Hudson River Environmental Society

HRES EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Stephen O. Wilson

HRES BOARD MEMBERS

President
Lucy Johnson is Professor of Anthropology at Vassar College. As an Anthropologist/archaeologist, she focuses in the prehistory of the Aleutian Islands, Alaska and in prehistoric and historic sites in the mid-Hudson Valley, New York with topical interest in the prehistoric interaction of people and their environments. Dr. Johnson is Secretary of the Board of Directors, Poughkeepsie Day School; Vice-Chair of the Steering Committee, Environmental Consortium of Hudson Valley Colleges and Universities; and a founding member and President of the Board of IDEA, the Independent Dutchess Energy Alliance.

Vice President
Robert A. Daniels is Curator of Ichthyology at the New York State Museum and Assistant Director of Research and Collections. He received an AB in Zoology from UCLA and a MS and PhD in Ecology at UC, Davis. His research deals with fish-habitat relationships and fish zoogeography and distribution. He is particularly interested in the ecology of endangered species. He also monitors changes in the distribution of crayfishes in New York. Additional information and a list of publications can be found at:
http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/research/labs/ichthyology/index.html

Secretary
Liesl Hotaling is the Chief Education Officer for The Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries in Beacon, New York. She holds a B.A. in Marine Science, a M.A.T. in Science Teaching, and a M.S. in Maritime Systems (ocean engineering). She is a partner in Centers for Ocean Science Education Excellence - Networked Ocean World (COSEE-NOW) and specializes in real time data and hands-on STEM educational projects supporting environmental observing networks.
http://www.thebeaconinstitute.org/institute/hotaling.php

Treasurer
James Morrison is a vice president with HDR Engineering, Inc, an environmental science and engineering consulting company based in Pearl River, New York. Living in Marlboro, New York, James Morrison has been a resident of the Hudson Valley for over 35 years. After graduating from the State University College at Oswego with a degree in biology, Jim’s career as an environmental scientist has spanned 36 years. During those 36 years, he has been actively involved with managing environmental studies on the waterways of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, including studies on the Hudson River, New York/New Jersey Harbors, the East River, the Connecticut River, and Long Island Sound.
email: James.Morrison@hdrinc.com

Joe Bridges is the Senior Biologist for Matthew D. Rudikoff Associates, Inc., an environmental planning and consulting firm in Beacon, NY. Joe is responsible for all aspects of natural resources research and report writing for the firm. He conducts potential site development impact analyses for many types of projects and makes recommendations for appropriate mitigation. Joe has taught botany at the Institute for Ecosystem Studies and leads workshops on various aspects of wetland identification/documentation, invasive species and other topics dealing with ecological communities and their attendant flora and fauna. Joe has served as the Coordinator of Environmental Education for the New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY; as Director of the Weis Ecology Center, Ringwood, NJ; and as Director of the New York Botanical Garden – National Park Service Cooperative Research Unit for the northeast coastal region. For more than 20 years he has taught biology courses at several colleges and universities. He holds a B.A. in Biology from Boston University, a M.Ed in Secondary Education from Springfield College and a Ph.D. from Columbia University.

William Dey is vice president and senior environmental scientist with ASA Analysis & Communication, Inc., an environmental consulting company headquartered in Washingtonville, NY. Mr. Dey has more than 35 years of experience in the assessment of environmental impacts in aquatic systems, much of which was focused on the Hudson River Estuary. Over this time, he has directed or participated in many state-of-the-art aquatic monitoring and impact assessment studies throughout the United States.

Cornelia Harris has been an Ecology Educator at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies since 2006, designing and implementing a new high school, place-based curriculum focused on the Hudson River. Ms. Harris received a BA in Biology from Vassar College in 2000, and then taught middle school science in Baltimore, MD with Teach for America. She received her MA in Teaching from Johns Hopkins University, and spent several years abroad teaching in a variety of countries, from Japan to Kenya to Germany. She is currently working towards an MS in Biodiversity, Conservation, and Policy from the State University of New York at Albany.

