The Forest Products Society (FPS), the global network for forest products professionals announced two new Board Members—Paige McKinley, Vice President and 2018 Program Chair, and Charles Gale, Northwest Regional Board Representative.
Paige McKinley grew up in western North Carolina and earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Wood Science and Forest Products, with a concentration in Residential Wood Structures, from Virginia Tech in May of 2014. Upon graduation, she began her graduate studies at Oregon State University, working under Fred Kamke and Ari Sinha in Wood Science and Engineering. Her Masters project focused on wood-adhesive bonds and the influences of moisture on the integrity of the bond. She earned her Master of Science in August of 2016. During her studies at Virginia Tech and Oregon State University, she held officer positions in the FPS Student Chapters. She now lives in Medford, OR and is an Industrial Engineer for Boise Cascade, working on quality and process improvements for the Western Oregon Region.
Charles Gale is currently a consultant in forest research and wood product industry. Recently he was a Manufacturing Analyst and Sales and Ops Planner with Stimson Lumber Company. Prior to that, Charles was with the Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER) having published several GTR’s and various Journal publications. He has extensive experience conducting economic wood product industry analysis, forestry and logging utilization studies, and research for improving efficiencies in manufacturing operations. He has also worked at MAEDC in Montana conducting foundational and background analysis for Montana’s Wood Product revolving loan fund now called WPRLF. Charles has a Resource Conservation Major and Climate Change minor from the University of Montana Forestry School.
The complete 2017-2018 FPS Executive Board is:
- President: David B. DeVallance, West Virginia University
- President-Elect: Hui Wan, Mississippi State University
- V-P & Program Chair: Paige McKinley, Boise Cascade
- Past President: Richard Vlosky, Louisiana State University AgCenter
Regional Board Members:
- Eastern Canada – Ahmed Koubaa, UQAT (expires 6/19)
- European – Marius C. Barbu, Salzburg University of Applied Sciences (open ended)
- North Central – Nicole Stark, Forest Products Lab (expires 6/19)
- Northwest – Charles Gale, Consultant (expires 6/20)
- South Central – Dick Baldwin, Oak Creek Investments (expires 6/19)
- Southeast – Fred Kurpiel, Georgia Research Institute (expires 6/18)