Cheryl Carpenter
President
Cheryl Salyers-Carpenter studied business administration at Shawnee State University. Later in life, she found her true passion in conservation projects for endangered and vulnerable species such as the piping plover, loggerhead turtles, African painted dogs, black rhinos, lions and the African elephant. With these projects, she spent time in South Africa, a deserted island in the US and the Upper Peninsula in Michigan.
Cheryl was the founding vice-president of the Sindisa Fund, which strived to aid in the struggle for survival of the endangered species listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and a past board member of an animal welfare league. Currently, she enjoys living in Appalachia and continuing to assist in wildlife and land conservation projects.
Bob Placier
Treasurer
Bob Scott Placier is a southern Ohio native, born in Chillicothe. Both his B.A. (Anthropology and Sociology) and M.S. (Environmental Studies) degrees are from Ohio University. He is retired from the School of Natural Resources at Hocking College, where he taught Ornithology, Dendrology, and Woodland Ecology. Bob also was an adjunct instructor for the University of Rio Grande for some years, teaching Ornithology and Herpetology. A federally permitted bird bander, Bob presently serves as president of the Ohio Bird Banding Association, and as a board member of the Inland Bird Banding Association.
John Howard
Board Member
John is a freelance naturalist and wildlife/nature photographer and researcher who specializes in prairie ecology, butterflies, botany, and herpetology and is adept in many other facets of the great outdoors. An avid conservationist and one of Ohio’s leading naturalists, he is a former board member of the Highlands Nature Sanctuary. John works closely with his brother Vince Howard on research projects involving timber rattlesnakes, kirtlands snakes and other animals.
Suzie Prange
Executive Director and
Lead Researcher
Suzie received her B.S. and M.S. in Biology from the University of South Alabama and her Ph.D. in Wildlife Biology from the University of Missouri. She also completed post-doctoral training at Ohio State University and was employed by the Ohio Division of Wildlife where she served as the state’s furbearer biologist for over 10 years. The majority of her recent research has been dedicated to threatened and endangered forest wildlife species, and she worked extensively with the previously state-endangered bobcat. In addition to bobcats, She has worked with a number of carnivore species, authoring over two dozen peer-reviewed papers. She has served on several executive boards and committees within The Wildlife Society and the American Society of Mammalogists. Currently, she is dedicated to independent wildlife conservation research in Ohio’s Appalachian region.
Check out Dr. Prange's publications HERE
and her curriculum vitae HERE
Kori Gasaway
Secretary
Kori Gasaway received her B.S. in Evolution and Ecology from Ohio State University and worked as a naturalist for Preservation Parks of Delaware County before becoming the Outreach Program Specialist at Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District. Kori also volunteers at the Ohio Wildlife Center where she cares for and educates people about birds of prey.
Aaron Crank
Board Member
Aaron obtained his B.S. in Natural Science from Shawnee State University in 2021. Aaron began his career as a naturalist with Shawnee State Park and is currently employed as a wildlife technician surveying threatened and endangered species. He has assisted in various projects with private, local, and federal organizations surveying threatened and endangered reptile, amphibian, and bat species, as well as American and Morelet’s crocodiles and West-Indian manatees in Belize. In his free time, Aaron serves as a board member for the Ohio Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation and enjoys traveling throughout the United States and abroad to photograph reptile and amphibian species.