Robert Henshaw has been a member of the HRES Board of Directors for more than thirty years, servicing as President, Secretary, and member of the Executive Committee, and chaired Program and Awards committees. Bob completed 20 years with NYS DEC as an Environmental Analyst. He was the state Technical Representative for the power plant cooling tower case which ended in 1980 with an historic negotiated settlement among nine utilities, the state, and the federal government. Bob taught environmental analysis as an Adjunct Professor at SUNY Albany in the Department of Geography and Planning and at Bard College. He received his Ph.D. in environmental physiology at the University of Iowa.

Leo J. Hetling spent most of his career in government. He worked in a number of management, technical and research positions with the US Public Health Service, NYS Dept. of Health, Federal Water Pollution Control Administration, and NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation. He retired from government in 1991 as Director, Division of Environmental Protection, NYS Department of Health. In that position he developed and implemented technical and management policies in water supply, community sanitation and environmental radiation. He had represented the Department on numerous inter and intra governmental committees, boards, task forces and commissions. Most notably he served on The New York State Hazardous Waste Treatment Facilities Task Force, the Long Island Regional Ashfill Board, the International Joint Commission on the Great Lakes Pollution from Land Use Reference Group, the Hudson River PCB Advisory Committee, and the New York State Low Level Radioactive Siting Advisory Committee. He headed the New York State Drought Management Task Force and served as Chairman of the Mayor's Intergovernmental Task Force on New York City Water Supply Needs Watershed and Water Quality Subcommittee. He received a Bachelors degree in Civil Engineering from Manhattan College and a masters and doctorate in environmental engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and is a Registered Professional Engineer in New York State.

Roy Jacobson (a.k.a. JR) is currently the Head of the Landscape Conservation Section for the Division of Fish, Wildlife, and Marine Resources within the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The Landscape Conservation Section is responsible for programmatic oversight of the freshwater wetlands and protection of waters regulatory programs, watershed conservation program, and the New York Natural Heritage Program. He has been with DEC for more than 17 years and held positions in DEC's regional and central offices before taking his current position in 2007. JR has a Bachelor of Science from SUNY, College of Environmental Science and Forestry and a Master of Science from Texas A&M University.

William Charles (Chuck) Nieder has been a biologist for NYSDEC since 1991 and has focused his career on aquatic resource assessment and protection. He currently works in the Bureau of Habitat in Albany conducting aquatic resource reviews for industrial facilities (steam electric power and manufacturing) operating once-through cooling systems in New York State. The primary objective of this work is to minimize the adverse impacts on aquatic resources caused by industry’s use of New York State waters for industrial cooling. Prior to holding this position, Mr. Nieder held the research coordinator position at the NYSDEC Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve for 16 years where he primarily worked on aquatic habitat inventory, change and ecological assessment. He developed and managed research and monitoring programs for the Reserve and managed several long-term research and monitoring programs on the Hudson River estuary including the Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) Project and an inventory and change analysis of the Reserve’s tidal wetlands. Mr. Nieder served on the Executive Board of the National Estuarine Research Reserve Association from 2001-2005 as Vice-President and President; co-managed the Polgar Fellowship Program with the Hudson River Foundation (1993-2007); and was the Tidal Wetland Specialist for Region 3 of the NYSDEC (1991-2007). Mr. Nieder has authored and co-authored several journal papers on Hudson River estuarine ecology and holds an M.S. in Ecology from Rutgers University.

Kathryn Schneider is a Hudson Valley native, who has spent most of her professional life working in conservation and teaching. She completed BA, MA and PhD degrees in ecology and population biology at Cornell and Princeton Universities. From 1979 to 1985 she taught zoology, animal behavior and ecology at the University of Richmond and continued to do research and publish papers in ornithology. In 1986 she moved back to Columbia County and became Director/zoologist of the New York Natural Heritage Program, a joint project of New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and The Nature Conservancy. She left the program in 2000 to work as an environmental consultant. In fall of 2003 she joined the faculty at Hudson Valley Community College, where she teaches classes in introductory and environmental biology. When not teaching she continues to pursue her research interests in birds and invertebrates as a part of her consulting business.

