Company founder Dr. Rhodes has spearheaded the development of each of SCS's major certification and evaluation programs in the fields of food safety and environmental claims. During the 1980s, Dr. Rhodes was the driving force behind the institution of the NutriClean® food testing program, helping the company to gain national, and ultimately international recognition as a neutral third-party certifier, and pioneering "clean food" (no detected residue) standards for agriculture products.

In 1990, Dr. Rhodes turned his attention to the broad area of environmental claims, launching three major initiatives over the next several years: Environmental Claims Evaluation and Certification, the Forest and Marine Conservation Programs, and the Life-Cycle Assessment / Certified Eco-Profile programs, including Environmentally Preferable Product and Power certifications.

Dr. Rhodes has taken a central role in the international effort to advance the science of life-cycle assessment. He was a U.S. expert delegate to the ISO TC-207 (International Standards Organization Technical Committee on Environmental Management Tools), serving on the Subcommittees on Life-Cycle Assessment and Environmental Labeling.

Dr. Rhodes continues to provide scientific workshops and executive training sessions on life-cycle assessment. He is also the author or coauthor of numerous patents and articles, from his work at SCS and previous employment, including his work as analytical and advanced research chemist at Kodak and Delta Labs, his graduate research, and prior entrepreneurial endeavors in the area of food production and marketing.

Ph.D., Organic Chemistry; Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
B.S., Chemistry; University of California, Berkeley, CA

Dr. Hrubes has principal responsibility for leading the company's natural resource management and chain-of-custody programs. Dr. Hrubes is a registered professional forester and resource economist with over 35 years of professional experience in both the private and public sectors. Prior to joining SCS, he was managing principal of Natural Resource Associates, a Northern California-based forestry and resource economics consulting firm.

In 1991, SCS first engaged Dr. Hrubes' consulting services to design and implement its forest certification program. Dr. Hrubes is an internationally recognized expert in natural resources management and environmental certification. As principal architect of the SCS Forest Conservation Certification Program, Dr. Hrubes functions in the company in an executive leadership capacity while also maintaining his involvement as a certification practitioner. He has served as team leader on evaluations of more than 25 forest management operations worldwide, totaling more than 7 million acres. He has also served as auditor for many chain-of-custody certification evaluations worldwide.

While principal consultant for Natural Resource Associates, Dr. Hrubes specialized in wildland management planning, sustainable forestry analysis, resource economics analysis, operations research analysis and forest management.

Dr. Hrubes served for four years on the Board of Directors of the Forest Stewardship Council and was the founding chair of the Board of Directors of the Forest Stewards Guild, a U.S.-based professional forestry society. Prior to establishing a private consulting practice in 1988, Dr. Hrubes worked for the USDA Forest Service for 15 years.

He recently served on the Working Group of the Climate Action Reserve Forest Project Protocol.

Ph.D., Wildland Resource Sciences; University of California, Berkeley, CA
M.A., Economics; University of California, Berkeley, CA
M.S., Resource Systems Management; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
B.S., Forest Management and Outdoor Recreation Management; Iowa State University, Ames, IA

Co-founder and Executive Vice President Linda Brown helps direct the development of SCS' certification and assessment programs.

Brown has previously served as Director of SCS' Environmental Claims Certification Program, Director of Communications and Director of the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative, where she led business development efforts and established program policies and procedures. Ms. Brown also managed the standards development activities of the "Sustainable Agriculture Practice Standard for Food, Fiber and Biofuel Crop Producers and Agricultural Product Handlers and Processors" (SCS-001).

From 1994 to 1998, Brown served as a member of the U.S. delegation to the ISO 14000 standard-setting process. She participated in the subcommittees on Environmental Labeling and Life-Cycle Assessment and on the Environmental Aspects in Product Standards (WG-1) working group, helping to write the standards these two groups created.

Brown has authored numerous articles on environmental certification and preferability, life-cycle assessment and food safety issues. Furthermore, she has presented details of SCS programs and methods to diverse audiences around the globe.

