David S. deCalesta received a BA in psychology from Dartmouth College, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in wildlife ecology from Colorado State University. He began a life-long study of deer with a Ph.D. thesis on mule deer nutrition and physiology in 1970. Much of his work as Extension Wildlife Specialist and university teacher and researcher in Zoology (North Carolina State University) and Wildlife Ecology and Forest Science (Oregon State University) focused on deer (mule, black-tailed, and white-tailed) interactions with forest vegetation and wildlife communities. His work as a research wildlife biologist with the USDA Forest Service featured interactions between white-tailed deer and forest plant and animal communities. He spent the last third of his career as a wildlife consultant and forest certification specialist (Forest Stewardship Council and Sustainable Forestry Initiative), primarily working with deer-forest interactions on forest ownerships ranging from dozens to thousands of ha on private and public forestlands, including state parks and forests and National Forests. With Timothy Pierson, he coordinated the activities of the Kinzua Quality Deer Cooperative, which demonstrated how public hunting could be managed to reduce deer density and impact to levels enhancing diversity and sustainability of forest products and wildlife and vegetative communities.

Michael C. Eckley　received a B.S. in Forest Resources Management with a minor in Communications from West Virginia University and an M.S. in Forestry at the University of Maine-Orono.　 His career has centered on eastern hardwood forest management and assisting private land ownerships throughout the eastern United States.　 Much of his time is devoted to outreach and education along with specialization in assessing forest conditions, planning, and promoting responsible forestry practices.　 Mike is a Society of American Foresters (SAF) Certified Forester and is currently employed by The Nature Conservancy, serving as their Forestry Manager for the Working Woodlands Program (www.nature.org/workingwoodlands).