2026 SPEAKERS
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Kathy Abusow
President and CEO
Sustainable Forestry Initiative
Kathy Abusow
Kathy Abusow is President and CEO of SFI Inc., a sustainability leader that stands for future forests. She has held this role since 2007, when Sustainable Forestry Initiative® became a fully independent, non-profit organization. Since joining SFI, Kathy has greatly expanded SFI’s network to include the forest sector, brand owners, conservation groups, resource professionals, landowners, educators, local communities, Indigenous peoples, governments, and universities.
Dr. Alexis Achim
Canada Research Chair in Sylviculture Adapted to Climate Change
University of Laval
Dr. Alexis Achim
Sarah Ambroziak
Director, Community Initiatives
The Outland Youth Employment Program (OYEP)
Dexterra Group
Sarah Ambroziak
Sarah Ambroziak holds dual leadership roles as Director of Community Initiatives at Dexterra Group and as Executive Director of the Outland Youth Employment Program (OYEP). In her role at Dexterra, she leads the company’s community investment strategy and builds partnerships that create measurable social, economic, and environmental impact in the regions where the company works. Through OYEP, Sarah oversees programs that give Indigenous youth hands-on learning, training, and employment opportunities in the natural resource sector. Since its inception in 2000, OYEP has connected 1,000+ Indigenous youth from 200+ communities with paid work experience in the natural resource sector. Her commitment to this work traces back to her early career in tree planting and environmental projects, a chapter that took her across several provinces and saw her plant more than a million trees. Sarah now calls Thunder Bay home, where she spends her downtime with her husband, a fellow former tree planter, and their two young children. She stays closely connected to her environmental roots by enjoying the outdoors whenever possible and continuing to support Outland’s silviculture operations across Canada.
Terry Baker
CEO
Society of American Foresters
Terry Baker
Terry Baker is a passionate and long-time SAF member, a seasoned leader, and a powerful advocate for forestry. His entire career has been intertwined with SAF (since 2002); in fact, Terry credits SAF with helping to develop him as a professional and he is paying it forward by mentoring students and young professionals.
Baker has a reputation for being a leader who values relationships, a leader who listens, and a leader who takes action. He has experience in building partnerships and strategic alliances to leverage outcomes and is expanding relationships with key partners and stakeholders to strengthen SAF’s voice and advance the profession as well as the members.
Samuel Bourque
VP Sustainability, Strategic Partnerships & Engagement
Domtar
Samuel Bourque
Experienced Certification Coordinator with a demonstrated history of working in the paper & forest products industry. Skilled in Environmental Compliance, Environmental Issues, Water Quality, Environmental Policy, and Environmental Monitoring. Strong information technology professional with a Baccalauréat focused in Sciences biologiques et écologiques from Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières.
Andrea Colnes
Deputy Director & Climate Fellow
New England Forestry Foundation
Andrea Colnes
Andrea serves as the Deputy Director of the New England Forestry Foundation where she focuses on high leverage, high impact climate solutions based on the management and protection of New England’s forests. NEFF’s work is focused on implementing the “30% Solution” where Exemplary Forest management combined with forest protection and building with wood can realize 30% of New England’s 2050 carbon reduction goals. These efforts have been recognized as a way to advance forest-based natural climate solutions at home and as a national and global model. This work builds on NEFF’s long track record of demonstrating and implementing excellent forestry alongside forest conservation across New England. Previously, Andrea served as the Director for Global Green Bank Development at the Coalition for Green Capital (CGC) where she lead efforts to bring the Green Bank model to developing countries to scale up climate finance in support of national climate goals. She led CGCs efforts to support development of the Development Bank of Southern Africa’s new $150 million USD Climate Finance Facility, worked with the Government of Rwanda to launch a new Green Bank, with the African Development Bank to scope multiple Green Bank opportunities in Africa, and numerous other projects. Andrea has led strategic campaigns focused on energy, large-scale land conservation, and sustainable forestry over a 30-year career and served as the founding Executive Director of the Northern Forest Alliance, the Energy Action Network and directed national policy and atmospheric carbon research for the Biomass Energy Resource Center. Andrea holds a BA in Political Science from Williams College and Master’s in Wildlife Conservation from the University of Maine.
