Meet Our Team
Rick Cantrell
President
RickCantrell@BlackBriarEnv.com
Rick is President and CEO of BlackBriar Environmental, LLC.
Prior to establishing BlackBriar in October of 2012, Rick served as Vice President & Chief Operating Officer of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, Inc. At SFI, Rick was responsible for general operations of the program and served as staff executive for committees in several key issue areas, such as the development of the SFI Standards. Rick currently serves as the Executive Secretary for the SFI External Review Panel and as Staff Consultant for the National Association of State Foresters’ Forest Markets Committee.
Prior to SFI, Rick worked at the American Forest & Paper Association in a variety of roles including the early development of the SFI program. Rick also served as the staff executive for many committees, including the SFI Executive Committee, the Independent SFI External Review Panel, Water and Wetlands Committee, SFI Monitoring & Measurements Working Group, SFI Enhancements Task Group, Landowner Assistance Program Committee, and the Southern Forest Assessment Steering Committee.
Rick's extensive professional experience includes working as: a forest research associate at Auburn University, an extension forester at the University of Tennessee, a wetlands biologist for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and as a private forest management consultant in Pennsylvania.
Rick has authored many articles and editorials on sustainability, standards, certification, forest and wildlife management, and educational outreach, published in both professional journals and popular media. Rick is a trained and experienced speaker and has delivered hundreds of presentations to diverse audiences on sustainability and the conservation of natural resources.
Rick graduated with honors from North Carolina State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in forest management and from the University of Florida with a master's degree in forest science. Rick was the 1999 recipient of the Society of American Foresters' Young Forester Leadership Award and the 1990 recipient of the Kentucky-Tennessee Chapter of the Society American Foresters’ Outstanding Service in the Promotion of Forestry award.
Dr. Patricia 'Pat' Layton
Senior Vice President
Pat has a diverse career in forestry. In addition to her work at BlackBriar Environmental, she serves as the Strategic Advisor of Clemson University’s Wood Utilization + Design Institute and a Professor Emerita of Forestry. She previously served for 12 years as the Institute’s founding director. She spent the first 14 years of her 26 years at Clemson as Director of the School of Agricultural, Forest, and Environmental Sciences and as chair of both the Forest Resources and Forestry and Natural Resources departments.
Pat was a Senior Director with the American Forest & Paper Association. She represented the industry in recycling, life cycle analysis, sustainability, and energy.
Pat was also a Manager at Scott Paper Company, where she served as the forest policy and technical lead on all of Scott Paper’s forestry investments and opportunities.She developed new forestry and marketing initiatives, including playing a vital role in developing the American Forest & Paper Association’s Sustainable Forestry Initiative Program.
Before her Ph.D., she was a forest geneticist for Owens-Illinois in Jasper, Texas. After her Ph.D., she joined Oak Ridge National Laboratory as a Research Associate in the Short Rotation Woody Crops Program.
Pat has just completed a six-year term on the Sustainable Forestry Initiative Board. She is a Fellow in the Society of American Foresters and has served in many other personal and professional positions. Pat is a native of South Carolina and has forestry degrees from Clemson University, Texas A&M University, and the University of Florida.