College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Department of Forestry

Jerry Gildemeister - BS ‘55

After serving two years in the 82nd Airborne and 3rd Army Special Services (1957-1959), I returned to the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest as Timber Management Supervisor on the Union Ranger District until 1972 when I resigned. However,  my interest in forestry did not end there, but evolved into a photographic, graphic designer, and book publisher career which included extensive involvement in forest and watershed research, documentation, and restoration projects. Over the past 60 years, I compiled an extensive photo archive of my work as well as a collection of historic photography  in and around Northeast Oregon.

Looking for a good home for my 50,000+ photo archive to be housed and the land resource-related portion to be used for current and future resource management and rehabilitation projects, I arranged with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Pendleton, Oregon to secure the photo archive and research/documentary material to aid in current and future land management and rehabilitation projects. I retained all rights to the photo archive until my death so that I can continue my photographic and multi-media career at my home-based business in La Grande, Oregon.

Steve Plevel | BS ‘60

Covid has altered our activities, limiting the places we go and the people we see. Our daughter has moved back to Tucson to pursue another Master’s degree so both our children and our only grand-daughter live here now. We get to seem them very often which helps keep us sane. I’m still doing a little consulting and getting out in the woods to help a local community with stewardship. I do get to the local SAF meetings, on Zoom, which keeps me in touch. We also have become pretty good at using the internet to “see” people and partake in educational activities.

James (Jim) Frederick | BS ‘65

I am a USAF Col. serving nearly 28 years. I did some forestry work at bases in NH, ND, and MI. I served as Chief of Environmental Quality at HQ Strategic Air Command (SAC) in the early 80’s, and attended National SAF meetings in Portland, OR and Seattle, WA.  I earned an MPA from U of OK in ‘85. I commanded the 410th Civil Engineering Squadron (CES) at KI Sawyer AFB, MI; 44th CES at Ellsworth AFB, SD; and the 93rd CES at March AFB, CA.  I served as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Engineering and Services, HQ, 15AF at March AFB, CA, and as the Deputy Engineer for the ROK/US Combined Forces Command in Seoul, South Korea.  After retiring from the AF, I served as the Director of Buildings & Grounds, and VP for Business Administration at Sauk Valley Community College, Dixon, IL.  Upon my retirement, my wife Linda and I returned to MI and live near Hastings, MI.

Terry Read | BS ‘66, MS ‘67

After 25 years with Forest Service and now 25 years as a private consultant in Iron River, MI, things are all good. I am still out in the woods almost every day helping small land owners manage their lands and becoming friends with most clients. We do take the month of June off and travel out west in our small camper to avoid the swarms of various species of bugs in the UP.  Stay away from the UP in June if you want to enjoy the woods.

John Hart | BS ‘74, MS ‘84

Enjoying retirement in WY & MS where I hunt & fish.

Greg Kudray | BS ’76, MS ‘79

My youth at MSU transitioned into several years of working for the Michigan DNR as a Park Ranger and Forester in the Upper Peninsula. In my mid-thirties, I returned to school for a Ph.D. in Forestry, specializing in Wetland Ecology. I graduated from Michigan Technological University in 1999, including a few years there as a Research Scientist administrating a large ecosystem mapping and inventory program for the Hiawatha National Forest (NF) based on my dissertation research. Our hardy crew mapped 300,000 acres and created an extensive database of 4,000 plots containing detailed soil, vegetation, and water chemistry data.

I joined the Montana Natural Heritage Program in 2002 as the Senior Ecologist. Projects in Montana’s prairie, forest and wetlands followed over the next few years, but agencies badly needed accurate maps of wetlands and riparian areas. With the EPA and other partners, I began the Montana Wetland/Riparian Mapping Center to map wetlands and riparian areas to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service standards. This effort completed the National Wetland Inventory in Montana.

Heading even further west, I moved to Hawaii in 2008 to lead the National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring Program for the eleven parks of the Pacific Island Network in Hawaii, Guam, and American Samoa. Our team of ecologists analyzed the health of ecological indicators of marine and terrestrial resources.

Retirement in 2014 gave me the time to publish two books between snorkeling and hiking trips. I wanted to honor the wonderful man who led me into my outdoor career, based on the 270 WWII letters he sent home to his mother. My field guide to ecosystem types of the Hiawatha NF saw release in 2019. Both are available on Amazon. I continue to live on the Big Island of Hawaii, but enjoy returning to Michigan whenever possible.

Tom Fedewa | BS ‘78

In the summer of 2020, while the country was shut down, Tom made plans to bike across the US. He shipped his bike to Spokane, WA and drove his car to his family homestead in Michigan where his 2300-mile, 29-day big summer adventure would commence. Tom’s journey took him through gorgeous places like a glacier lake in Idaho and Montana, ascended “going to the sun road” in glacier national park, prairie regions in North Dakota, and beautiful campsites on Lake Superior. Although he did encounter some challenges on the road, Tom safely completed his journey and arrived to his family’s homestead near the Mackinaw Bridge.

