Patrick Gilber,
Chair
Patrick served for six years on the City of Asheville Urban Forestry Commission, two years during which he was the chair. He served on a subgroup of the UFC working with City staff on the Tree Canopy Preservation Ordinance. He also served for four years as the vice president of Government Relations for the Coalition of Asheville Neighborhoods.
Ed Macie,
Vice Chair
Ed is a retiree of the US Forest Service, where he was the Southern US Director of their Urban Forestry Programs for nearly three decades. In this capacity he delivered the Forest Service Urban and Community Forestry Program working with states, cities and community-based groups in building capacity to enhance and maintain urban forests, and improve the environment where people live, work and play.
His educational background includes degrees in Environmental Horticulture/Arboriculture, and graduate degrees in Urban Forest Ecology. He currently serves on the Asheville Urban Forestry Commission, and is chair of the WNC GROWS Board of Directors
Dawn Chavez, Secretary
Dawn is a nonprofit leader and strategist with 25 years of experience in the environmental field as educator, program director, network weaver and executive director. Dawn currently works as the executive director of the Environmental Leadership Program, developing impactful leaders for a just and sustainable future. Before that, she was executive director of Asheville GreenWorks for eight years.
Dawn has degrees in Natural Resources, Environmental Education and completed all coursework towards a doctoral degree in Environmental Studies. Dawn serves on the boards of the North American Association for Environmental Education and the Switzer Foundation.
Amy Smith
Amy is a Professor of Science at Purdue University Global and a REALTOR® with CENTURY 21 Connected in Asheville. She is a GREEN certified real estate agent, is LEED AP accredited, and holds an MS in Forest Ecology and Management as well as an MS in Environmental Policy. Amy formerly served as the Chair of the Asheville Urban Forestry Commission and is a current board member for the North Carolina Urban Forest Council. She also serves on the Committee on Accreditation for the Society of American Foresters.
Alison Ormsby
Alison has a PhD in Environmental Studies and over 20 years of experience as a professor of Environmental Studies. She is co-chair of the Asheville/Buncombe County Tree Protection Task Force. Her research is on people-nature interactions and includes studies of conservation of sacred forests globally.
Chris DeFio
Chris is the founding executive director of WNC Grows, a current NC Registered Forester, and an ISA Certified Arborist. He studied Forestry at the Yale School of the Environment and Environmental Education at Warren Wilson College.
Chris previously worked as an Urban Forester with TNC, as a Community Forester with Urban Resources Initiative, a professor of Dendrology with Naugatuck Valley Community College in Connecticut, and taught HS Environmental Science at the Franklin School of Innovation in Asheville. He also currently serves on the City of Asheville’s Urban Forestry Commission.
Zoe Hoyle
Zoe is presently a member of the City of Asheville Urban Forestry Commission, and previously worked for the US Forest Service Southern Research Station as a science writer.
Mary Spivey
Mary is a life-long science educator with deep roots in ecology and ecosystem dynamics interpretation. Mary is interested in ensuring Western North Carolina urban forests remain healthy and benefit everyone. She is a former director of The Collider, a nonprofit hub for a diverse network of climate organizations in the Asheville area.
Steve Hendricks
Stephen had a wide-ranging professional career as an environmental planner with architectural firms, the U.S. Forest Service, and the National Park Service. He received the 2010 Aldo Leopold National Conservation Stewardship Award. He served as Chair of the Asheville Urban Forestry Commission for three years and currently volunteers for several environmental organizations.
Mary Schultz
Mary is a trained and experienced field technician in plant and forest ecology research. She has an MS in Biology, a BS in Environmental Studies, and a BA in English. Mary taught in the Biology and Environmental Studies departments at UNCA for several years after earning my Masters in Biology, and she currently teach Biology and Environmental Science in the Natural Sciences Department at Mars Hill University.
Sherry Wheat
Sherry is the founder of a virtual Inside Sales Team, implementing Business Development campaigns for growth-oriented B2B businesses for more than 25 years.
Previously, she earned a Master’s Degree in Landscape Architecture and was a member of the design and development team that implemented the 1987 $43 Million expansion of one of metro Atlanta’s County Parks and Recreation Systems, overseeing design development, while working with government leaders, athletic associations, and advisory committees.