Staff

Executive Director

Adam Burnett serves as the Executive Director of the Beaver Institute after a career of building and running non-profits in the field of performing arts and environmental conservation. He received his BA from the University of Kansas in Theatre and spent a dozen years as the co-founder and artistic director of Buran Theatre. His plays, poems, and essays have been produced and published nationally, many of which concern pathways of cooperation with animals and the environment. As a Development Director and fundraising consultant, Adam has worked with a bevy of institutions including Exit Art, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Dixon Place, Queer|Art, and Health In Harmony, among others. Creating intentional communities, reaching consensus, and manifesting opportunities for plurality are traits he relies upon in leading Beaver Institute. Adam’s voracious passion for beavers developed in 2020 as he navigated co-managing a prairie pond with beavers and local farmers. He lives in Salem, NY between the Adirondack and Green Mountain ranges. Contact: adam@beaverinstitute.org

BeaverCorps Program Director

Loren Taylor serves as Program Director of BeaverCorps. She is a Certified Wildlife Biologist and received her BS in Wildlife Management from Eastern Kentucky University. She worked as an ornithological researcher in Michigan and Florida before becoming an avian biologist with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. She spent a decade researching and monitoring eastern bird populations and worked closely with private and public landowners to implement best management practices and resolve human-wildlife conflicts. During her time as a state agency biologist, she also worked to develop and improve wildlife laws and regulations. Loren currently resides in eastern Idaho where she began working with conservation-based nonprofits. She became passionate about beavers soon after moving to the western U.S. and witnessing firsthand how critical beavers are for the greater Yellowstone ecosystem. She worked with nonprofits to encourage landowners and agencies to implement nonlethal options for beaver damage mitigation. Through this work, she was introduced to the Beaver Institute and the BeaverCorps Program. Loren is passionate about solution-based management and empowering landowners and land managers with reasonable and equitable resolutions that foster living with wildlife. She plans to utilize her experience, knowledge, and national network to amplify and expand this revolutionary program. Contact: loren@beaverinstitute.org

Program Specialist

Avary Sassaman serves as the Program Specialist for Beaver Institute. After completing a B.S. in History and International Studies at Concordia University Irvine, Avary went on to pursue her M. A. in Communication from La Salle University in Philadelphia. Over the last decade, she has worked in higher education, empowering students to find their voices as public speakers. In addition to her time teaching at the college, she has worked with several nonprofit organizations supporting initiatives in public media, community advocacy, and education in restorative ecology and agriculture. A passion for animals has been a driving force in her life and she spends her free time assisting her local Audubon chapter and rehabilitating wildlife near her home in central Pennsylvania.

Volunteers

Founder/President

Mike Callahan is the founder of the Beaver Institute Inc. He received a B.A. from St. Michael’s College and worked for 20 years as a Physician Assistant providing medical care to under-served populations. He began saving beavers in 1998 after founding the Pioneer Valley Wetland Volunteers with his wife Ruth. In 2000 he started Beaver Solutions LLC and has personally resolved over 1,900 beaver-human conflicts. He teaches beaver workshops, started an online Beaver Management Forum on Facebook, and created an instructional DVD to teach others to do this work. In 2017 he founded the Beaver Institute, Inc. to promote coexistence with beavers for watershed restoration, biodiversity and climate resilience. His duties as President of the Beaver Institute include training BeaverCorps professionals across North America. In his spare time he loves being outdoors, reading, spiritual pursuits, and time spent with friends and family.

National Working Group Facilitator

Dr. Bonnie Gulas-Wroblewski has been a professional wildlife rehabilitator for 18 years, during which time she founded and served as executive director of a 501(c)3 nonprofit wildlife rehabilitation and education organization in rural Texas. She has a bachelor’s degree in Geology and Geophysics from Yale University and completed a PhD in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences at Texas A&M University, studying skunk disease ecology and One Health (the connections between environmental, animal, and human health) in the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital. Concurrently, she completed a Graduate Certificate in Applied Biodiversity Science and a Certificate in Nonprofit Management at The Bush School of Government & Public Service, Texas A&M University. Currently, she is an Assistant Research Scientist on the Policy Team at Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute and adjunct faculty at Unity College, where she teaches courses in wildlife conservation and animal health and behavior.

PR/Marketing

Amy Hunter is a publicity and marketing veteran whose clients range from Fortune 500 companies to fledgling start-ups, and from tech to travel. She is passionate about bringing compelling stories to light and has garnered national and local publicity in all forms of media. Based in Portland, Oregon, Amy joined the Beaver Institute team in 2021, and she’s excited to help spread the word about beavers, their vital importance to the planet, and how we can support them.

Development/Communications

Emma Huvos provides communications and development support to the Beaver Institute as a volunteer. In her day job, she works to end animal testing as a Program Officer at Rise for Animals. She previously worked as the Development Director for the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, Vermont’s largest nonprofit environmental and consumer advocacy group, and also has experience as a nature-based educator and entrepreneur. Emma holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Johns Hopkins University. She lives in Vermont where she enjoys paddling, hiking, and gardening with her husband and three-legged rescue dog, Cricket.

Librarian

Logan Pitcher grew up in Granville, Ohio and studied Operations Management at The Ohio State University. He has a passion for operations, reading and data/research that he hopes to use to help support the Beaver Institute. He loves spending time with his girlfriend & family, hiking with his Labrador Retriever (Zoey) and trail running/mountain biking. Logan resides in Columbus, Ohio and is excited to volunteer as the BI Librarian to further the mission of BI to benefit beavers, our communities, and our planet.

IT Consultant

Michael Kesten met Mike Callahan in the 90’s back when Mike was running the Pioneer Valley Wetlands Volunteers.  Michael ran a business for 25 years, engineering and building video production facilities. He was a Beaver Institute board member when it launched. In his retirement he volunteers with various non-profits working to benefit the environment, animals, and democracy. Michael sees beavers as integral to rebuilding ecosystems that man has altered.