M.A., Journalism; Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
B.A., English and Political Science; Emory University, Atlanta, GA

B.S., Environmental Engineering; Yale University, New Haven, CT

Tom Connelly, who joined SCS in 2008, has more than 20 years of experience in the graphic arts creating compelling solutions for Fortune 500 clients, small businesses and local artists. Tom is adept in a variety of media including print, web, interactive and environmental display.

Connelly helps develop advanced graphic solutions for all SCS client-based programs in addition to his role helping to enrich SCS' corporate marketing efforts where he is currently focused on redesigning the SCS website.

Prior to joining SCS, Connelly led the independent design consultancy Anonymous Design. When he is not busy making SCS look good, Tom plays electric and stand up bass in the world rock band KAZAMOZe, which blends western and eastern beats, styles, melody and instrumentation.

B.S., Graphic Communication, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA

Dr. Daume is an expert in the biology and ecology of exploited marine resources. She has more than 10 years of fisheries experience and has worked with diverse cultural groups, often in remote marine environments. She has worked with industry personnel at all levels, including divers, technicians, managers, executive officers, policy makers and other government officials. Prior to joining SCS in 2009, Dr. Daume worked as a Senior Research Scientist at the Research Division of the Department of Fisheries in Western Australia. She has been the primary investigator on several nationally funded research projects in Australia and has published numerous peer-reviewed papers and fisheries research reports in international journals.

Ph.D., Marine Biology; La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
Diplom (Master of Science level), Marine Biology; Marine Chemistry, Kiel University, Germany

Jaime has 11 years of experience in marketing, sales and management for various companies in the agrochemical, fertilizer and food safety industries. Before joining SCS, he managed marketing and sales for a large European certification body.

He has participated in GlobalGAP, GMP and HACCP certifications and trainings.

Business Management and Marketing; Universidad Argentina de la Empresa, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Agronomy Engineering; University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Todd has a background that spans Forest Stewardship Council Chain of Custody certification, emissions trading and forest carbon project development. He currently serves on the verification advisory board of The Climate Registry and is certified as a Lead Verifier under The Climate Registry, Climate Action Reserve, Voluntary Carbon Standard and the Climate Community Biodiversity standard. He has been active in carbon markets since 2006 when he worked on the first project ever validated under the Climate Community Biodiversity standards. Todd has extensive international experience having lived and worked in Vietnam, Japan, Panama and Costa Rica. He has also circumnavigated the globe while volunteering for the Peace Boat, a Japanese NGO.

M.A., International Environmental Policy; University of California, San Diego, CA
B.A., Geography and Conservation and Resource Studies; University of California, Berkeley, CA

Brendan is the Program Manager for Forest Management Certification at SCS, responsible for the daily operation of the program. He previously served as a Certification Forester for SCS. In these roles, he has conducted forest management audits Forest Stewardship Council as a lead auditor and team member throughout the Western United States. Brendan is also a member of the State Bar of California, and was an attorney in private practice focusing on environmental law before returning to SCS.

B.S. Forestry, University of California, Berkeley
J.D. University of Washington School of Law

Stowe Hartridge-Beam is Program Manager of SCS' Indoor Air Quality Programs, which include Indoor Advantage™, Indoor Advantage Gold™, and FloorScore®. He also manages level™ certification for furniture sustainability. In this capacity, Hartridge-Beam operates on a global scale, training auditors and maintaining the programs' high standards. Hartridge-Beam is noted for his expertise in California Special Environmental Section 01350 and the standards derived from its protocols. He has been an active member of several standards development committees, including BIFMA e3-2008, which serves as the foundation for level™ certification.

Prior to joining SCS, Stowe was a field biology educator, working in a number of diverse environments including the Coastal Southeast, Rocky Mountains and Pacific Northwest. He is also an accomplished white water kayak instructor.

