Dr. Jim Bowyer, Director of Responsible Materials Program

Dr. Jim Bowyer is professor emeritus, University of Minnesota Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering. He is an Elected Fellow of the International Academy of Wood Science; President of Bowyer and Associates, Inc. – a wood science and bioenergy consulting firm; Member of the Governance Board and Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Temperate Forest Foundation (Portland, Oregon); and a Member of the Blandin Foundation Vital Forests/Vital Communities Board of Advisors. Bowyer has served as President of the Forest Products Society (1993-94) and of the Society of Wood Science and Technology (1987-88), Vice President of the Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials (1992-2003), and Chairman of the Tropical Forest Foundation (2002-2008). He was Head of the University of Minnesota's Department of Wood & Paper Science from 1984 to 1994, and Founder and Director of the Forest Products Management Development Institute at the University of Minnesota (an organization dedicated to education and development of industry professionals) from 1994-2003. He served as Project Leader of the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station project “Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Bio-based Materials and Products” from 1988 to 2003 and he also led a research team focused on global raw materials consumption and supply trends for more than 30 years. Dr. Bowyer earned a BS degree in forest management from Oklahoma State University (1964), a MS in forest products from Michigan State University (1966), and a PhD in wood science in technology from the University of Minnesota (1973). He has published widely on the topics of wood science and technology, environmental life cycle analysis, and relationships of wood and other raw materials use, forest policy, and environmental impacts. He is also coauthor of the leading introductory wood science textbook in North America Forest Products and Wood Science – an Introduction , now in its 5th edition, and of the widely used CD-ROM The Nature of Wood and Wood Products.

Steve Bratkovich, Project Manager for Recycling & Reuse

Steve Bratkovich, Ph.D., has 36 years of forestry and forest products experience. His areas of expertise include urban wood utilization; business, marketing and strategic planning; primary and secondary wood processing; and sustainable forest management. Steve has authored over 175 forestry-related publications, articles and reports, and is a frequent contributor to forestry and industry trade journals. He currently serves as an Associate Editor to the Journal of Forestry and is Contributing Writer for Independent Sawmill and Woodlot Management magazine's “Green Column.” In 2002 Steve received the Excellence in Technology Transfer award from the Chief of the USDA Forest Service. Steve has also received outstanding service awards from the Ohio and Minnesota Society of American Foresters. Steve is a self-employed forestry consultant and frequently speaks across the country on urban wood use topics.

Dr. Sarah Stai, Associate Ecologist

Sarah has over 15 years of experience as a field biologist, research scientist, educator, and consultant.  She has worked in diverse landscapes, from the prairie potholes of Manitoba to the Brazilian Pantanal, and with wide-ranging subjects, including waterfowl and wading bird ecology, wetland buffer dynamics, aquatic plant ecology, and grassland and tropical forest biodiversity.  Upon transitioning from academia to consulting, Sarah applied her analytical and communications skills to environmental impact assessments, regulatory compliance, and sustainable development education programs involving innovative stormwater management, green building, and conservation design. Key project experience included analysis of wildlife impacts for proposed wind farms, watershed restoration and outreach planning, environmental review and permitting for biofuel production, and research and development of innovative treatment for industrial wastewater.  Current interests include land use, water resources, renewable energy, and sustainable agriculture.  Sarah is self-employed as a freelance writer and editor and an ecological and educational consultant. She earned a BS in Ecology from the University of Minnesota and a PhD in Ecology from the University of Miami. She is a Certified Ecologist with the Ecological Society of America and a LEED Accredited Professional through the U.S. Green Building Council.

Matt Frank, Program & Research Assistant

Matt has a background in environmental planning and design, working for companies in both the private and non-profit sectors. Matt holds a Bachelor of Environmental Design (BED), with a focus in landscape architecture and urban planning, and a minor in architecture from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Prior to working at Dovetail, Matt interned at U-Plan Community Planning Studio in St. Paul, MN researching transit-oriented developments and their growth in relationship to future Twin Cities' light rail lines. Matt then served as a design consultant for Metro Blooms, a Twin Cities based non-profit, teaching homeowners about the benefits of rain gardens and designing plans for individual’s properties. Matt has also volunteered for a non-profit named the Minnesota Design Team where he designed streetscape improvements and trail connections for Gaylord, Minnesota’s downtown economic improvement district. In 2011, Matt joined the Midtown Greenway Coalition as the Vice-Chair of their Greenspace Committee where he analyzes and maintains existing landscapes and plans for future plantings along a 5.5 mile long bicycle and pedestrian trail in Minneapolis. Matt’s interests include sustainable landscape practices, public transit, bicycle and pedestrian planning, landscape architecture, urban agriculture, and renewable energy. When not at Dovetail, Matt enjoys traveling, landscaping, and bicycling.

Jeffrey Bowyer obtained his BA in International Relations from the University of Minnesota, a degree program that included a year of study at Kansai Gaidai University in Osaka, Japan. After receiving his Master's in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina in 1995, Jeff served as a Local Development Planning Volunteer for the U.S. Peace Corps in the Philippines. He then traded his flip-flops for a suit and tie when he moved to Washington DC, where he worked for a number of consulting companies, including Development Alternatives and The Louis Berger Group. In 2000, he joined the US-Asia Environmental Partnership (US-AEP), a program funded by the US Agency for International Development. As their Regional Urban Program Advisor, he provided strategic direction and coordinated US-AEP's urban environmental initiatives. Three years later, he moved back to Asia as the Thailand Country Coordinator for US-AEP. In that capacity, he developed and managed projects in the areas of air quality, solid waste management, and watershed management. For the past three years, Mr. Bowyer has lived in Manila, where he lives with his wife and step-daughter. He has spent much of his time working with the Asian Development Bank conducting research and writing on various environmental issues, including energy efficiency and climate change. Most recently, he served as a lead consultant in writing a report titled Toward Resource-Efficient Economies for Asia and the Pacific, which reviews the economic and environmental consequences of resource inefficiency in Asia and a number of measures that can be taken to reverse current trends. To date he has spent over twelve years in the development field.