Staff

Jeff Howe, President

Kathryn Fernholz, Executive Director

Jim Bowyer, Director of Responsible Materials Program

Steve Bratkovich, Project Manager for Recycling & Reuse

Janet Bratkovich, Director of Environmental Education

Sarah Stai, Associate Ecologist

Matt Frank, Program Assistant

Adam Birr, Project Assistant

Don Heise, Project Manager

Jeff Bowyer, Associate

Interns

Jennifer Garman, Green Building

Anna Boykis, Communications

David Werley, Policy

Ben Kaldunski, Green Building and Responsible Materials

Carrie Kothlow, Green Building

Megan Glaeser, Green Buiding and Certification

Michelle Duffy, Green Building

Board of Directors

Jeffrey Howe, Ph.D., Chairman of Dovetail Partners, CEO of Fullerton Companies

Brian Adams, Senior Vice President, Bremer Bank

James Bowyer, Ph.D., Bio-products and Environmental Consultant

Kim Carlson, Founder, EarthSmart LLC

Edwin Chanin, Attorney, Maslon Edelman Borman & Brand

Jill Koosmann, CEO, HRK Group, Inc.

Board of Advisors

William Banzhaf, Former President, Sustainable Forestry Board, Retired

Paul DeLong, Wisconsin State Forester, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry

R. Philip Guillery, Forestry Consultant

Reginaldo Hasslett-Marroquin, Director, Rural Enterprise Center

Don Heise, Architectural Wood Specialties
Robert Hrubes, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Scientific Certification Systems, Forest Conservation Program
Douglas MacCleery, Senior Policy Analyst, Forest Management Division, National Forest System, Washington, D.C.
Patrick O'Brien, Organizational Development Consultant

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Jeff Howe is the founder of Dovetail Partners, an internationally recognized not-for-profit organization recognized as the premier “think tank” focused on developing creative solutions to topical strategic issues critical to the forestry and forest products sector.  Dr. Howe is also co-author of the extremely popular "Planning Guide for Small and Medium Size Wood Products Companies, and is an expert on creating Learning Organizations and on implementing organizational change. Dr. Howe has over 40 years successful experience in the forest products industry including time as the President and COO of Colonial Craft, a large specialty wood products manufacturer, and more recently as CEO of Fullerton Companies. Companies under Jeff’s guidance have been recognized annually by Wood & Wood Products magazine as among the 100 fastest growing companies in the U.S. and received awards such as MN Handicapped employer of the year and WI Environmental Company of the year. Colonial Craft was also twice a Midwest finalist in the prestigious Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Dr. Howe brings both theory and practice to strategic business discussions, particularly in the identification and development of marketing strategies for the forest product industry and in Green Marketing. Dr. Howe has a B.S. degree in Biology from Bates College, a M.S. degree in Forest Products Marketing from the University of Maine, and a PhD in Marketing from the University of Minnesota.

Kathryn Fernholz, Executive Director

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 34 years of forestry and forest products experience. His areas of expertise include business, marketing and strategic planning; urban wood utilization; primary and secondary wood processing; and sustainable forest management. Steve has authored over 150 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 Managing Editor 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 an Adjunct Associate Professor with the University of Minnesota's Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering.

Janet Bratkovich, Director of Environmental Education

Janet has 30+ years of experience in elementary education and adult learning in New Hampshire, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Ohio and Minnesota.  Most recently she was employed by the Anoka-Hennepin School District (Minnesota) as a 4th grade teacher specializing in science and mathematics.  As a Math-Science Teacher Leader (MSTL) Janet collaborated with eductors and administrators to align instructional materials and methods to Minnesota Department of Education state standards.  Inquiry-based instruction was a focus of both her classroom and committee work.  Janet also has worked for the Minnesota History Center as a school programs facilitator and instructor and as a County Extension Educator (4-H) for the University of Minnesota.  Volunteer activities include Literacy Training and Teaching and coordinating adult volunteers to enrich reading and high-potential school programs.  Janet's hobbies include gardening and cooking which led to publication of her specialty mushroom cookbook, "Shittake Sampler". Janet has a B.A. in Elementary Education from the University of New Hampshire and a M.Ed. in Reading from Northeastern Oklahoma State University.

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 Assistant
Matt has a background in environmental planning and design, working for companies in the private and non-profit sectors. Matt has a Bachelor of Environmental Design, with a focus on 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 doing research on transit-oriented developments and their growth in relationship to future light rail lines in the Twin Cities. Matt then served as a design consultant for Metro Blooms, a Twin Cities based non-profit group, teaching homeowners about the benefits of rain gardens and designing plans for individual’s properties. Matt has also volunteered for a non-profit group named the Minnesota Design Team where he designed streetscape improvements for Gaylord, Minnesota’s downtown economic district. Matt’s interests include sustainable landscape practices, public transit planning, urban public space planning and design, and alternative energy. When not at Dovetail, Matt enjoys drumming, traveling, landscaping and bicycling.

Don Heise, Project Manager, Board of Advisors