Anthony Daniel
Planning Advisor, Biologist
Ville de Montréal
Anthony Daniel
I bring 25 years of experience in urban forestry, including 20 years with the City of Montreal. My role focuses on designing strategies and implementing concrete actions to strengthen and enhance Montreal’s urban forest. I develop programs, policies, and regulations, while leading awareness campaigns and building strategic partnerships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders. I represent the City at major events to support innovative initiatives and showcase the expertise developed by our team. One of our flagship achievements is Montreal’s approach to mitigating the impact of the emerald ash borer: widely recognized as a success, it prevented a costly surge in ash tree mortality, unlike what occurred in many municipalities across Quebec and Ontario.
Kendall DeLyser Roney
Senior Director, Forest Climate Science
American Forests
Kendall DeLyser Roney
Kendall DeLyser Roney manages American Forests’ forest climate science projects and serves as the organization’s technical expert on forests, carbon and climate change. Kendall is currently leading research partnerships focused on climate-smart forestry and wood utilization, forest soil carbon, and the role of forests as natural climate solutions. She supports state natural resource agency and SFI-certified partners in applying climate-smart forestry research to inform policy development and forest management planning. Before joining American Forests, Kendall worked on carbon offset project research and policy recommendations for climate-smart land use and also researched successful forest restoration techniques in Costa Rica. She holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental policy from Colorado College, as well as master’s degrees in environmental management and forestry from Duke University.
Paige Goff
VP Sustainability, Strategic Partnerships & Engagement
Domtar
Paige Goff
Paige Goff is Vice President of Sustainability, Partnerships & Engagement at Domtar, a leading privately held manufacturer of diversified forest products, including pulp, paper, packaging, tissue, and wood products. In this role, Goff leads the communication of Domtar’s key sustainability and business initiatives across internal and external stakeholder communities. She also develops and oversees strategic partnerships with environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) and leads sustainability communications for Domtar’s customers. As head of the company’s Strategic Partnerships and Engagement team, Goff manages a broad portfolio that includes stakeholder relations, partnerships, engagement, education, and monitoring. Goff joined Domtar in 2004 and has more than 26 years of experience in the forest products industry.
Alemu Gonsamo
Associate Professor, Earth, Environment & Society
McMaster University
Alemu Gonsamo
Dr. Alemu Gonsamo is an Associate Professor of Remote Sensing and the Associate Director of the McMaster Centre for Climate Change at McMaster University. He serves on the Board of Editors for the prestigious peer-reviewed journal Science and is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Geophysical Research. In his Remote Sensing Lab at McMaster University, Dr. Gonsamo and his team develop advanced satellite-based tools to monitor and understand Earth’s land ecosystems amid global changes. By combining satellite data with mechanistic models, they investigate how changes in land use, forest disturbances, and climate variability affect forest ecosystems and how these changes, in turn, influence the atmosphere through the carbon cycle. A highlight of their work is the creation of Canada’s first comprehensive map of land-based carbon stocks, which was showcased at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26). His lab’s recent research leverages advancements in machine learning and satellite and aerial observation technologies to study forest ecosystems, biomass changes, and the biophysical effects of climate and land use changes on the environment.
David Graham
President
Weyerhaeuser Company Limited
David Graham
David Graham was appointed to the role of President, Weyerhaeuser Company Limited in January 2022. David has held executive and operating leadership roles with Weyerhaeuser since 1992. His career with Weyerhaeuser has taken he and his family across Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Prior to his most recent appointment he served as Vice President of Human Resources, Vice President of Oriented Strand business, and several other leadership positions in the Pulp, Paper, Engineered Wood, and Wood Products organizations. David’s experience includes supporting various international businesses with Weyerhaeuser in Europe, South America, and Asia. He is active on various industry and sector associations including Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) and Board Member for Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), Alberta Forest Products Association (AFPA) and previously with the Council of Forest Industries (COFI). He received his Bachelor of Science in Engineering from the University of Alberta in 1991.
Catherine Grenier
President and CEO
Nature Conservancy Canada
Catherine Grenier
As head of Canada’s leading national land conservation organization, Catherine oversees partnerships with individuals, corporations, foundations, Indigenous communities, non-profit organizations, and governments at all levels to protect the country’s most important natural treasures. The Nature Conservancy Canada is a longstanding SFI partner collaborating on numerous projects including conserving aquatic ecosystems, protecting bat populations, engaging youth in forest conservation, and supporting Project Learning Tree Canada’s Green Jobs for youth. Catherine also serves on SFI’s Education Operating Committee, the PLT advisory group.
