leadership on water resource issues, environmental and forest policy, native forest restoration, forest sustainability, and conservation initiatives for the agency. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Forest Resource Management from Clemson University.
PETER STANGEL
Chief Operating Officer, U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities
Peter Stangel joined the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities (www.usendowment.org) in 2010 and currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer. At the Endowment, he has responsibility for a number of programs associated with forest retention, forest health, and watersheds, and he manages a number of partnerships with federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, Environmental Protection Agency, and Natural Resources Conservation Service. Peter has a B.S. in Biology from Furman University in South Carolina and a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of Georgia. Prior to joining the Endowment, he held a number of positions with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Peter lives in Aiken, South Carolina.
PAUL GELLERSTEDT
program manager, landscape scale restoration & water resources, U.S. Forest Service
Paul Gellerstedt manages the Landscape Scale Restoration and Water Resources Programs for the USDA Forest Service, Southern Region, State and Private Forestry. Through these programs, he works with states, tribes, and other partners on collaborative, grant-funded projects that help restore landscapes and waters throughout the South.
Paul began his career with the US Forest Service as a summer seasonal employee on the Salmon-Challis National Forest in 1999 while pursuing a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Forestry and Environmental Resource Management at Virginia Tech. In 2004, he took a position with the North Carolina Forest Service and worked for that agency until returning to the US Forest Service, Southern Region, in 2015.
Jill Miller
Executive Director, South Carolina Rural Water Association
Jill Miller has been employed by SCRWA for the past 13 years. For the first 8 years of employment, Jill worked as the Source Water Protection Specialist assisting water utilities with grass root community based watershed protection efforts. The most recent 5 years, Jill has worked as the Director of the Association. SCRWA is a nonprofit trade association that provides onsite technical assistance, regulatory compliance assistance, training and industry specific services to SC water and wastewater utilities. As Director, Jill manages 9 field staff and 3 internal staff along with their program specific projects, keeps up to date with Legislative initiatives relative to the utility industry, interfaces with Regional and State regulatory officials and maintains focus on the ever changing challenges and needs of South Carolina utilities.
Jill also has a background in environmental soil and water pollution impact studies and remediation, aquaculture, water quality analysis and utility emergency preparedness and response. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Old Dominion University.
Scott Thackston
Water quality program coordinator, gEORGIA FORESTRY COMMISSION
Scott Thackston was born and raised in upstate South Carolina. His wife is a school teacher and they live on a 57 acre rural forested tract in the Piedmont Region of Georgia. He has a B.S. in Forest Resource Management with a minor in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology from Clemson University. Over the last 22+ years, Scott has worked, traveled, and lived in all major regions of Georgia and much of the SE United States. Due to his experience, he has become familiar with Georgia’s natural resources and regional characteristics, along with other neighboring states. Scott currently works for the Georgia Forestry Commission as Staff Forester and Water Quality Program Coordinator in White Plains, GA.
Holly Welch
EnvIRONMENTAL PROGRAM MANAGER, SC FORESTRY COMMISSION
Holly Welch is the Environmental Program Manager for the SC Forestry Commission. She joined the Forestry Commission in 2004 and has worked as a Forest Inventory and Analysis Forester, Project Forester and a BMP Forester. In her current role, Holly oversees and manages the Best Management Practices program statewide and is the point of contact with the Forestry Commission for any environmental issues. She also serves on many committees outside of the Commission focusing on water quality, sustainability, and source water protection.
JANAE DAVIS
SOUTHEAST CONSERVATION DIRECTOR, AMERICAN RIVERS
Janae Davis works to promote the health of the rivers, riverside lands, and river communities in the Southeast to ensure clean and affordable drinking water, reduce flood risk, protect biodiversity, and assure sustainable and equitable access to decision-making for frontline communities.
She believes that the most promising solutions for addressing climate change and biodiversity loss will emerge from community-based collaborations that address the multiple causes of environmental degradation and vulnerability to environmental harms including cultural erosion, economic inequality, unsustainable industrial practices, and political disenfranchisement.
Janae holds a B.A. in Sociology from North Carolina State University, a M.A. in Geography from the University of South Carolina, and a Doctorate in Geography from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Raven L. Lawson
Watershed Protection Manager, Central Arkansas Water
Raven Lawson is the Watershed Protection Manager at Central Arkansas Water, the state’s largest drinking water utility that serves 1 in every 7 Arkansans. For more than 15 years, Raven has worked in many aspects of ecology and natural resources management, ranging from studying organisms and their systems to working in public education and water quality advocacy. In her current position, she and her team are responsible for the protection and management of nearly 25,000 acres of watershed land and water resources owned by the utility, and are charged with ensuring that more than 450,000 Arkansans have clean, safe drinking water, and that the plants, animals, and people of the Lake Maumelle and Lake Winona watersheds have a thriving place to call home.
Ms. Lawson earned her bachelor’s degree in Biology from Arkansas State University, and attended graduate school at Clemson University where she studied Wildlife and Fisheries Ecology. She is currently a PSM candidate in Natural Resources Management from Texas Tech University.
CHANDLER BARTON
DIVISION FORESTER, Arkansas DEPT OF AG, FORESTRY DIVISION
Raven Chandler Barton lives in Little Rock, Arkansas, and has been working for the Arkansas Department of Agriculture - Forestry Division since 2014. He has a B.S. in Forest Resource Management from Virginia Tech and a M.S. in Entomology from University of Arkansas.
Having spent most of his career specializing in forest health programs, he has more recently focused on a broader range of forest management concerns, including water quality. He is a Division Forester working closely with the State Forester on various high-level priorities for the Agency.
Chandler participates in and manages the funding that supports the Arkansas Forests & Drinking Water Collaborative. Additionally, he manages staff that focus efforts in forested watersheds important to surface drinking water intakes.