Organizational Structure

Since the inception of the network in 2001, the Board of Directors and the Technical Committee have been extensively involved in developing the monitoring program. These two entities continue to direct the program, working in concert to guide the long-term monitoring efforts of the Central Alaska Network.

Board of Directors:

• Paul Anderson (Chair), Superintendent, Denali National Park and Preserve
• Meg Jensen, Superintendent, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve
• Greg Dudgeon, Superintendent, Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve
• Sara Wesser, Regional Inventory and Monitoring Coordinator, Alaska Region
• Bob Winfree, Science Advisor, Alaska Region
• Maggie MacCluskie, Inventory and Monitoring Coordinator, Central Alaska Network

The Board of Directors for the Central Alaska Network includes the superintendent from each park, the Alaska Region Inventory and Monitoring Coordinator, the Alaska Region Science Advisor, and the Network Coordinator. The Board of Directors is the final decision-making body and is accountable for the entire network. One Superintendent serves as the Board Chairman and this position rotates among the Superintendents every two to three years. The Superintendents are the voting members of the Board, and the other members serve as advisors. A key feature of the charter governing the CAKN Board of Directors is that all decisions are made by consensus.

Technical Advisory Committee:

Central Alaska Network:

• Maggie MacCluskie (Chair), Central Alaska Network Coordinator
• Trey Simmons, Central Alaska Network Aquatic Ecologist
• Laura Weaver, Central Alaska Network Visual Information Specialist

Alaska Region:

• Sara Wesser, Alaska Region Inventory and Monitoring Coordinator
• Robert Winfree, Alaska Region Science Advisor

Wrangell-St-Elias National Park and Preserve:

• Eric Veach, Chief of Resources
• Judy Putera, Wildlife Biologist
• Mary Beth Cook, Botanist

Denali National Park and Preserve:

• Philip Hooge, Assistant Superintendent
• Guy Adema, Physical Scientist
• Carl Roland, Botanist

Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve:

• Tom Liebscher, Chief of Resources
• John Burch, Wildlife Biologist
• Melanie Wike, Wildlife Biologist
• Amy Larsen, Aquatic Ecologist

The Technical Committee works with the Network Coordinator to formulate recommendations for all aspects of the program. The Network Coordinator then presents these recommendations to the Board of Directors for review, input, and approval. The Technical Committee also serves as the means by which park staff that are not on the Technical Committee may raise various issues for discussion or clarification.

Network Staff:

For each of the Central Alaska Network's 37 vital signs, there is a "Principal Investigator" that is assigned overall responsibility for project design, conduct, and reporting. There is also a "Park Lead" to ensure that park-level interests are considered in the monitoring of each vital sign. Most of CAKN's Principal Investigators, and all Park Leads, are staffed by scientists already working for Denali, Yukon-Charley, or Wrangell-St. Elias. This is a strategic decision based on several factors: involvement of park staff in network monitoring keeps the program relevant to each park; park staff have expressed significant interest in running monitoring projects and park management is supportive of this shared effort; using existing park staff allows more of the budget to go towards the sizable operational costs (logistics, equipment, supplies, etc.) involved with monitoring such a large network (21.7 million acres). Principal Investigators and Park Leads for each vital sign are listed on individual vital sign Web pages.

Remaining staff positions within the Central Alaska Network consist of the Network Coordinator, Data Manager, Assistant Data Manger, Stream Ecologist, and Visual Information Specialist. Each position exists to support either the management, implementation, or the communication of the network's monitoring efforts. This core staff is listed at Contact Us.