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 Dr. Jim L. Bowyer is Director of the Forest Products Management Development Institute of the University of Minnesota Department of Wood and Paper Science, and a specialist in global raw material trends and life cycle environmental analyses of materials. Bowyer has served as President of the Forest Products Society (1993-1994), President of the Society of Wood Science and Technology (1987-88), and is a Fellow of the International Academy of Wood Science. Dr. Bowyer is Vice President of the Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials, a member of the Executive Board of the Tropical Forest Foundation, and a scientific advisor to the Temperate Forest Foundation. He served on the Rocky Mountain Institute Systems Group on Forests and was one of the eight members of the Forest Science Health Panel, convened in 1996 by U.S. Representative Charles Taylor (NC). Dr. Bowyer has authored over 130 articles dealing with various aspects of forest products manufacture and use, and is co-author of the leading introductory wood science textbook in North America, now in the third edition.
Ruth Smith is a Master of Science Candidate, Forest Products Marketing, University of Minnesota and President of WebSmith, Inc. She earned a B.Sc. degree in Forest Products Marketing, University of Minnesota in 1998, having served as an undergraduate as President - Forest Products Society Student Chapter (1995-96), Chair - College of Natural Resources Student-Faculty Board (1995-96), Treasurer - University of Minnesota Council of College Boards (1996-97), and Chair of the Student Program for the Forest Products Society National Annual Meeting (1996). She completed two internships in particleboard manufacturing facilities with Weyerhaeuser Company (1995 and 1996) in Klamath Falls and Springfield, Oregon. Ruth has traveled to Asia 14 times, including trips to Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, and South Korea, and made a around-the-world trip to 15 countries in 1997. |