Karl Schoeberl is currently Director of Environmental Affairs at Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation. Karl has enjoyed his career as an environmental professional for 22 years. He has been at Central Hudson for 17 years and previously worked in environmental consulting. He received an AAS in Fisheries & Wildlife Technology from SUNY Cobleskill, a BS in Natural Resources from Cornell University and recently earned an MA in Biology at SUNY New Paltz. Karl is a native New Yorker, now settled in the Hudson Valley where he enjoys hunting, fishing, hiking, camping and watching his kids play sports. He is married and has two wonderful boys who make sure he stays on the go!

William Schuster has been Executive Director of the Black Rock Forest Consortium since 1992 with appointments as Senior Adjunct Research Scientist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and as Adjunct Research Scientist at the Center for Environmental Research and Conservation at Columbia University. His prior work experience included park management, environmental protection, forestry, and teaching. He holds a BA from Columbia University, a MS from Pennsylvania State University, a PhD from University of Colorado and postdoctoral training at University of Utah. He is a forest ecologist and oversees the research, education, and conservation programs of the Black Rock Forest Consortium, based at the 1600-hectare Black Rock Forest field station in southeastern New York State. His research interests are in ecology, ecosystem management, and environmental change, on which topics he has authored or co-authored 50+ research publications, and he teaches a variety of classes in forest ecology and environmental science.

Bill Shaw received a Ph.D from SUNY Binghamton in 1978. He was employed for 30 years in the Science Division at Sullivan County Community College where he taught a variety of biology and environmental science courses. He also spent two years in the Environmental Science Department at Marist College and two years as an environmental reviewer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He has recently concluded a long term study of the effects of acidification on zooplankton in Adirondack lakes and was Visiting Scientist at the Institute of Ecosystem Studies studying the phytofauna of macrophyte beds in the Hudson River. Bill has been a member of the HRES Board of Directors since 2001, serving as the Chairman of the Nominations Committee and currently completed his 3rd term as President.

Mark Vian has worked as a restoration ecologist for the NYCDEP Stream Management Program since 1995, where he helps coordinate community-based watershed plans, geomorphically-based stream restorations, and research and educational programs on water resources issues. Before coming to DEP, he worked as a research associate with the Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve, and with NGOs facilitating community-based natural resource management and development in Africa and Latin America. He has served on the board of HRES since 2007, and currently chairs the Program Committee.


