Board members
Green Fire Conservancy’s Board of Directors is made up of experts, conservationists, and professionals from both near and far. Each member is committed to GFC’s mission of protecting, conserving, stewarding, and studying the lands of Michigan’s beautiful Upper Peninsula for the benefit of both present and future generations.
Over the past 30 years, Ray Johnson has become an expert on Upper Peninsula lands and special features. He has developed long-term relationships with large and small landowners. Through personal acquisitions and facilitating deals among third parties, Mr. Johnson has protected thousands of acres in the Upper Peninsula. Much of this land-looking and protection activity has been in the rugged area of the U.P. known as the Michigamme Highlands. Tracts purchased by Johnson have high quality lakes and streams, remnants of old growth, and other rare features. Some areas of purchased properties have required ecological rehabilitation or full-blown restoration. This work has been possible through Johnson’s personal ingenuity and capital as well as assistance from trusted advisors and skilled contractors.
Mr. Johnson’s educational background includes both biology and human nutrition. This anchors his scientific understanding and systematic approach to the U.P. landscape. His successful business careers took him around the world, but his passion and fascination has always been the Michigamme Highlands. His expertise has grown through meaningful relationships with scientists, foresters, resource agency staff, old-timers, loggers, heavy equipment operators, and landowners. Above all, he gets his “boots on the ground” to see firsthand the special places in the Highlands.
Ray johnson
RITA JAIN, M.D.
Dr. Rita Jain is a rheumatologist, who received her M.D. from the State University of New York at Stony Brook School of Medicine and completed her rheumatology fellowship at North Shore University Hospital, in New York, followed by a clinical research fellowship at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas.
Dr. Jain served as a faculty member at North Shore University Hospital prior to moving into the biopharmaceutical industry, initially at Pfizer (formerly Pharmacia and G.D. Searle and Co.) in the Arthritis, Inflammation and Pain Group followed by Abbott/AbbVie Inc. where she held various leadership roles including as Vice President of Men’s and Women’s Health and Metabolic Development at AbbVie, Inc. She subsequently served as the Chief Medical Officer of several biotechnology companies including Akebia Therapeutics, Immunovant and ChemoCentryx, Inc. (until its acquisition by Amgen). Currently she serves on the Board of Directors of three publicly traded biotechnology companies.
JOHN LEONARD, M.D.
John Leonard, MD is the CEO of Intellia Therapeutics, a NASDAQ-listed company pursuing advanced clinical development of CRISPR-based medicines. Intellia under Dr. Leonard’s leadership reported the first instance of in vivo human gene editing. He has had a long career in pharmaceutical research and development, with prior positions including the Chief Scientific Officer and Head of Global R and D at Abbvie and before that the Head of Global Pharmaceutical R and D at Abbott Laboratories. His work led to fundamental advances in the understanding and treatment of HIV-related disease, the development of curative regimens for Hepatitis C infection, and the development of several widely used medical therapeutics for cancer and inflammatory disorders.
Dr. Leonard earned a B.A. in Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and earned his M.D. at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, which was followed by further training at Stanford University and the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Leonard serves as the lead board director of IQVIA, a leading pharmaceutical services firm as well as serving on the board of Intellia Therapeutics.
Dr. GONZALO GIRIBET
Dr. Gonzalo Giribet is a zoologist and a Professor of Zoology at Harvard University. Raised in a small beach town in Catalonia, Giribet’s interest in animals, especially aquatic invertebrates, began at a young age. After receiving bachelor’s degrees in zoology and fundamental biology, Giribet earned a PhD in Animal Biology from the University of Barcelona. Following his postdoctoral research at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, he began teaching at Harvard University in 2000. Giribet now holds the title of Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, where he serves as museum director. As a Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Giribet’s studies focus on the evolution and biogeography of invertebrates, a field in which he is a leading expert.