B.S., Biology; Davidson College, Davidson, NC

Before training auditors at SCS, Dana taught a wide range of students in diverse settings. She trained public school educators for an environmental non-profit and has taught students of all ages in a horticultural setting, elementary school students in a museum and a zoo, and third grade science in Thailand. Dana previously worked for the US Forest Service, where she conducted inventory and analysis. When she is not working, she is training for ultramarathons and cyclocross races.

M.S., Education; Portland State University, Portland, OR
B.S., Forestry; University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA

Dr. Michael Keyes has over 25 years of professional experience in agriculture and forestry and has developed new agriculture certification programs throughout the Americas.

As principal architect for the VeriFlora and the Fair Labor Practices certification programs, Dr. Keyes has been the driving force behind SCS' launch of sustainability programs in agriculture and agro-forestry, spearheading the team's technical efforts, benchmark setting, best management practices, program metrics and scorecards for growers and handlers. His efforts have led to many of the most sophisticated greenhouse and nursery growers obtaining VeriFlora and Fair Labor Practices certification.

Dr. Keyes has also served as a team leader on SCS evaluations of forest management operations totaling more than 1.2 million acres. Until 2007, Keyes served as lead auditor and trainer for Starbucksâ„¢ C.A.F.E. Practices program.

Before joining SCS, Dr. Keyes worked for the World Bank's sustainable agriculture program and served as a university researcher in Latin America.

Ph.D., Forest Ecology; University of Washington, Seattle, WA
M.S., Forest Ecology; University of Washington, Seattle, WA
B.S., Natural Resources and Soil Science; University of California, Berkeley, CA
Degree certificate, Agroforestry, Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación e Enseñanza, Turrialba, Costa Rica

Abhi was one of the first certified auditors in North America to conduct GlobalGap (formerly EurepGap) and European retailing giant Tesco’s Nature’s Choice audits. Prior to joining SCS, he worked for two years as a Process Improvement Engineer at Blue Diamond Growers in Sacramento, CA.

He is also a certified Backpacking Guide and has visited all 7 continents and all 50 U.S. states.

M.S., Food Engineering; University of California, Davis, CA
M.B.A., Marketing; University of Pune, India
B. Tech., Agricultural Engineering; Mahatma Phule Agriculture University, India

As director of chain of custody certification services, Aaron Maizlish has responsibility for managing the SCS global portfolio of Chain of Custody (CoC) certificate holders. The CoC program supports the Forest Stewardship Council and Marine Stewardship Council by providing auditing and certification services to companies that wish to market their products as FSC or MSC certified. The CoC global portfolio includes more than 2,000 companies in 31 countries.

As a founding member and former board member of FSC-U.S., Maizlish has had a long association with the Forest Stewardship Council. In 1992 he founded EcoTimber International, a lumber company that pioneered the sale of certified wood products in the U.S. market, and served as its president for eight years. In this capacity, he was deeply involved in the development of the first commercial FSC products, including FSC-certified flooring (1994), FSC-certified musical instruments (1996) and FSC-certified construction framing packages (1997). EcoTimber was among the first group of companies to attain FSC chain of custody certification in 1996 when the program was developed.

B.A., Geography and Developmental Studies; University of California, Berkeley, CA

Before joining SCS, Sarah worked for the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) in Bonn, Germany. As a member of the Policy and Standards Unit at FSC, Sarah helped develop the policies and standards for FSC’s forest management and chain of custody certification and accreditation.

When Sarah is not neck deep in standards, she enjoys flying through the air with the greatest of ease on the flying trapeze.

B.S., Biological Science; University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada

Prior to coming to SCS, Neil was a business consultant to the USDA Forest Service and worked as a researcher at various policy organizations focused on preserving public goods. Neil also has several years of experience implementing agro-forestry and soil conservation projects in Central America and is proficient in Spanish. When he is not working he enjoys playing his guitar and spending time with his two young sons.

M.P.I.A., International Environmental Policy; University of California, San Diego, CA
B.A., Economics; Sonoma State University, CA
B.A., Energy Management and Design; Sonoma State University, CA

Ms. Patel joined SCS in 2000 and directs food safety programs for growers, packers, shippers, processors and other related agricultural operations. She manages the SCS food safety auditing team as well as conducting GMP/GAP audits and food safety training.