An award-winning leader, Catherine has held executive positions with some of Canada’s foremost nature conservation organizations. Prior to joining NCC, Grenier served as Vice President for national park operations with Sépaq, the Quebec government agency that manages parks and wildlife reserves. Catherine mobilized the Sépaq team to generate an increase of more than 40% in visits to the province’s parks network. She has also held senior roles with Parks Canada. Among her achievements there, she led the process to create Canada’s first national urban park, in Toronto’s Rouge Valley.
Her passion for community building and conservation was recognized in 2016 with an Award of Excellence from the Canadian Parks Council and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.
Michaela Harms
Vice President of Mass Timber
Sterling Structural
Michaela Harms
Michaela Harms is the Vice President of Mass Timber at Sterling Solutions, a leading manufacturer of sustainably-sourced, domestically-produced, high-quality and cost-effective Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) panels and systems. She has overall responsibility for sales, engineering, design and project management, building and managing strategic partnerships, and leading new product development for Sterling’s Structural division. Before joining Sterling, Michaela was a board member and Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at WholeTrees Structures, where she led the R&D/Strategy department for the structural round and heavy timber manufacturer. In addition, she has served as an engineered wood products and sustainable forestry expert for PFS TECO, an international certification body and managed algorithm and North American business development for OneClick LCA, a construction life cycle assessment software. Michaela has co-written and managed over $5M in USDA grant funded research focused on mass timber construction and small-diameter utilization; has been published in trade and academic journals; is a guest lecturer at leading universities; and is a sought-after speaker at global conferences. Michaela holds a degree in Civil Engineering focused on Sustainable Building from Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, Helsinki, Finland.
James Hallworth R.P.F.
Senior Forestry Specialist
Preferred by Nature
James Hallworth R.P.F.
James is a Sr. Forestry Specialist with Preferred by Nature and a Registered Professional Forester in Ontario, Canada with over 12 years of experience in certification services and resource management. Current responsibilities include SFI FM/FS service technical lead, lead auditor for sustainability certifications across North America and SFI sales and marketing development. James has conducted over 160 audits to date within Canada, USA and UK.
Shenandoah Johns
Chief Environment and Sustainability Officer
West Fraser Timber
Shenandoah Johns
Shenandoah Johns is a senior strategic leader and lawyer who has spent over 25 years helping some of Canada’s largest natural resources companies navigate complex challenges. Currently serving as Chief Environment & Sustainability Officer at West Fraser Mills, Shenandoah leads sustainability strategy, climate initiatives, and environmental compliance and best practices. She chairs the Sustainability Steering Committee and co-chairs the President’s Diversity Council, bringing a combination of principled leadership and practical problem-solving to everything she does. Before joining West Fraser, Shenandoah held progressive leadership roles at Suncor Energy. She started her career in private practice law before discovering she preferred building teams and driving transformational change to billing hours. A Harvard Business School leadership program alumna, Shenandoah serves on the Board of Directors for the Treated Wood Council. When she’s not working on sustainability road maps or mentoring the next generation of leaders, in collaboration with great people and strong coffee, Shenandoah is a proud mother of six: Rachel, Rebecca, Sophia, Isobelle, Evangeline, and Sam. Her children, all able to vote, have chosen a diversity of paths she’d like to attribute to the careful upbringing she and her husband Vince provided, but more likely reflects growing up in a cheerfully chaotic household.
Dan Lambe
Chief Executive
Arbor Day Foundation
Dan Lambe
Dan oversees the innovative programs and partnerships through which the Arbor Day Foundation strives to educate, recognize, and empower people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees. Dan works with corporate and government leaders to use trees to help find positive solutions to sustainability, engagement, and marketing challenges.
Dan’s leadership is helping people understand how responsible forestry and tree-planting helps to address pollution, water quality, climate change, hunger, and poverty.
Dan joined the Arbor Day Foundation in 2005 and was named president in 2014. He has served as a member of the Vibrant Cities and Urban Forests Task Force and the National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council. He currently serves on the SFI Educational Operating Committee and the Sustainable Urban Forests Coalition Steering Committee.
