Employees of the U.S. Forest Service — San Bernardino National Forest — welcomed Ellen Shaw Monday, Jan. 4 as the new acting forest supervisor. She is replacing Jody Noiron, who retired last week after nearly 38 years with the U.S. Forest Service.
Shaw’s role in managing the forest and employees will continue into the spring as the agency searches for a permanent forest supervisor.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE U.S. FOREST SERVICE
Shaw is currently the deputy director of the Forest Service’s National Partnership Office. She has served in acting positions as a district ranger on the San Juan National Forest, deputy forest supervisor on the Monongahela National Forest, National Forest System chief of staff, director for policy and data analysis in the Work Environment and Performance Office and director of the National Partnership Office.
Before joining the agency in 2015, she served for 15 years at the U.S. Department of State. During that time, she negotiated agreements on forests under the International Tropical Timber Organization, United Nations Crime Commission, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and other multilateral fora; developed conservation partnerships on forests and wildlife in Africa, Asia and Europe; supported water negotiations in the Middle East and contributed to environmental and social safeguards policy under the World Bank, International Finance Corporation and African Development Bank.
Shaw grew up on a farm near the Willamette National Forest in Oregon. She began her career as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Niger, West Africa, and worked in non-governmental and private sector organizations in the United States and India before joining the federal civil service.
She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon and a master’s degree at the Fletcher School of International Law and Diplomacy in Boston.
She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and two children, and will temporarily move to Southern California during her time on the San Bernardino National Forest.
