College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Department of Forestry

Ken Guenther | BS ‘50, MS ‘50

I met with Rich Kobe and Lauren Cooper of the Forestry department and toured Doug Fir and Redwood stands. Two redwoods I planted 50 years ago are now 45 inches DBH. I am developing a five acre tract in Portland for 20 home condos. I tally and locate every tree 6 inches plus DBH. Up in British Columbia on a small boat. Princess Louisa inlet is magnificent. Come on out to the Northwest, it’s outstanding. Let me know when you will be here.

JERRY Gildemeister | BS ‘55

After working in timber management on the Wallowa-Whitman NF in Northeast Oregon from 1955 through 1972, my forestry profession morphed into a full-time career of commercial photography, graphic design, and book publishing; however, much of my work continued in the natural resources field with numerous photographic, research, documentation, and watershed habitat restoration projects.

Currently, I am in the process of transferring the best of my 60+ year photo archive into digital format, and then seeking a proper ‘home’ for the archive to be available for use to future generations.

BOB GOODMAN | BS ‘58

Following the first Foresters Conclave, I submitted photographs and a story for the (I believe) first Forestry Newsletter in 1955.  This is a milestone, as since then I have continually been published in the entire spectrum of the publishing world, as magazines, books, posters, calendars, and whatever.

I still do so, and for some 57 years have been a presenter for a variety of audiences, all dealing with the subjects of our natural world.  These include library systems, community colleges, universities, professional organizations, and many non-profits.

This update is to include my recently receiving an Outstanding Teacher of Nature Subjects for the past ten years by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in Reno. My equipment has changed over the years, but not the lessons I learned through the Forestry Department.

DION DISHONG | BS ‘61

I have turned 80 so now it is the easy life. I watch the forests burn on TV news. I don’t concern myself with the call in the middle of the night to go fight a wildfire.

JERRY GELOCK | BS ‘62

Still living in Bakersfield, CA, with my wife LouAn, after retiring after almost 50 years in work force of several kinds, including the U.S. Forest Service, County Parks, small business and full time volunteer work. We are both in reasonably good health, and enjoying watching five grandchildren and six great grandchildren grow up. Unfortunately, our families are widespread and we don’t get to visit them as often as we would like. Keep close track of what’s happening with MSU, often reflecting on what a great university experience I had there. Go Spartans!

PATRICK M. TRACY | BS ‘70

I currently am retired as of 2016, for a second time and this is my final professional classification. At age 71, it’s time to hang up the old climbing spurs.

My forestry employment career has lasted from 1971 to 2016. I studied urban forestry under Jim Kielbaso of the MSU Forestry Department and did some graduate work under Dr. Kenworthy of the MSU Horticulture Department. I have been employed by a consulting forester, the US Forest Service, as a city forester, as a city arboricultural contract inspector, as a county forester, as a grounds supervisor at a retirement community and with a State Department of Veterans Affairs as an Assistant Director of Cemetery and Memorial Programs. I have been able to use my forestry education and experience to allow me approximately 45 years of forestry related employment. I have been fortunate to raise three children whom are now married and have three grandchildren. Except for the loss of my wife in 2016, also an MSU graduate, life has been good. I thank MSU for the meaningful education and the experiences that education provided.

CARL WORKING | BS ‘72

I am now retired but worked in Arboriculture for 10 years then went back to college at Univ of Louisville gaining a degree in computers. Worked in telecom and banking, then got in on the ground floor of the UPS Airline. Many data processing positions later, I retired at age 55!

After many bucket list jobs and experiences and moving around northern KY and southern IN, I am now in Owensboro, KY preparing for the 2020 census and sub teaching. I am also trying to visit all 50 states plus travel to Europe and NZ. I also started an MSU alumni club in Louisville KY.

MARK PAWLICKI | BS ‘74

I graduated from MSU in 1974 and spent most of my career doing forest policy advocacy work for the forest products industry. After several years of being a field forester in Northern California, I became interested in public policy for forestry and moved to Washington, D.C. in 1980 to work for the National Forest Products Association doing regulatory and legislative advocacy. I eventually moved back West and was employed as a policy advocate for Simpson Timber Company in Sacramento, CA for 10 years. I later became an advocate and public relations manager for Sierra Pacific Industries in Redding, CA and became a Registered Professional Forester in CA. I retired in 2017, but am currently a member of the MSU Forestry Department’s Forestry Advisory Board – a position which I thoroughly enjoy.

DAVID SLATER | BS ‘78

I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Forestry from MSU in Spring 1978. I had an opportunity for a summer internship in 1977 with Edward Hines Lumber Company (EHLC) in Saratoga, Wyoming and then accepted a full-time position upon graduation. I worked in wood procurement for 22 years with EHLC & then Louisiana Pacific (LP) based out of Saratoga, WY.