James Lane
Manager, Natural Heritage and Forestry
York Region, The Regional Municipality of York
James Lane
Jackson Morrill
President & CEO
American Wood Council
Jackson Morrill
Jackson has over 25 years of experience working as a lawyer and trade association representative. He was previously the President of the Composite Panel Association, which represents manufacturers of composite wood panels. He also worked at the American Chemistry Council, practiced environmental law at Beveridge & Diamond, and served as an environmental law consultant at the World Bank. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia and Tulane Law School and is admitted to the Maryland and District of Columbia bars. AWC is the voice of North American wood products manufacturing, an industry that provides over 450,000 men and women in the United States with family-wage jobs. AWC represents 87 percent of the structural wood products industry. Our members make products that are essential to everyday life that are derived from a renewable resource that absorbs and sequesters carbon for many decades. Our staff experts develop state-of-the-art engineering data, technology, and standards for wood products to ensure their safe and efficient design, as well as provide information on wood design, green building, and environmental regulations. AWC also advocates for balanced government policies that affect wood products. www.awc.org | @woodcouncil
Derek Nighbor
President and CEO
Forest Products Association of Canada
Derek Nighbor
Derek was born and raised in Pembroke – in the heart of the Ottawa Valley – and has been President and CEO at FPAC since March 2016.He is proud to represent Canada’s forest products sector and its workers, families, and communities nationally and internationally. Prior to joining FPAC, Derek served for over 7 years as Senior Vice President with Food & Consumer Products of Canada (FCPC), the country’s leading voice for consumer goods manufacturers like Coca-Cola, McCains, Nestle, Procter & Gamble, and Unilever. Derek served for over 3 years as Senior Vice President of Public Affairs with Retail Council of Canada (RCC) representing over 45,000 retail storefronts across Canada, including leading retailers like Canadian Tire, Home Depot, Staples, and Home Hardware. Derek has also held senior political positions with the Government of Ontario, including two years as Chief of Staff to Ontario’s Minister of Consumer and Business Services. Derek’s global roles include his recent appointment as the industry representative and advisor to the United Nations Forum on Forests and his involvement as a Steering Committee member of the International Council of Forest & Paper Associations (ICFPA) – an organization of forest sector leaders from 28 countries around the world. He served as ICFPA’s President of from 2019 to 2022. Derek also represents Canada’s forest products industry on the Steering Committee of the United Nations’ Food & Agriculture Organization’s Advisory Committee on Sustainable Forest-based Industries (ACSFI) and is a member of the Board of Directors of FPInnovations, Canada’s leading forest sector research institute. Derek has a keen personal interest in community health care and sport and recently served as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for Ronald McDonald House Charities Canada. He’s also a past Board Member of the Ontario Curling Association, the Ontario Trillium Foundation’s Grant Review Team for the Greater Toronto Area, and the Ottawa Sports & Entertainment Group’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee.
Tanis One Spot
Executive Director for the Lands Portfolio
Tsuut’ina Nation
Tanis One Spot
Born and raised on the beautiful Tsuut’ina Nation, Tanis One Spot has always had a deep connection with the land. Tanis started her career; split between working for the Office of the Peacemaker , and the Finance department. After a number of years, an incident with an oil and gas company on her Nation made her question Indigenous rights and protection of culturally and environmentally sensitive areas that lead her enroll at SAIT in various fields. Tanis excelled at her studies; and soon was the first student from the program accepted to work at ConocoPhillips Canada. Tanis worked in the surface land department, well abandonment and reclamation fields as well as establishing the first Aboriginal Network group that brought Indigenous awareness and training to its employees. After just under seven years, Tanis returned home to Tsuut’ina and worked in various positions within public works before becoming the Executive Director for the Lands portfolio. Tanis continues her passion to work with her Community and Elders to develop Policies for Land use, Water and Conservation.
Marie-Michèle Rousseau-Clair
Chief Conservation Officer
Nature Conservancy of Canada
Marie-Michèle Rousseau-Clair
Marie-Michèle Rousseau-Clair joined NCC in 2007. She started as a regional stewardship assistant to help with the development of a conservation plan and has since held several positions leading to her current role as chief conservation officer.
