Normal business hours for the New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development, Division of Forests and Lands are Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. The Division phone number is 271-2214. Office fax: (603) 271-6488
Mailing/Shipping Address:
NH Natural Heritage Bureau
172 Pembroke Rd PO Box 1856
Concord, NH 03302-1856
Staff Bios
Don Kent, Administrator
The Administrator is responsible for the overall direction, management, and administration of the NH Natural Heritage Bureau. Before joining NH Natural Heritage, Don worked on watershed issues in the Everglades as the Executive Director of the the Community Watershed Fund in Florida, conducted applied environmental research for Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development in California, and instructed environmental decision makers of developing countries for the U.S. Environmental Training Institute.
Sara Cairns, Data Manager/Biologist
Sara is responsible for all aspects of our database and handles information requests. She is nationally recognized for her innovative information products and data management tools, and is an instructor for NatureServe's national Natural Heritage training sessions. Sara has a Ph.D. in Evolutionary Ecology from Cornell University. Prior to joining NH Heritage in 1997, she was a professor in the Biology Department at Middlebury College (VT) and worked as an environmental consultant in Maryland.
Melissa Coppola, Environmental Information Specialist
Melissa provides access to NH Natural Heritage data by doing environmental reviews and answering information requests. She also helps keep the database up-to-date. She has an M.S. in Environmental Studies from Antioch New England Graduate School and a B.S. in Natural History from Northland College. Prior to joining NH Natural Heritage, she was a field naturalist for Massachusetts Audubon Society, taught New England Flora as adjunct faculty at Antioch, was a field ecologist/inventory technician for the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, and worked as a plant ecologist for Moosewood Ecological Services. She has participated in ecological research in Wisconsin, Michigan, Oregon, Washington, Vermont, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.
Jeff Tash, Conservation and Wildlife Information Specialist
Jeff works with wildlife data processing and the NH Wildlife Action Plan in coordination with New Hampshire Fish and Game. He is finishing an M.S. in Natural Resources at the University of New Hampshire and has a B.S. in Environmental Studies from Richard Stockton College. Prior to joining NH Natural Heritage in 2006, he worked as a Biological Technician for the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge in Maine, and as a GIS Specialist for the New Jersey Endangered and Nongame Species Program.
Ben Kimball, Senior Conservation & GIS Manager
Ben is responsible for GIS mapping, report editing, photo management, database support, and field inventory. He is also the Bureau's webmaster. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Physical Geography from Middlebury College (VT), where he graduated with honors. Prior to joining NH Heritage in 1998, he worked as a Cartographic Technician for the County of Loudoun in Leesburg, VA, and as a GIS technician with the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program. He is pictured below wrestling with paper maps back in the day (transparent colored dots, anyone?).
Pete Bowman, Ecologist
Pete conducts field inventories and works with Division of Forests & Lands foresters on the management of State lands. Prior to joining NH Natural Heritage, he worked as a research technician at the Joseph Jones Ecological Research Center in Newton, Georgia. He holds a B.S. in environmental science from Cook College, Rutgers University and a Master of Forestry from the Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University for which he studied the herbaceous communities of longleaf and slash pine forests in northern Florida.
Bill Nichols, Ecologist/Botanist
Bill is responsible for the revision of the endangered and threatened plant list, and conducts many of our field inventory projects. He has a Master of Science in Botany from the University of Rhode Island, where his thesis research focused on the degree to which geomorphological factors can be used to predict vascular plant diversity. Prior to NH Heritage, Bill was a Plant Community Ecologist with the Massachusetts Audubon Society, a Plant Inventory Specialist with the Audubon Society of Rhode Island, and a master boat builder at Lowell’s Boat Shop in Massachusetts. He began working with NH Heritage in 1996.
Dan Sperduto, Senior Ecologist
Dan is responsible for all ecological projects at NH Heritage, and developed the NH natural community classification, which is recognized as being one of the nation’s best. He has been with NH Heritage since 1989, during which time he has discovered hundreds of new rare plant occurrences throughout the state. Dan has a Master of Science degree from the University of New Hampshire in Plant Biology, where his thesis focused on the natural communities and underlying dynamics of coastal plain pond shores. Prior to NH Heritage, he participated in ecological research in Maine, Massachusetts, Alaska, and New Mexico, and worked as a forester with the U.S. Forest Service in Oregon.
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