Following up on a 30-year career in Oregon state service and six years as chief executive of a natural resource agency, I led Portland State University's Executive Seminar Program in Natural Resources Leadership (ESP) from 2016 to 2025, helping develop the next generation of natural resource policy leaders by examining challenging case study examples throughout the West.
I research and write about old buildings, homes, and neighborhoods in Portland (www.alamedahistory.org) and run an architectural research practice where I conduct studies for clients seeking to unlock the stories of their properties (deckerhistorical.com).
I serve as Oregon Solutions Project Manager (orsolutions.org), where I'm currently helping partners consider redevelopment of a rest area and information center at Government Camp on Mt. Hood. Previously for Oregon Solutions, I helped manage the start-up of the Urban Rural Institute, a joint effort of Eastern Oregon University and Portland State University, bringing urban and rural students together for a 10-day journey across Oregon to examine issues and focus on collaboration.
Back in 2012, as Oregon State Forester, I helped launch the effort to build the Salmonberry Trail and establish the Salmonberry Trail Foundation, which is raising funds and beginning construction on an 86-mile rail-trail that connects Portland and the Oregon Coast. Check it out at www.salmonberrytrail.org.
Board service includes emeritus and past chair of the Forest History Society, located at Duke University in Durham, NC (www.foresthistory.org), contributor and member of the Editorial Board of the Oregon Encyclopedia (www.oregonencyclopedia.org), and Vice President of the Oregon Geographic Names Board.