Joe leads the Center’s forest economy and regional strategy program areas and serves as member of the Center’s management team. He first came to the Center in 2003 as a Doris Duke Conservation Fellow, and then joined the staff full-time in 2004.

He has combined his systems thinking, facilitation and project management expertise to lead numerous regional initiatives for the Center, including the Sustainable Economy Initiative (2006-2008), Northern Forest Investment Zone (2009-2014), the development of the Northern Border Regional Commission’s first strategic plan (2015-2016), the Future Forest Economy Initiative (2019-2023), and the Coalition of Northern Forest Innovation and Research (2023-present). Collectively these efforts have secured and guided the investment of tens of millions of dollars in rural economic development in the Northern Forest.

Earlier in his career Joe worked for The Nature Conservancy, first in Nebraska and then in northern California. He has an M.S. in Resource Ecology and Management from the University of Michigan and a BA in Biology from Carleton College. Joe and his wife and two daughters live in Concord NH, where they spend as much time as possible outside in all seasons. Joe also performs with local choral and musical theater groups.