Board of Directors

Ann M. Bartuska, Ph.D., Chair
Dr. Ann M. Bartuska was Deputy Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics, as well as chief scientist, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (retired). Prior to USDA, Dr. Bartuska held a host of leadership positions, including Deputy Chief for Research and Development of the U.S. Forest Service. She currently is a Senior Advisor with Resources for the Future and a Senior Contributing Scientist with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) where she focuses on forests and agriculture as natural climate solutions. Dr. Bartuska also serves on the Board of Environmental Science and Toxicology (BEST) and on the Standing Committee on Science Communication, both under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. She was previously the Executive Director of The Nature Conservancy’s Invasive Species Initiative and was president of the Ecological Society of America. She is an ecosystem ecologist with a Ph.D. from West Virginia University and her M.S. in botany from Ohio University.

Seema Jethani, Vice-chair
Seema Jethani is a Product Management leader in the tech industry who has worked with several organizations building products in the consumer and enterprise space. She lives in the Bay Area with her husband and two elementary school age kids with whom she has been actively working in the community on the climate crisis, through various initiatives such as volunteering with local environmental nonprofits, raising awareness regarding the climate crisis through social media and petitioning elected officials and business leaders on a variety of sustainability issues.

Erik Wohlgemuth, Secretary
Erik Wohlgemuth is Chief Operating Officer of Future 500, a non-profit consultancy that advances business as a force for good by building trust between companies, advocates, investors, and philanthropists. An innovative strategist and a thoughtful leader, Erik is academically trained on competitive corporate environmental strategies and has extensive private-sector and NGO experience. Erik has traveled extensively and is as comfortable in his old stomping grounds of Brooklyn as he is leading whitewater rafting trips. Erik earned an MBA from the Yale School of Management, a Master’s in Environmental Management from Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and a BA in History from Yale College. Beyond Future 500 and PFT, he serves as a West Coast Advisory Board member for the Yale School of Management and as the Pacific Northwest Chapter Co-Leader for Environmental Entrepreneurs. He also serves on the agenda committee for the Business and Environmental Conference. Erik lives with his family in Portland, Oregon, where each morning (even on school days) he whips up an impressive array of breakfast pastries from scratch.

Stuart Bewley, Treasurer
Mr. Bewley grew up in California’s Central Valley, where hard work and farming were a part of life. His name will be forever tied to the beverage that embodied The Beach. While in their twenties, he and his high school friend Michael Crete experimented with mixing wine and fruit juices. They ended up inventing the wine cooler, and the iconic California Cooler brand. Within four years, they went from selling cases out of the back of a pickup truck to a multi-million dollar business. When Mr. Bewley was in his early thirties, they sold California Cooler and he moved on to a new challenge. Going back to his farming roots, he immersed himself in the study of viticulture. His seven-year search for the perfect site ended with Alder Springs ranch. He bought Alder Springs ranch and broke ground in 1993, planting his first vineyard block. Today, Mr. Bewley meticulously thins his grapes with a “bonsai” method. While his yield-per-acre is significantly below the industry average, the resulting quality of the grapes is of the finest in California.

Constance Best, Co-founder
A conservationist, successful entrepreneur, and forest owner, Ms. Best is a recognized leader in advancing strategies that harness the power of commerce to accomplish conservation objectives. A winner of the EPA Climate Protection Award, she is the principal author of America’s Private Forests: Status and Stewardship and “Capital Markets and Sustainable Forestry: Opportunities for Investment.” She is a past board member of the American Forest Foundation, the Land Trust Alliance, and Ecotrust, among others. Prior to founding Pacific Forest Trust, Ms. Best founded and led the company that created America’s first all-natural soft drink, Soho Natural Soda (sold to Seagrams), revolutionizing the soda market.

The Reverend Canon Sally Grover Bingham
The Rev. Bingham, an Episcopal priest and the first Canon for the Environment in the Diocese of California, is one of the first faith leaders to focus on climate change as a moral issue. She is the founder and president of The Regeneration Project, whose Interfaith Power & Light (IPL) campaign includes a national network of over 10,000 congregations with affiliated programs in 38 states. IPL has brought widespread recognition to the link between faith and the environment and mobilized thousands to put their faith into action through energy stewardship and advocacy. The Rev. Bingham served on President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships and is a member of the Forum on Children and Nature. She presently serves on the board of directors of the Environmental Defense Fund, the Environmental Working Group, the U.S. Climate Action Network, and the national advisory board for the Union of Concerned Scientists. She has received honorary Doctorates of Divinity from the University of the South, The Church Divinity School of the Pacific, and the College of the Holy Cross. Rev. Bingham is also the lead author of Love God Heal Earth, a collection of essays on environmental stewardship.

Dan Dorosin
Dan Dorosin has been a partner at Fenwick & West LLP since 2001, where he works with high-growth startup companies and their investors to help them grow new entrepreneurial ventures from formation to exit.  Dan advises on a broad range of corporate transactional matters, including financings, strategic partnerships and mergers and acquisitions, as well as corporate governance matters.  Dan is a frequent lecturer on startup company formation and financing matters at the Stanford Engineering School and the Stanford d. School and serves on the Stanford Technology Ventures Program’s Board of Advisors and Climate and Sustainability Advisory Committee.  Dan has a life-long passion for the outdoors, is a two-time NOLS graduate and an avid cyclist.  Dan received his undergraduate degree in Economics from Stanford and his law degree from UCLA.  Dan and his wife Fern live in Palo Alto and have two grown children.