	about HRES calendar & events publications board members join now resources HRES EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Stephen O. Wilson HRES BOARD MEMBERS President Lucy Johnson is Professor of Anthropology at Vassar College. As an Anthropologist/archaeologist, she focuses in the prehistory of the Aleutian Islands, Alaska and in prehistoric and historic sites in the mid-Hudson Valley, New York with topical interest in the prehistoric interaction of people and their environments. Dr. Johnson is Secretary of the Board of Directors, Poughkeepsie Day School; Vice-Chair of the Steering Committee, Environmental Consortium of Hudson Valley Colleges and Universities; and a founding member and President of the Board of IDEA, the Independent Dutchess Energy Alliance. Vice President Robert A. Daniels is Curator of Ichthyology at the New York State Museum and Assistant Director of Research and Collections. He received an AB in Zoology from UCLA and a MS and PhD in Ecology at UC, Davis. His research deals with fish-habitat relationships and fish zoogeography and distribution. He is particularly interested in the ecology of endangered species. He also monitors changes in the distribution of crayfishes in New York. Additional information and a list of publications can be found at: http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/research/labs/ichthyology/index.html Secretary Liesl Hotaling is the Chief Education Officer for The Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries in Beacon, New York. She holds a B.A. in Marine Science, a M.A.T. in Science Teaching, and a M.S. in Maritime Systems (ocean engineering). She is a partner in Centers for Ocean Science Education Excellence - Networked Ocean World (COSEE-NOW) and specializes in real time data and hands-on STEM educational projects supporting environmental observing networks. http://www.thebeaconinstitute.org/institute/hotaling.php Treasurer James Morrison is a vice president with HDR Engineering, Inc, an environmental science and engineering consulting company based in Pearl River, New York. Living in Marlboro, New York, James Morrison has been a resident of the Hudson Valley for over 35 years. After graduating from the State University College at Oswego with a degree in biology, Jim’s career as an environmental scientist has spanned 36 years. During those 36 years, he has been actively involved with managing environmental studies on the waterways of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, including studies on the Hudson River, New York/New Jersey Harbors, the East River, the Connecticut River, and Long Island Sound. email: James.Morrison@hdrinc.com Joe Bridges is the Senior Biologist for Matthew D. Rudikoff Associates, Inc., an environmental planning and consulting firm in Beacon, NY. Joe is responsible for all aspects of natural resources research and report writing for the firm. He conducts potential site development impact analyses for many types of projects and makes recommendations for appropriate mitigation. Joe has taught botany at the Institute for Ecosystem Studies and leads workshops on various aspects of wetland identification/documentation, invasive species and other topics dealing with ecological communities and their attendant flora and fauna. Joe has served as the Coordinator of Environmental Education for the New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY; as Director of the Weis Ecology Center, Ringwood, NJ; and as Director of the New York Botanical Garden – National Park Service Cooperative Research Unit for the northeast coastal region. For more than 20 years he has taught biology courses at several colleges and universities. He holds a B.A. in Biology from Boston University, a M.Ed in Secondary Education from Springfield College and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. William Dey is vice president and senior environmental scientist with ASA Analysis & Communication, Inc., an environmental consulting company headquartered in Washingtonville, NY. Mr. Dey has more than 35 years of experience in the assessment of environmental impacts in aquatic systems, much of which was focused on the Hudson River Estuary. Over this time, he has directed or participated in many state-of-the-art aquatic monitoring and impact assessment studies throughout the United States. Cornelia Harris has been an Ecology Educator at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies since 2006, designing and implementing a new high school, place-based curriculum focused on the Hudson River. Ms. Harris received a BA in Biology from Vassar College in 2000, and then taught middle school science in Baltimore, MD with Teach for America. She received her MA in Teaching from Johns Hopkins University, and spent several years abroad teaching in a variety of countries, from Japan to Kenya to Germany. She is currently working towards an MS in Biodiversity, Conservation, and Policy from the State University of New York at Albany. Robert Henshaw has been a member of the HRES Board of Directors for more than thirty years, servicing as President, Secretary, and member of the Executive Committee, and chaired Program and Awards committees. Bob completed 20 years with NYS DEC as an Environmental Analyst. He was the state Technical Representative for the power plant cooling tower case which ended in 1980 with an historic negotiated settlement among nine utilities, the state, and the federal government. Bob taught environmental analysis as an Adjunct Professor at SUNY Albany in the Department of Geography and Planning and at Bard College. He received his Ph.D. in environmental physiology at the University of Iowa. Leo J. Hetling spent most of his career in government. He worked in a number of management, technical and research positions with the US Public Health Service, NYS Dept. of Health, Federal Water Pollution Control Administration, and NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation. He retired from government in 1991 as Director, Division of Environmental Protection, NYS Department of Health. In that position he developed and implemented technical and management policies in water supply, community sanitation and environmental radiation. He had represented the Department on numerous inter and intra governmental committees, boards, task forces and commissions. Most notably he served on The New York State Hazardous Waste Treatment Facilities Task Force, the Long Island Regional Ashfill Board, the International Joint Commission on the Great Lakes Pollution from Land Use Reference Group, the Hudson River PCB Advisory Committee, and the New York State Low Level Radioactive Siting Advisory Committee. He headed the New York State Drought