Peter Stein
Managing Director
The Lyme Timber Company
Peter Stein
Peter joined Lyme in 1990 and has significant experience in conservation-oriented forestland and rural land purchases and dispositions. Peter develops conservation sale strategies on properties being evaluated or managed by Lyme and also leads Lyme’s conservation advisory business. Prior to his career with LTC Partners and Lyme, Peter was Senior Vice President of the Trust for Public Land where he directed conservation real estate acquisitions in the Northeast and Midwest. Peter lectures frequently at graduate schools and professional conferences on conservation investment structures and strategies. Peter serves on the Investment Committee of Sustainable Land Management Partners’ US focused agricultural land investment fund. He also serves on the advisory boards of the Appalachian Mountain Club, Rose Smart Growth Real Estate Fund No. 1, Upstream Technology, and Quantified Ventures. Peter is the co-founder of the Conservation Finance Network and the International Land Conservation Network. In addition, he is a former Board Chair of the Land Trust Alliance, served as a founding Commissioner of the Land Trust Accreditation Commission. Peter earned a B.A. with Highest Honors from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1975 and was a Loeb Fellow and received a Certificate in Advanced Environmental Studies from Harvard University in 1981.
SFI Staff Moderators
Lauren Cooper
Chief Conservation Officer
Sustainable Forestry Initiative
Lauren Cooper
Lauren heads the SFI Conservation Pillar, providing conservation leadership internally as well as externally to our network of resource professionals, landowners, educators, local communities, Indigenous Peoples, and governments. She will develop best management practices for climate-smart forestry and fire resiliency and awareness, lead SFI participation in collaborative efforts to conserve forested landscapes and integrate Indigenous knowledge into SFI conservation programs. Lauren currently leads the Forest Carbon and Climate Program at Michigan State University, and she has international experience working with Indigenous communities in Peru, Mexico, Ecuador, and the United States. Lauren has served as a convener, moderator, and facilitator in high-level climate events, engaged in numerous climate working groups and has developed climate curriculum, educational materials, and plans. She currently serves as a steering committee member with the Women’s Forest Congress and on the Forest-Climate Working Group. Lauren is passionate about building new relationships at the intersection of sustainability, forests, society, and climate.
Meagan “Meg” Hanna
Director of Urban and Community Forestry for Canada
Sustainable Forestry Initiative
Meagan “Meg” Hanna
Meg is working with a network of urban and community forestry leaders to establish the new SFI Urban and Community Forest Improvement Program. Part of her work involves promoting certification to the SFI Urban and Community Forest Sustainability Standard with municipalities, Indigenous communities, underserved communities, health care institutions, school campuses, and corporations. Meg also supports the SFI Career Pathways Program in Canada to increase green job opportunities for all in the urban forestry and forestry sectors. Meg holds a joint honours Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts from McGill University as well as a certificate in horticulture and green space management from Laval University. She is an International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) Board Certified Master Arborist, has completed the ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualification, and has been volunteering for over a decade for the ISA and its local chapter in Quebec. Meg served on the standards committee for the complete revision of Quebec’s standards in arboriculture and horticulture BNQ 0605.
Christine Leduc
VP, Communications and Government Relations
Sustainable Forestry Initiative
Christine Leduc
Christine leads SFI’s binational communications team, which also includes Project Learning Tree and Project Learning Tree Canada. She oversees strategic communications while also developing and implementing a range of government and public relations activities. Christine is a Registered Professional Forester with a decade of experience in forestry, policy, communications, public affairs, issues management, and more recently Indigenous relations. She is fluent in English and French and holds a Master of Forest Conservation from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto. Christine is also a Forests Ontario board member, and she was recognized as a Top 10 Under 40 by Canadian Forest Industries magazine. Outside work, Christine spends as much time as she can enjoying the forests of northern Ontario.
Jason Metnick
Senior VP, Customer Affairs
Sustainable Forestry Initiative
Jason Metnick
Jason leads the standards pillar at SFI, with a focus on elevating the SFI standards as a proof point for sustainable forestry and responsible purchasing. His work advances the standards pillar through engaging and communicating the value of SFI’s standards to certified organizations, customers of SFI‑certified organizations, and others interested in the value of sustainable forestry. Jason has worked at SFI since 2001 and holds a Bachelor of Science in forestry from Northern Arizona University. He is a member of the Society of American Foresters and sits on a number of committees related to forest certification, chain of custody, and eco-labeling. He lives in Phoenix, Arizona with his wife, two daughters, and Maple the wonder dog.
Ken Price
SFI Forest Certification Consultant for First Nations
Sustainable Forestry Initiative
Ken Price
Ken works to expand SFI certification among Indigenous communities and businesses. He provides supports to Indigenous communities, businesses, and partnerships that enable them to successfully certify their forests and forest operations to the SFI Standards—and ultimately advance their unique self-determined forest-related priorities.
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