In 2000, I transferred to LP’S Newberry OSB Siding Mill and then moved to LP’s lumbermill in Gwinn, MI that same year. I’m in my 19th year at our Gwinn lumbermill facility, now PotlatchDeltic, as wood procurement manager. I’m thoroughly enjoying my 41 years to date in the wood products industry managing/improving forest health and wildlife habitat. My wife and I have been married for 36 years and blessed with three adult kids and one grandson. I enjoy pheasant/deer hunting, along with creating/enhancing wildlife food plots on our land. Great time to be in forestry at MSU with abundant career opportunities.

Ronn R. Bagge | BS ‘80, MS ‘83, MBA ‘83

After graduation from the MS/MBA program, directed by Dr. John Gunter, I joined an institutional investor in Chicago. Later, I worked for J.C. Bradford & Co. (eventually acquired by UBS) in Nashville, Tennessee as an equity securities analyst, including the forest products industry. During 1988, I went into business independently. Since 2018, I have been privileged to be a member of the Board of Trustees of the Invesco MSCI Global Timber Exchange-Traded Fund. The Fund is listed on the NYSE and invests in the common stock of forest owner / operator companies, and manufacturers which use timber as a raw material. The fund recently held $150 million of assets.

Shawn Morford | BS ‘81

Hi there – class of 1981. I am working as the Executive Director of the Network of Oregon Watershed Councils in Salem, Oregon. Let’s finally manage a class reunion in 2021!

Brian Barnard | BS ‘90

I am currently Division Manager of Midwest Arborist Supplies in Grand Rapids, MI and I serve on Board of Directors for Arboriculture Society of Michigan.

Elaina (Brooks) GrahAM | BS ‘90

In my somewhat stretched-out career at MSU — I graduated in Fall 1990 at age 31 — I took two classes as electives to my Forestry major: Introduction to Computing, and Resource Information Systems. With that knowledge I could, as a supervisor phrased it at the time, “spell GIS.” There was a growing demand for such knowledge in the US Forest Service of the 90s, and just being able to say “I know what GIS is” provided the opportunity to move from seasonal employment on timber sale marking crews to permanent full-time as a GIS Technician. 28 years later, I look forward to retiring from the Forest Service as a respected GIS Specialist, when I started out expecting to be a Forester. It’s been a blast. You just never know where your education decisions and choices might take you.

Scott Dickerson | BS ‘94, MS ‘97

I’m a two-time MSU graduate, BS (’94) and MS (’97) both in Forestry. I’ve been working in sales in the hardwood lumber industry since graduating in 1997. Export sales into Asia for 6 years, domestic sales the past 15 years. Working for Banks Hardwoods, Inc. headquartered in White Pigeon, MI since 2001. I’ve got two boys (Zach, 16, and Noah, 13), and have been involved with them in Scouting for 10 years now.

CRAIG KASMER | BS ‘96

I graduated with a B.S. in Professional Forestry from Michigan State University in 1996. I am currently the Lead Park Interpreter for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Hartwick Pines State Park in Grayling, Michigan. Go Green!

DOUG SIDELL | BS ‘00

In 2011 I started planting my first trees to establish a choose-and-cut Christmas tree farm on our land in Denver, NC (about 25 miles from Uptown Charlotte). As a Realtor and land broker I spent a great deal of time searching for the right piece of land. We also wanted to build a new home and raise our family on the property. Long story short we found the perfect 15 acre tract of land on well-traveled paved road in a thriving community to start the farm on. Along the journey I met a great mentor in the business named Henry Helms. He is arguably the most well-known Christmas tree grower in the state and has guided me every step of the way. Here is a quote from me from a recent article our local newspaper ran on our farm: “What we experienced last year is that people come out here all excited because they just can’t wait to cut a tree. We could have the most perfect Fraser firs on display, but they don’t want one of those, they want the experience of being able to cut their own tree while sipping on some hot cider to just plain make a tradition out of it.”

Geoff KEGERREIS | BS ‘01

I am 21 years into my career, which I started simultaneously as a returning student while enrolled at MSU.  I graduated MSU in 2001 and also that year I started Timberline Forestry Consulting LLC, a business that has remained successful for 18 years now. Immediately after graduating, I worked on my first consulting project that involved preparing several timber sales totaling 237 acres on State of Michigan land on behalf of a contractor who otherwise would have defaulted on their obligation. Since that time, I have been dedicated to serving a diversity of clients with a broad array of services based on client demand.

JACOB SLUSSER | MS ‘11

After graduation I returned to Panama (where I had served as a Peace Corps Volunteer) to work as the Panama Coordinator with the Environmental Leadership and Training Initiative (ELTI), a program of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. In this position, I train and mentor a diversity of international land-use decision makers on forest restoration activities. Working alongside environmental leaders putting restoration science into action is incredibly satisfying. Happily married since 2016 and our daughter just turned one. Hard to believe that a redneck kid from Rives Junction, Michigan was lucky enough to find love and purpose on this small isthmus.