Advisory Committee Members

There are currently seven Committee members and three Associate Members.

The Commissioner of the Department of Fish and Game, with the approval of the Fisheries and Wildlife Board, appoints the Members and Associate Members. Together these members comprise the Advisory Committee that makes recommendations to the Board and Division Director.

Committee Members

Mark J. Mello, of New Bedford, is currently the Chair of the Committee. He is the Research Director at the Lloyd Center for Environmental Studies in South Dartmouth, MA. Mark holds an M.S. degree in Zoology and his particular expertise is insects, especially butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera), and estuarine and freshwater ecology.

Matthew Sisk, of Braintree, is currently the Fisheries and Wildlife Board liaison and is interested in the protection and management of wild birds and mammals and endangered species. He currently serves as the Executive Director of Civil Process and Community Corrections at the Norfolk County Sheriff’s Office. Prior to working at the Sheriff’s Office, Mr. Sisk was Deputy Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, overseeing 450,000 acres of parks, forests, parkways, watersheds, beaches, and pools.

Mr. Sisk has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Assumption College in Worcester, where he majored in the Classics, and he has a history of service as a federal and a state government employee. He has worked for the U.S. Small Business Administration in the Regional Administrator’s Office, assigned to the Massachusetts District Office as an Economic Development Specialist. Mr. Sisk has also served as Senior Advisor at the U.S. General Services Administration and as Director of Board and Commission Appointments for the Massachusetts Governor’s Office.

An avid sportsman and conservationist, Mr. Sisk belongs to Trout Unlimited, Ducks Unlimited, the Ruffed Grouse Society, the American Woodcock Society, and The Trustees; has served as president of the English Pointer Club of New England; and is a Life Member of the Braintree Rifle and Pistol Club. 

Timothy J. Flanagan, of Lenox, Vice Chair of the Committee, is a Professor of Environmental and Life Sciences at Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. His professional interests include landscape ecology, geomorphology, and biodiversity studies. He also maintains a private practice in environmental consulting doing wetlands delineation and biological inventories for the protection of natural areas. He has previously worked as the Science curator at the Berkshire Museum and as a Project Director for the Massachusetts Audubon Society.

Kevin D. Powers, of Plymouth, Secretary of the Committee, was a biologist with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in Anchorage, AK cataloging coastal seabird breeding colonies on the Alaskan Peninsula as part of an Outer Continental Shelf Biological Assessment Study prior to the completion the Alaskan pipeline. He was then a scientist at the Manomet Bird Observatory where he authored several publications on the distribution, abundance, and ecological role of marine birds and mammals in the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank and mid-Atlantic Bight. He later collaborated with R.G.B. Brown (Canadian Wildlife Service) on a publication that described seasonal range and abundance of marine birds in shelf waters from Cape Hatteras to the Scotian Shelf. He also serves on the advisory council for Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.

Wayne R. Petersen, of Hanson, is the Director of the Massachusetts Important Bird Areas (IBA) Program at the Massachusetts Audubon Society. He is a New England Regional Editor for North American Birds magazine and the New England Christmas Bird Count Editor for American Birds.  He serves on the board of Bird Observer magazine, the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and the Wildlands Trust. A former life science teacher, today he gives workshops, lectures widely, and leads international birding tours. He authored the "National Audubon Society Pocket Guide to Songbirds and Familiar Backyard Birds" and co-authored "Birds of Massachusetts", the "Massachusetts Breeding Birds Atlas", and "Birds of New England."  In 2003, Wayne was the recipient of the American Birding Association’s Ludlow Griscom Award for outstanding contributions in regional ornithology.

William E. Brumback, of Acton, retired as the Conservation Director of the New England Wild Flower Society in March 2019 where he oversaw the Society's plant conservation programs. These programs included the New England Plant Conservation Program (NEPCoP), a regional voluntary collaborative of 150 collaborators, mostly professional in all six New England states, and the Plant Conservation Volunteer Corps (over 400 trained amateurs monitoring rare plants and invasive species throughout New England). Bill published, with other authors, "Flora Conservanda: New England, The NEPCoP List of plants in need of conservation", which provides the status of over 500 plants that are of conservation concern in New England.

David H. Small, of Athol, a lifelong MA resident, is president of the 250-member Athol Bird and Nature Club and acting Director of the Millers River Environmental Center. Dave shares his passion for birds, butterflies, dragonflies, and, most recently, moths through workshops, lectures, and field trips around New England. Focusing on lands of conservation interest, Dave has organized biological inventories finding and documenting state listed species for the MA Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, various conservation organizations, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and local communities. He is a specialist in early successional vegetation and habitat management consulting for public and private land managers and utility companies throughout New England. Dave has served on the boards of several non-profits including Millers River Watershed Council, Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust, Mass Watershed Coalition, and Mass Audubon's Important Bird Area Technical Advisory Committee. Working for the Commonwealth of MA for 35 years, Dave served as Assistant Regional Director at the DCR Quabbin Reservoir in Central Massachusetts, retiring in 2013.

Associate Members

Andrew D. Finton, of Watertown, is the Director of Conservation Science for the Massachusetts Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, responsible for defining conservation goals, assessing threats, and implementing conservation strategies. Andy worked with the Massachusetts Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program in developing the Commonwealth's BioMap, prioritizing rare species habitats and natural communities for conservation, and for the New York Natural Heritage Program as an Ecologist overseeing biological inventory in the Hudson Valley. Andy earned a B.S. from Cornell and an M.S. in Forest Ecology from the University of Massachusetts.

Russell T. Hopping, of Boxford, is the Ecology Program Director for The Trustees of Reservations. He has a Master’s degree in Environmental Biology from Antioch New England Graduate School and a Bachelor’s degree in Human Ecology from the College of the Atlantic. He has worked for The Trustees since 1997, overseeing the stewardship of ecological resources at The Trustees’ more than 26,000 acres. Russ has more than 20 years of experience restoring and managing natural habitats and resources including, coastal shorebird populations on barrier beaches, fire-adapted habitats, grasslands, rare species habitat, and control of invasive species.