The Giribet Lab’s field research has brought Giribet around the world and lead to the discovery of over a hundred new species, genera, and families of invertebrates. Giribet has written hundreds of scientific articles, served on editorial boards for multiple journals on invertebrates and systematics, and is the co-author of Invertebrates (4th ed.) and The Invertebrate Tree of Life, two of the leading textbooks in the field of invertebrate studies. In his spare time, Giribet is an avid windsurfer and has competed at an international level.
RACHEL SEEDS
Rachel Seeds brings over 15 years of human resources expertise to the Board, with a career spanning both Fortune 500 corporations and early-stage start-ups. She holds an undergraduate degree from Indiana University and an MBA with an emphasis in Management from North Central College.
A lifelong nature enthusiast, Rachel grew up spending summers in Northern Michigan, where hiking, fishing, and exploring the outdoors became cherished family traditions. Now a mother of young children, she is deeply committed to preserving the beauty and ecological integrity of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, not only because it has been a treasured place throughout her life, but also because she believes strongly in protecting land and wildlife for future generations to enjoy.
Her professional and personal experiences uniquely position her to contribute to Green Fire Conservancy’s mission, blending strategic leadership skills with a heartfelt passion for conservation.
DR. EMILY J. SILVER
Dr. Emily J. Silver is an Associate Professor, Associate Chair, and Director of Graduate Studies at Michigan State University in the Department of Forestry. Dr. Silver earned her M.S in Natural Resources Science and Management from the University of Minnesota and her Ph.D. in Forestry from the University of Maine. She studies coupled human and natural systems in two ways: 1) integrating social and ecological data to predict effects of human behavior on forest ecosystems and 2) measuring the influence of resource quality and availability on decision-making. She studies topics like agroforestry, family forest owners, wildfire social acceptability, knowledge co-production, wood-based bioenergy, mass timber, and biochar. She also has an Extension appointment and is passionate about helping Michigan citizens with natural resource concerns and questions.
At MSU, Dr. Silver teaches Human Dimensions of Forestry and has taught Natural Resource Policy. Prior to joining the faculty at MSU, Dr. Silver worked for the USDA Forest Service’s Northern Research Station as a Research Forester. Dr. Silver is also serving as the Co Editor-in-Chief of the scientific journal Society & Natural Resources, as president of the Michigan Forest Association, and serves on the board of the U.S. Biochar Initiative and the Society of American Forester’s Forest Science and Technology committee.
dr. KARL MALCOLM
Dr. Karl Malcolm is a wildlife ecologist, conservation professional, public servant, and, along with his family, an avid participant in nature. He grew up in rural northern Michigan, where his formative experiences included lugging buckets full of maple sap each spring, long days as a farm laborer, and sunrises as first mate on a Lake Michigan salmon boat.
Karl has served in leadership positions with the United States Forest Service (USFS) at local, regional, and national levels, and taught internationally on conservation, fish and wildlife management, and wilderness stewardship. He began his public sector work in New Mexico, after earning his PhD in wildlife ecology through a joint appointment with the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. Karl's doctoral research focused on conservation of Asiatic black bears in southwest China. His writing, photography, and public appearances have been featured in a variety of outlets including Natural History Magazine, The Backcountry Journal, Bugle Magazine, The Pope and Young Ethic, The Black Range Naturalist, Trout Magazine, MeatEater, and Animal Planet. Karl now serves as vice president of conservation for the Ruffed Grouse Society & American Woodcock Society, and resides with his wife, daughter, and son in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.
DAVID EICH
David Patrick Eich is a lawyer, entrepreneur and naturalist. He was a lawyer and partner of Kirkland & Ellis LLP for 31 years, where he led the global equity practice in Europe and Asia, co-founding and practicing in the London, Munich, and Hong Kong offices before retiring from Kirkland in 2025. Prior to Kirkland, Mr. Eich was law clerk to Hon. Robert W. Warren, Senior United States District Judge (E. D. Wis.) from 1992-94. He received his A.B. In Government, magna cum laude, from Harvard College in 1988 and his J.D., honors, Parker School, Columbia Law School in 1992. He has spoken and written widely across the world on complex legal issues relating to private equity transactions. Mr. Eich divides his time between Hong Kong, Hokkaido and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.