Susan began her career with the Forest Service at the Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) in Madison, Wisconsin, and has worked for the Forest Service for 29 years. During that time, she has held positions in both Research and State & Private Forestry. Susan has a B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin.

She is the lead manager for FPL’s research program on use of material from overstocked forest lands and woody biomass. Since 1992, Susan has lead FPL’s active and notable program on small-diameter timber. During this time, she developed first-hand knowledge about issues related to both economic diversification of forestry-dependent rural communities and the need to obtain the highest economic value for thinning material to offset forest management costs. She has successfully helped numerous rural communities create forest products businesses utilizing small-diameter material, including biomass energy, roundwood engineered structures, wood shavings, wood/plastic composites, and lumber. She currently manages the Forest Service’s Woody Biomass Utilization Grants program and is the Program Manager for the State and Private Forestry Technology Marketing Unit.