Board of Directors
W. Daniel Edge, Ph.D.
Dan is retired and a former Associate Dean for the College of Agricultural Sciences and Professor of Wildlife Ecology. Dan came to Oregon State University (OSU) as the Extension Wildlife Specialist in 1989. He has also been an Associate Professor and later named the first Mace Professor of Watchable Wildlife. Dan was appointed the Department Head in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife in 2001. He has served as President of OSU Faculty Senate, President of the National Association of Fish and Wildlife University Programs, Chair of both the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, Fish and Wildlife Section and Board on Natural Resources, and as a Commissioner and Chair for the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission.
Rosemary O’Neill
Rosemary has been on the board since the creation of NHI. She has always supported sustained environmental research and practices, and has traveled near and far observing ecosystems home and abroad. Some of her favorite oversea adventures were to Germany, Ireland, France, Hungary, Czech Republic, England and Spain, and when she’s closer to home Rosemary enjoys long hikes at the beach on the Oregon Coast. For the last 35 years Rosemary has served as a teacher and school administrator in Ohio, Montana, and Oregon public schools. She has taught Humanities and/or Journalism in grades 3 to junior college. Rosemary has facilitated workshops instructing students, teachers, and parents on the implementation of new state standards, and has worked as an instructional facilitator.
Julie Schwartz
Julie Schwartz is Senior Director, Parent and Family Engagement for Oregon State University. Julie has worked for the Oregon State Alumni Association (OSUAA) in a variety of leadership roles since July 2006. She began her career in alumni relations at the University of Montana (Associate Alumni Director from 1999-2006) where she holds a Masters in Public Administration. She has been at Oregon State for the past nine years. Her background includes marketing, video production, media sales and non-profit leadership. She currently serves on the board of CASE (Council for Higher Education and Advancement, District VIII), a professional organization which oversees higher education advancement efforts both nationally and internationally. Julie enjoys hiking, cycling and attending many of Oregon’s unique festivals!
Anne Murray Allen
Anne Murray Allen is currently the Director for the Executive Development Center at Willamette University’s Atkinson Graduate School of Management. In this role Anne is responsible for developing non-degree certificate programs in business and public management essentials, sustainability, and industry-specific training. She is also the founder and principal in her own consulting firm, AMA Associates, LLC. This practice is dedicated to working with clients in building healthy, performance-based organizations. Anne retired from Hewlett-Packard Company in 2005, having served in a variety of management and executive positions over a 16 year period. These included leading company-wide Knowledge and Intranet Management, strategic planning (at the division and at the corporate level), culture integration for the Compaq/HP merger, Imaging and Printing Group IT, production management for scanner and Inkjet cartridges. She served for seven years on the board of trustees for the Millennium Institute in Washington, D.C. Anne’s current passion is in understanding performance in social systems – be they organizational, community, or other. She holds an undergraduate degree in psychology from Manhattanville College and an MBA from the University of Denver.
Ben Miller
Ben is an attorney with the City of Eugene. Previously Ben worked for the law firm Harrang Long Gary Rudnick and the Oregon Department of Justice in the areas of litigation, energy, fisheries, forestry and water law. He holds a BS in Fisheries and Wildlife Science from the Oregon State University Honors College and a JD from the University of Oregon School of Law. He also serves on the board of the McKenzie River Trust. Ben has spent his entire life in Oregon and hasn’t run out of places to explore. Most weekends you can find him fishing for steelhead, snowshoeing, bird hunting, packing out an elk, or backpacking in one of Oregon’s wilderness areas.
Andrea Thorpe, Ph.D.
Andrea is the Director of Science at the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) and Battelle’s ecology unit. Prior to joining NEON in 2012, she was the Director of the Conservation Research Program at the Institute for Applied Ecology, a nonprofit dedicated to restoring and managing species and ecosystems. Andrea received her Ph.D. in Organismal Biology and Ecology at the University of Montana, M.S. in Ecology from San Diego State University, and B.S. in Natural Resources from Oregon State University. In her free time, Andrea can be usually found outdoors with a pair of trail-running shoes and her dog.