Our Board

The RSC Executive Board consists of representatives from member organizations. They work to uphold the mission of the RSC and move the organization forward in both research and education.

RSC Executive Board Members (L to R): Lori Boughton, Casey Bradshaw-Wilson, Jeanette Schnars, Sara Turner, and Holly Best

Executive Director

Jeanette L. Schnars, Ph.D.
Regional Science Consortium

Dr. Schnars has been the Executive Director of the RSC since 2007. She received her B.S. degree in Biology from the Pennsylvania State University with a Minor in Marine Science. After working for the U.S. Geological Survey on the sea turtle project at Padre Island National Seashore, TX, she continued her education at the State University of New York – College at Buffalo earning a M.S. degree in Biology working with sea turtles in Costa Rica. While working as an Instructor in the Biology Department of Penn State – Erie, she earned her Ph.D. from the Pennsylvania State University in Wildlife and Fisheries Science researching the effects of contaminants on the common snapping turtles. Dr. Schnars continues to conduct research on fisheries, turtles, and bacterial contamination in Lake Erie.

President – RSC Executive Board

Casey Bradshaw-Wilson, Ph.D.
Allegheny College

Dr. Bradshaw-Wilson received her B.S. degree in Biology with a concentration of Ecology at Penn State Erie, her M.S. in Biology with a concentration in herpetology from Marshall University, and her Ph.D. in Wildlife and Fisheries Science from Penn State University. Her research at this time includes freshwater ecology, primarily in non-game freshwater fishes and aquatic invasive species.

Vice President – RSC Executive Board

Sara Turner, Ph.D.
Mercyhurst University

Dr. Turner received her B.A. In Biology from Pomona College, and her Ph.D. in Forestry and Natural Resources with an emphasis on Wildlife and Fisheries Genetics from Purdue University.  She has also worked for the USGS and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Her research interests include using molecular techniques to monitor wild populations, and a burgeoning interesting in using molecular techniques to  detect pathogens in wild populations.

Secretary – RSC Executive Board

Katie Farnsworth, Ph.D.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania

Dr. Farnsworth received her B.S. in Geography and Computer Science from DePauw University, her M.S. in Marine Geology from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science/College of William and Mary, and her Ph.D. in Marine Geology from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science/College of William and Mary. Her research interests include coastal sedimentary processes; flux and fate of fluvial sediment in the shallow ocean; global flux of sediments.

Treasurer – RSC Executive Board

Robert Whyte, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair, Biology and Environmental Sciences Department,
California University of Pennsylvania

Dr. Whyte received his B.S. degree in Fisheries and Wildlife from Michigan State University, his M.En.S. in Environmental Science from the Institute of Environmental Sciences at Miami University (Oxford, OH), and his Ph.D. in Botany from the Miami University (Oxford, OH). His research Interests include plant ecology and the study of invasive plants, particularly in wetland systems and Great Lakes coastal systems.

Executive Board Member

Holly Best
Assistant Park Manager, Presque Isle State Park –
PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

Ms. Best received her BS degree in Parks and Recreation – Resource Management from Slippery Rock University and MA in Recreation, Parks, and Leisure Services Administration from Central Michigan University. She has worked for DCNR since 1998 in various capacities in several different state parks. Since 2007, Holly has been in her current position at Presque Isle. Her duties at Presque Isle include: facility manager of the Tom Ridge Environmental Center, overseeing the Environmental Education Programming operation, supervising the summer internship program, and working with resource management at both Presque Isle and Erie Bluffs State Park.

Executive Board Member

Lori Bougton
Program Manager for the Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection’s Waterways and Wetlands Program

Ms. Boughton spent 12 years representing Pennsylvania as the Director of the Office of the Great Lakes. Prior to joining DEP in 2002, Ms. Boughton was with the U.S. EPA in Washington, DC and Denver, CO working in various programs dealing with hazardous waste investigation, regulation, cleanup, and property reuse. She earned a BS in Chemistry and MS in Environmental Pollution Control from The Pennsylvania State University.

Past President

Frederick Brenner, Ph.D.
Grove City College

Dr. Fred J. Brenner received his B.S. in Biology from Thiel College, Greenville, Pennsylvania and his M.S. in Zoology with a minor in Forestry from the Pennsylvania State University and his PhD in Zoology with an emphasis in ecology also from the Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Brenner and his students were some of the early researchers in the development of passive wetland system to treat abandoned mine drainage. Along with his students were some of early investigators in the reclamation of mined lands as Wildlife and Fishery habitats. Dr. Brenner’s current research is in the field of wildlife and fishery genetics. Dr. Brenner is working with Trout Unlimited on genetics of isolated brook trout in the headwater streams within the West Branch of Susquehanna watershed. Another area of emphasis is the genetics of urban wildlife and tick borne diseases. Dr. Brenner is currently working with the DCNR staff at Presque Isle State Park studying the genetics of the Presque Isle deer herd and also the role of deer as a reservoir for Lyme Disease.