Drawing upon nearly 60 years of practiced experience in forestry and education, Frank Connard Shirley, PhD, has been serving as president of Shirley Forests Inc. in Elizabethtown, NY, since 1981 and president of Aspen Forest Conservation Systems in Vaughn, WA, since 1985. A certified forester for many decades, he commenced his career as a forester with the U.S. Forest Service in Vancouver, WA, in 1960, holding the position for four years. After earning his PhD in 1969, he began serving as an assistant professor at Colorado State University in Fort Collins until 1972 before becoming an associate for Wesley Rickard Inc. in Gig Harbor, WA, from 1973 to 1974. From there, Dr. Shirley served as an operations research analyst at St. Regis/Champion International in Tacoma, WA, for
11 years before starting his own forestry consulting firm, Aspen Forest Conservation Systems.
For two decades, Dr. Shirley was a member of the Washington State Forest Stewardship Coordinator Committee in Olympia, WA, between 1992 and 2012. A U.S. Army veteran, he has demonstrated versatility in his profession by co-authoring two booklets, “Colorado’s Softwood Millwork Industry: Characteristics, Trends and Future Outlook” in 1971 and “The Western United States Millwork Industry” in 1972.
Dr. Shirley was influenced heavily to enter his profession by his father, who was dean of the Forestry college at Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY. Starting out in forestry from a young age, he and his father worked on the land together measuring trees and marking trees for harvest after founding Shirley Forests, Inc. Among the notable moments of his career, he is most proud of being elected a fellow in the Society of American Foresters in 1994. Looking towards the future, he intends to continue dedicating his time to forestry and community services.
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