Forest Futures panel
Science in Policymaking
2:15-3:30 p.m. in the Cat Cavern, second floor of the Putnam University Center
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Panelist Bios:

1. Deborah Brosnan will present a paper titled "The Role of Scientists as Forest Policy Advocates."

The Founder and President of Sustainable Ecosystems Institute is a scientist on the front lines -- as a strong advocate for the use of science in ecological decisions, and as a catalyst for scientists to participate in the global forum. In 1994 Brosnan founded SEI as a conduit for the nations top scientists to outreach to all stakeholders, and to help find science-based solutions to ecological problems. Dr. Brosnan believes strongly that scientists must fulfill a new social contract, and assume a greater leadership role in conservation and natural resource issues. Over 200 of the worlds top scientists, including members of the National Academy of Sciences, have joined her and now participate in SEI's program. Dr. Brosnan holds a Ph.D. in marine ecology from Oregon State University (with Drs. Jane Lubchenco and Bruce Menge). She received her B.S in zoology and her M.S. in Fisheries Science at University College Galway Ireland. Her own scientific research ranges from the coral reefs of the tropical Caribbean, to the Pacific shores of North America where she studies basic ecology and policy. She has written numerous articles on science and policy. She has testified before the Senate on the importance of science in the Endangered Species Act, and frequently speaks at conferences and gatherings. Dr. Brosnan is a Board member for Oregon State University, College of Forestry, All Species Foundation, Sea Shepherd Advisory Board and the UC Davis Marine Ecosystem Health Program. She co-chaired the National Science and Policy Forum, and the Santa Barbara Group.

2. Fred Swanson will present a paper titled "Experiences with Science and Policy in the Northwest Forest Plan."

Swanson is a geologist and ecosystem scientist with the US Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, and Professor (courtesy) in the Departments of Forest Science and Geoscience, Oregon State University. For many years he has studied the interactions of physical processes, such as fire, flood, landslides, volcanic eruptions, and forestry operations, including roads, with forest and stream ecosystems. Much of this work has taken place at the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest in the Oregon Cascades, Mount St. Helens, and elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest. He has also worked closely with staff of the Willamette National Forest on many projects, including development of landscape management plans based in part on the historic wildfire regime. This work occurs in the context of a very active research-management partnership involving university and Forest Service scientists and staff of the Willamette National Forest. Engagements with policy-making processes include participating in the Forest Ecosystem Management Assessment Team, which developed the framework for the Northwest Forest Plan, and co-leadership of the conference and book "Bioregional Assessments: Science at the Crossroads of Management and Policy" (Johnson et al. 1999, Island Press).

3. Daniel J. Rohlf will present a paper titled "Science, Policy and the Law in the Northwest Forest Plan."

Rohlf is an Associate Professor of Law at Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College. In addition, he serves as Director of the Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center, the law school's environmental law clinic. His teaching and scholarship centers on management and conservation of biological diversity and the intersection of law and science. His courses include Wildlife Law; Law, Science, and the Environment Seminar; and Legal Ecology, a summer course he co-teaches with an ecologist at field locations in southeastern Oregon. Professor Rohlf has published and lectured widely on the Endangered Species Act. His caseload through PEAC also focuses primarily on endangered species issues, including extensive work on issues involving restoration of salmonids in the Columbia River Basin. Professor Rohlf earned his B.A. degree in geology from Colorado College and his J.D. from Stanford. After law school he served as a clerk for Justice Jay Rabinowitz of the Alaska Supreme Court.

4. Ronald B. Mitchell will present a paper titled "The Use and Misuse of Science in the Policy Process: Lessons for Future Forests."
Mitchell is an Associate Professor with tenure in the Department of Political Science at the University of Oregon and was a Visiting Associate Professor at the Center for Environmental Science and Policy from June 1999 through December 2001. He earned his PhD in Public Policy at Harvard University in 1992. His book Intentional Oil Pollution at Sea: Environmental Policy and Treaty Compliance (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1994) received the Harold and Margaret Sprout Award for 1995 from the International Studies Association for the best book on international environmental issues. His research focuses on the effectiveness of international institutions at influencing the behavior of states and nonstate actors. He has published articles in International Organization, Journal of Theoretical Politics, International Studies Quarterly, Global Governance, and other scholarly journals. He has contributed chapters to books that resulted from research projects on regime effectiveness conducted by Edith Brown Weiss and Harold Jacobson; Peter M. Haas, Robert O. Keohane, and Marc A. Levy; Elinor Ostrom and Robert O. Keohane; Oran R. Young; and Samuel Barkin and George E. Shambaugh. He is currently a member of the National Research Council's Committee on the Human Dimensions of Global Change and of the editorial boards of International Organization, the Journal of Environment and Development, and Global Environmental Politics. He teaches courses on international relations theory, international environmental politics, and international regimes.