Kevin Lawrence | MS ‘78

After graduation from MSU I went to work with the U.S. Forest Service. The first 12 years of my career was spent as a field-oriented Forester in West Virginia, New Hampshire, and the U.P.  The next 15 years was as a Strategic Planner and Environmental Coordinator in Kentucky.  And the last 10 years was at the National Headquarters in the shadow of the Washington Monument, working on judicial and administrative reviews and drafting federal regulations. I consider that the full gamut in a 37 year career. And now my wife and I are happily retired in coastal Delaware with fond memories of my time at MSU and all the stops between there and here.

David Bozaan | BS ‘81, MS ‘83

I graduated from MSU with a BS in Forestry (1981) and MS in Forest Products (1983) and loved every minute of my time there. Though I wasn’t able to land a job in Forestry, I’ve had a great career as Director of Environment, Health, Safety & Sustainability for several companies, with the past seven  years at Fortive Corporation, a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle. My wife of 36 years, Maria, works as Regional Director of HR Americas with an Icelandic-based company, Marel, that produces meat, poultry and fish processing equipment. In May 2020, Maria returned from an assignment in Copenhagen, Denmark two years early from a three-year role due to COVID-19. Until this year, both of us traveled extensively for work in the U.S. and internationally. After living overseas and a few other places in the U.S., we have settled in Iowa for over 20 of those years. During our marriage, we have been fortunate enough to raise three wonderful daughters who are all grown and out of the house, with careers of their own.

Kimberly Sue Tomblinson Ramm Potter | BS ‘81, MS ‘83

I received my BS in Forestry in ‘81 and my MS/MBA in Forest Management and Finance in ’83. I have never had the opportunity to work in a forestry related profession.  I have however, due to my MBA, had the opportunity to work for General Motors, Electronic Data Systems, the State of Michigan as a Financial Systems Consultant, the MSU Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory and currently as the Business Operations Director for the Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory at the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine in Ithaca,  New York.  Not certain how I drifted from trees to animals but it has all worked out well!  Both kids are doing well – Calum as an analyst for the Department of Justice in Dallas and Meg as a comic book illustrator and teacher in San Francisco.

Kellogg Biological Station and timber cruising are just a fond memory now. I don’t miss the Deet or the bugs or being teased about the fact that diameter at breast height on me was actually level with my nose. I do spend time every week running on forested trails here in the beautiful Finger Lakes, and I plant trees everywhere I can.  Hello to the rest of the class of ’81 and the first MBA graduating class!

George Host |  PhD ‘87

I recently retired from the University of Minnesota – Duluth’s Natural Resources Research Institute, where I served as Research Director for the Forest and Wildlife Research Group. My primary research focused on conducting spatial analyses using LiDAR, aerial and satellite imagery to characterize Minnesota’s native plant communities and wildlife habitat. Our research group addressed many contemporary forest issues such as age-class imbalance, fragmentation, invasive species, and land-water interactions. I also contributed to an internationally-known research team that developed genetically-advanced hybrid poplars for renewable energy. Outside of science, I am an avid curler, geocacher, and gardener and have become marginally to reasonably decent at all of these.

Jim Malloy | BS ‘05

After 12 years with the DNR I left state government for a job with private industry. I have been with Weyerhaeuser for the past three years and was recently promoted to the role of Raw Materials Manager for the Grayling OSB Mill.  Currently enjoying life in Northern Michigan with my wife and two daughters.

James Gray | MS ‘08

James recently founded Natural Capital Forestry, LLC, an East Lansing-based consulting forestry company covering much of the Southern LP. Just before Covid-19, James joined Dr. Runsheng Yin at a conference in Beijing to share Michigan forestry experiences with Chinese students, scholars & policymakers. Before hanging out his shingle, James worked on two international initiatives at MSU: first on Dr. David Skole’s USAID-funded REDD+ projects and later on a MasterCard Foundation-funded project in Africa.

Louren Escamilla | BS ‘19

I am a recent graduate of Michigan State’s Department of Forestry. I was hired three weeks after graduation to a full time permanent position with the U.S. Forest Service out on the Black Hills National Forest in South Dakota through the SAF recent graduate program. 

I had the privilege of working for the U.S. Forest Service previously in Colorado in 2019 and then in the U.P. in 2017 and 2018, seasonally. My best piece of advice would have to be don’t be afraid to try something new and to work at a place outside of your comfort zone. It may just provide a life-changing experience and also most importantly, the field of forestry is changing more and more since the older generation is getting out and younger individuals are moving in to fill the ranks. As a result, the field is slowly becoming more diverse. 

Whatever you end up doing after MSU Forestry, make sure you are doing it as your authentic self and you will have a solid foundation moving forward in your career.