Jerry F. Franklin, Ph.D.
Dr. Jerry Franklin is a world-renowned forest ecologist who has been called “the father of new forestry.” He is a professor of ecosystem analysis in the College of Forest Resources at the University of Washington. A leading authority on sustainable forest management and the maintenance of healthy forest ecosystems, Dr. Franklin was responsible for integrating ecological and economic values into harvest strategies. The only forest ecologist in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Franklin has received the Heinz Award for the Environment, the Eminent Ecologist Award from the Ecological Society of America, the LaRoe Award from the Society for Conservation Biology, and the Pinchot Medallion from the Pinchot Institute for Conservation. In addition to his research and hundreds of published articles, he has served on numerous committees and working groups. A native of Oregon, Dr. Franklin received his B.S. and M.S. in Forest Management from Oregon State University and a Ph.D. in Botany and Soils from Washington State. His most recent book is Ecological Forest Management (Waveland Press).

Paul Henson, Ph.D.
Paul Henson comes from a 30-year career as a biologist and manager with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He served as State Supervisor of the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Office, overseeing implementation of the Endangered Species Act, Habitat Conservation Plans, and the Northwest Forest Plan. Paul previously served as Assistant Regional Director in Sacramento, supervising endangered species programs in California, Nevada, and the Klamath Basin; and Field Supervisor of the Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office in Hawaii, supervising endangered species programs throughout the U.S. Pacific territories. He also spent 15 years as a field biologist conducting research on marbled murrelets, sea otters, raptors, trumpeter swans and waterfowl. Throughout his career he has published scientific papers on wildlife, forestry, and ecology, numerous policy reports, and a book on natural history. Paul has a B.A. in Environmental Studies from UC Santa Cruz and a Ph.D. in Wildlife Biology from the University of Minnesota. He has been happily married for over 30 years and has two sons. Paul spends most of his time camping and fishing with friends and family, traveling, woodworking, and restoring vintage stereo equipment.

Andy Nordhoff
Andy Nordhoff leads communications and media relations for Columbia Sportswear where he helps people around the world spend more time outdoors. Early in his career, Andy lived in Alaska helping to protect old growth forests and later served as the editor of a book publisher that specialized in marine biology. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Bucknell University, and studied environmental ecology in Quito, Ecuador as part of his program. Andy received a master’s degree in Communications at Boston University and focused his thesis on key practices developed at top environmental organizations in Boston and London. He has led several outdoor excursions throughout South America and Europe, but his favorite destination is his home in Portland, Oregon where he can be found chasing family through the woods, with his dogs in tow.

Chris Smith
Chris Smith is a consulting partner in PwC’s Deals practice in the San Francisco Bay Area. Chris brings to PFT a strong business acumen as well as financial management and management consulting expertise. He spends most of his time working on M&A or capital-raising transactions in the technology sector and regularly connects with clients on ESG-related matters. Originally from London, Chris moved to the Bay Area over 20 years ago and now lives in the South Bay with his family. He enjoys spending time in the forests in and around Tahoe with his wife, three children and dog. Chris has been passionate about the environment, science and nature all his life and has supported a number of organizations in these areas for many years. As a board member with PFT, Chris works to help promote forest-led climate solutions.

Andrea Tuttle, Ph.D.
Dr. Tuttle is an accomplished leader in national and international forest and climate policy. Her work has inspired generations of foresters, students, and public servants to help ensure a more livable world with vibrant, resilient forests. She served as Director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection from March 1999 to June 2004. She also served as Chair of the California Fire Alliance, a member of the National Association of State Foresters, and a member of the Western States Forestry Leadership Coalition. Other service includes the California Coastal Commission and Northcoast Regional Water Quality Control Board. She previously served on the Pacific Forest Trust Board of Directors from 2004 to 2017, and as Chair from 2012 to 2017. Her education includes a B.A. in Biological Sciences and Ph.D. in Environmental Policy from UC Berkeley.

Sunny Virdi
Sunny Virdi is an accomplished technology leader who currently is a Senior Product Manager at Adobe. Over the past decade, Sunny has led a number of technology and business transformation initiatives at Autodesk and Adobe across a wide variety of business and technical domains. At the University of California, Davis, he studied Civil Engineering and earned his Engineer-in-Training certification from the Board for Professional Engineers in California. Sunny holds a BA in Economics from California State University, Sacramento in addition to certifications in business analysis, product management and agile software development methodologies. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Sunny has been a proud California native his entire life. Sunny now resides in San Jose where he enjoys the golf friendly weather of Silicon Valley nearly all year.

Laurie A. Wayburn, Co-founder and President
Ms. Wayburn is an accomplished forest and conservation innovator who advises policymakers at the state, regional, national, and international levels. She pioneers new approaches to develop sustainable resource economies using her deep experience in the fields of conservation, ecosystem services, and sustainability. A preeminent authority on the climate and ecosystem benefits of forests, she leads efforts enacting climate change policies that unite conservation and sustainable management with market-based approaches. She has received several highly prestigious honors bestowed for her leadership and is a frequent speaker, writer, and media commentator on working forest conservation.

Prior to co-founding Pacific Forest Trust with Constance Best in 1993, Ms. Wayburn worked internationally for 10 years in the United Nations Environment Program and Ecological Sciences Division of UNESCO. She later served as Executive Director of the Point Reyes Bird Observatory and was the Founder and first Coordinator of the Central California Coast Biosphere Reserve. Ms. Wayburn is a graduate of Harvard University and currently serves on the Northwest BioCarbon Initiative Steering Committee, the American Forest Policy Steering Committee, and the Land Trust Alliance Advisory Council.