Management Task Force and served as Chairman of the Mayor's Intergovernmental Task Force on New York City Water Supply Needs Watershed and Water Quality Subcommittee. He received a Bachelors degree in Civil Engineering from Manhattan College and a masters and doctorate in environmental engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and is a Registered Professional Engineer in New York State. Roy Jacobson (a.k.a. JR) is currently the Head of the Landscape Conservation Section for the Division of Fish, Wildlife, and Marine Resources within the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The Landscape Conservation Section is responsible for programmatic oversight of the freshwater wetlands and protection of waters regulatory programs, watershed conservation program, and the New York Natural Heritage Program. He has been with DEC for more than 17 years and held positions in DEC's regional and central offices before taking his current position in 2007. JR has a Bachelor of Science from SUNY, College of Environmental Science and Forestry and a Master of Science from Texas A&M University. William Charles (Chuck) Nieder has been a biologist for NYSDEC since 1991 and has focused his career on aquatic resource assessment and protection. He currently works in the Bureau of Habitat in Albany conducting aquatic resource reviews for industrial facilities (steam electric power and manufacturing) operating once-through cooling systems in New York State. The primary objective of this work is to minimize the adverse impacts on aquatic resources caused by industry’s use of New York State waters for industrial cooling. Prior to holding this position, Mr. Nieder held the research coordinator position at the NYSDEC Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve for 16 years where he primarily worked on aquatic habitat inventory, change and ecological assessment. He developed and managed research and monitoring programs for the Reserve and managed several long-term research and monitoring programs on the Hudson River estuary including the Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) Project and an inventory and change analysis of the Reserve’s tidal wetlands. Mr. Nieder served on the Executive Board of the National Estuarine Research Reserve Association from 2001-2005 as Vice-President and President; co-managed the Polgar Fellowship Program with the Hudson River Foundation (1993-2007); and was the Tidal Wetland Specialist for Region 3 of the NYSDEC (1991-2007). Mr. Nieder has authored and co-authored several journal papers on Hudson River estuarine ecology and holds an M.S. in Ecology from Rutgers University. Kathryn Schneider is a Hudson Valley native, who has spent most of her professional life working in conservation and teaching. She completed BA, MA and PhD degrees in ecology and population biology at Cornell and Princeton Universities. From 1979 to 1985 she taught zoology, animal behavior and ecology at the University of Richmond and continued to do research and publish papers in ornithology. In 1986 she moved back to Columbia County and became Director/zoologist of the New York Natural Heritage Program, a joint project of New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and The Nature Conservancy. She left the program in 2000 to work as an environmental consultant. In fall of 2003 she joined the faculty at Hudson Valley Community College, where she teaches classes in introductory and environmental biology. When not teaching she continues to pursue her research interests in birds and invertebrates as a part of her consulting business. Karl Schoeberl is currently Director of Environmental Affairs at Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation. Karl has enjoyed his career as an environmental professional for 22 years. He has been at Central Hudson for 17 years and previously worked in environmental consulting. He received an AAS in Fisheries & Wildlife Technology from SUNY Cobleskill, a BS in Natural Resources from Cornell University and recently earned an MA in Biology at SUNY New Paltz. Karl is a native New Yorker, now settled in the Hudson Valley where he enjoys hunting, fishing, hiking, camping and watching his kids play sports. He is married and has two wonderful boys who make sure he stays on the go! William Schuster has been Executive Director of the Black Rock Forest Consortium since 1992 with appointments as Senior Adjunct Research Scientist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and as Adjunct Research Scientist at the Center for Environmental Research and Conservation at Columbia University. His prior work experience included park management, environmental protection, forestry, and teaching. He holds a BA from Columbia University, a MS from Pennsylvania State University, a PhD from University of Colorado and postdoctoral training at University of Utah. He is a forest ecologist and oversees the research, education, and conservation programs of the Black Rock Forest Consortium, based at the 1600-hectare Black Rock Forest field station in southeastern New York State. His research interests are in ecology, ecosystem management, and environmental change, on which topics he has authored or co-authored 50+ research publications, and he teaches a variety of classes in forest ecology and environmental science. Bill Shaw received a Ph.D from SUNY Binghamton in 1978. He was employed for 30 years in the Science Division at Sullivan County Community College where he taught a variety of biology and environmental science courses. He also spent two years in the Environmental Science Department at Marist College and two years as an environmental reviewer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He has recently concluded a long term study of the effects of acidification on zooplankton in Adirondack lakes and was Visiting Scientist at the Institute of Ecosystem Studies studying the phytofauna of macrophyte beds in the Hudson River. Bill has been a member of the HRES Board of Directors since 2001, serving as the Chairman of the Nominations Committee and currently completed his 3rd term as President. Mark Vian has worked as a restoration ecologist for the NYCDEP Stream Management Program since 1995, where he helps coordinate community-based watershed plans, geomorphically-based stream restorations, and research and educational programs on water resources issues. Before coming to DEP, he worked as a research associate with the Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve, and with NGOs facilitating community-based natural resource management and development in Africa and Latin America. He has served on the board of HRES since 2007, and currently chairs the Program Committee.