President

Dr. Karen Hickman

Professor and Director, Environmental Science Program
Director of Undergraduate Research, Honors, and Academic Assessment
Ferguson College of Agriculture
Oklahoma State University
Stillwater, OK
405-744-9579

1st Vice President

Dr. Jeff Goodwin

Director for the Texas A & M Center for Grazinglands and Ranch Management in College Station, Texas

2nd Vice President

Dr. John Walker

Professor Emeritus in the Department of Range, Wildlife and Fisheries Management at the Texas A & M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in San Angelo

Directors 2022-2024

Tipton Hudson

Professor for Washington State University Extension, a career he began in 2003 after 2 years as the Executive Vice-President for the Washington Cattlemen’s Association

Dr. Leslie Roche

Associate Professor of Cooperative Extension
University of California, Davis

lmroche@ucdavis.edu | @UCDRange

My research and extension program is at the intersection of agricultural, environmental, and social aspects of ranching and livestock production on California’s rangelands and pasturelands. I work with a diversity of stakeholders to integrate management expertise and applied research to address key challenges on grazing lands, including managing for multiple agricultural and ecological outcomes, as well as coping with and adapting to drought.

Directors 2023-2025

Dr. Chuck Butterfield

Semi-retired Senior Ecologist for Y2 Consultants, Coordinator of the Greys River Forest Collaborative and Chair of the Alpine Area Wildfire Protection Coalition in NW Wyoming. Prior to that, he was a Professor and Department Chair at Chadron State College for 14 years.

Julie Elliot

Serves as a liaison to the Northern Plains Climate Hub and works as a Range Conservationist and Rangeland Management Specialist for USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)

Directors 2024-2026

Dr. Mark Thorne

State Range and Livestock Extension Specialist for the University of Hawaii-Manoa Cooperative Extension

Dr. Kevin Sedivec

Professor in the Range Science Program at North Dakota State University

Jess Peterson, Executive vice President

Jess Peterson has served as the Executive Vice President of the Society for Range Management since 2009.  One of the longest serving EVPs in SRM history, Jess credits the support and involvement of SRM members, volunteer committee members, board of directors and staff for over a decade of incredible growth and success at SRM.  A native of Montana, Jess spent nearly 15 years in Washington, DC working on agriculture and natural resource policy.  He and his family relocated to Montana in early 2018.  Based in Billings, he now travels to Washington, DC on a regular basis.  Jess enjoys learning and applying range management practices on a daily basis as he and his family manage an Angus cattle herd on deeded and leased range and pasture lands in Montana.

Phone: 406-850-1592,
evp@rangelands.org

Maggie Tupper, Director of Office Services

Maggie oversees SRM’s overall office management, including the central filing system, mailings and master lists. In addition, Maggie coordinates the SRM Elections and portions of the SRM Annual awards. She can be reached at office@rangelands.org 

Kayla Walker, Director of Programs

Kayla oversees the certification programs for SRM, including the Certified Range Management Consultant (CRMC), Certified Professional in Rangeland Management (CPRM), and the new Associate Professional in Range Management (APRM). She will also assist the Program Accreditation Committee, maintain job listings, and help develop Rangeland News. Walker has added the role of Content Creator to her job description, maintaining all SRM social media channels and assisting with outreach and promotional efforts as needed. She is also a member of the Good Grazing Makes Cent$ production team, developing newsletters and managing the Facebook group. She can be reached at programs@rangelands.org.

Kelly Fogarty, Senior Director Operations

Kelly assists the EVP with staffing oversight and management, is the lead SRM staffer directing SRM’s training activities, workshops, and partnership agreements. In addition, she manages and executes the Annual Meeting responsibilities of the SRM Headquarters.

Phone: 202-870-3342, operations@rangelands.org

Mary Jo Foley-Birrenkott, Director of Membership & Outreach

Mary Jo oversees the day-to-day SRM membership functions and engages all facets of the SRM membership. She manages partnerships and collaborative initiatives, coordinates training agreements, provides outreach at section and affiliate organization meetings, and coordinates SRM communications. She can be reached at: srmoutreach@rangelands.org

Lia Biondo, Director of Policy & Federal Affairs

Lia represents SRM at meetings with federal agencies, Congress, industry associations and sister societies in Washington DC. She plans, facilitates, and carries out all of SRM’s fly-in activities, provides regular news updates via the SRM Capital Updates and coordinates SRM communications.
Phone: 202-870-1552,
policy@rangelands.org

Kristen Albers, Director of Finance

Kristen serves as the SRM Chief Financial Officer. She assists with budget development and implements the approved annual budget. She also carries out the daily bookkeeping duties.
Phone: 303-318-6630, accounting@rangelands.org

Chris Lapine, Director of Membership Services

Chris assists SRM members with questions regarding renewal, current membership status and log-in troubleshooting along with and annual meeting registration.