Forest Service Selects New Director for Pacific Northwest Research Station
U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth today announced Thomas Quigley as the director of the Pacific Northwest Research Station, Portland, Ore.
“Tom is uniquely qualified to lead the research program in the Pacific Northwest having previously held a variety of research scientist positions with the Pacific Northwest Research Station as well as serving as director of the Blue Mountains Natural Resource Institute in La Grand, Oregon, and as science integration team leader for the Interior Columbia Ecosystem Management Project,” said Bosworth.
Quigley currently serves as assistant director for research at the Rocky Mountain Research Station with offices in Fort Collins, Colo., and Ogden, Utah. He replaces Tom Mills, who moved earlier this year to the agency’s national headquarters as deputy chief of business operations.
“I’m happy to be returning to the Pacific Northwest Research Station where I have spent much of my career and I’m eager to be involved with some of the station’s critical research,” said Quigley. “I’m also looking forward to working with the Pacific Northwest Region of the Forest Service to further integrate science into land management decisions on the national forests. My experience at the Blue Mountains Natural Resource Institute and the interior Columbia Basin project provided me valuable lessons for that task.”
The Pacific Northwest Research Station, with approximately 500 employees, is one of eight USDA Forest Service Research facilities. It is organized into seven research programs conducted at 10 laboratories and research centers in Alaska, Washington, and Oregon as well as experimental forests in the three states.
Quigley has a bachelor’s degree as well as a master’s in watershed and range science from Utah State University. He holds a doctorate in range science with an emphasis on economics from Colorado State University. Quigley also studied meteorology at the University of Utah while serving in the U.S. Air Force.
A reporting date for Quigley has not been set.