Her 20 years of experience includes positions in quality assurance, auditing, microbiology and plant sanitation in the food industry.

Patel is an active member of the following professional organizations: Technical Committee on Food Safety, Institute of Food Technology, Professional Committee, International Fresh Cut Produce Association, International Sprout Growers Association and United Fresh Produce Association.

B.S., Microbiology and Cell Biology; University of Auckland, New Zealand

Nova has a longstanding interest in sustainability. Her experience spans over 10 years of business development, marketing, and international trade promotion for companies in various industries. Her expertise includes cross-cultural business communication and environmentally and socially responsible business practices. She has worked with a wide range of clients including UPS, The Gap, Clif Bar, Mothers Cookies and The Port of Oakland.

Outside of work, Nova continues to pursue multi-disciplinary learning opportunities. Her interests include travel and cultural exploration through food & music.

B.A., International Political Economy; University of California, Berkeley, CA

Since joining SCS in June 2007, Nathan P. Smith has guided the approval, training and oversight of third-party certification organizations based in Latin America, East Africa and Asia Pacific in conjunction with the Starbucks C.A.F.E. Practices program. In early 2008, he began working with Starbucks in West Africa and Latin America to adapt the C.A.F.E. Practices coffee purchasing program evaluation criteria and auditing procedures to the cocoa sector. Smith has successfully completed ISO 9001:2000 lead auditor training and has participated in USDA NOP and GAP food safety audits. Other key projects include third-party certification systems benchmarking and gap analysis, audit reporting systems integration, social standards development and supplier code-of-conduct review and needs assessment. Prior to joining SCS, Smith worked in natural foods retailing, organic farming and animal husbandry.

M.A., Latin American Studies; University of Arizona, Tuscon, AZ
B.A., Anthropology and International Studies; University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Since 1976, Wil Sumner has devoted his career to evaluating risk in the growing, handling, processing and distribution of foods. He has worked with government, industry and non-profit organizations researching and developing programs aimed at the prevention of food safety risks. He had trained companies on the implementation of HACCP-based food safety management programs and has developed methods for the detection of risk elements including lead, pesticide residues, pathogens and more. Before joining SCS in 1990, Sumner worked with the US Food & Drug Administration as Supervisory Food Scientist, with the University of Minnesota as Lab Director and with the US Department of Agriculture in the position of Physical Scientist. He participates on the technical boards of the following industry groups: California Attorney General on Lead Prevention Programs; Food Marketing Institute Technical Committee on Food Safety; Institute of Food Technology, Professional Committee; International Fresh Cut Produce Association; International Sprout Growers Association; and the United Produce Quality Board.

M.S., Toxicology; University of Minnesota
B.S., Chemistry; University of California, Davis, CA
B.S., Entomology; University of California, Davis, CA

Prior to joining SCS, Adam Wiskind was the Central Coast wetland regional program manager at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories where he developed and implemented the California Rapid Assessment Method, a wetland assessment methodology. He has co-authored a number of articles on the topic. Wiskind also worked as the retail division manager for EcoTimber International, a lumber company that pioneered the sale of certified wood products in the U.S. market. EcoTimber was among the first group of companies to attain FSC chain-of-custody certification in 1996 when the program was developed.

M.B.A., Sustainable Management; Presidio School of Management, San Francisco, CA
M.A., Forest Resources; Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
B.A., Environmental Design; University of California, Berkeley, CA

As Director of Business Development for Environmental Certification Services, Michael Wolfe is responsible for new programs and the continued growth of the Indoor Air Quality, Recycled Content and Life Cycle Services Departments. He also manages the SCS calCOMPliant™ Program, which he created to provide third-party certification services related to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) ATCM to Reduce Formaldehyde Emissions in Composite Wood Products.

Prior to joining SCS, Michael spent eight years with HooperWolfe, a consulting firm he co-founded to advise manufacturers on environmental matters.