Regional Directorate Team

The Regional Directorate Team manages U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service activities in the 13-state Northeast Region, from Maine to Virginia and West Virginia. Team members are based in the Hadley, Mass., regional office, where approximately 200 employees work. Another 700 employees work in field stations from Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge in northern Maine to the Southwestern Virginia Field Office in Abingdon.

Credit: Kevin Downey Photography Wendi Weber, Regional Director

Wendi Weber was appointed as Northeast Regional Director in 2011. As regional director, Weber oversees Service activities in 13 states from Maine to Virginia, and the District of Columbia, leading more than 1,000 Service employees working in more than 130 field offices, and 72 refuges that encompass more than 500,000 acres.

Weber’s region has a wide array of habitats including the Northern Forest, Appalachian Mountains, big rivers, freshwater and salt marshes, coastal plains, estuaries, barrier beaches, coastal inlands, Great Lakes and the Chesapeake Bay.

Weber joined the Service in 1998, beginning her career in Washington, D.C. and serving as chief of endangered species in the Northwest Region and assistant regional director for ecological services in the Midwest Region, coming to the Northeast Region as deputy regional director in 2007.

Prior to working for the Service, Weber worked for the states of Florida and Georgia as a field biologist.

Originally from Rochester, New York, Weber has a bachelor’s degree in zoology from the University of Rhode Island and a master’s degree in fisheries from the University of Georgia.

Hi-res image downloads

All Captions: Wendi Weber, Regional Director
All Credits: Kevin Downey Photography

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Credit: Kevin Downey Photography Deborah Rocque, Deputy Regional Director

Deb Rocque is the deputy regional director for the Service's Northeast Region. Rocque serves with the Regional Director to support Service activities in 13 states in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. She is directly involved in handling the region's day–to-day operations.

Rocque began her Service career in 2003 with the contaminants program in Alaska. She also served as the case manager for the 2004 Selendang Ayo oil spill and was the avian influenza coordinator for the Service's migratory bird program in the Alaska Regional Office.

Prior to coming to the Northeast Region in 2012, Rocque served in Washington D.C. as the deputy chief of the Division of Natural Resources and Planning for the National Wildlife Refuge System, where she oversaw fire management, the inventory and monitoring program, air quality, policy, wildlife resources, and refuge planning. She has been a key leader in the development of Conserving the Future; Wildlife Refuges and the Next Generation, a new vision for the National Wildlife Refuge System.

Rocque was born and raised in Connecticut. She received both her bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Connecticut, where her research focused on population modeling of greater scaup. She also earned a PhD from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where she studied intrinsic markers in avian populations.

Hi-res image downloads

All Captions: Deborah Rocque, Deputy Regional Director
All Credits: Kevin Downey Photography

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Credit: USFWS/Heather Bell Rick Bennett, Regional Scientist, Science Applications

Rick Bennett
Regional Scientist - Science Applications

Dr. Richard (Rick) O. Bennett began working for the Service as chief of the contaminants program at the Annapolis, Md., field office in 1989.  He then worked for the Washington, D.C., in fish and wildlife management assistance until he was selected as the deputy assistant regional director for fisheries in the Northeast Region.  He subsequently served as one of two geographic assistant regional directors, working closely with all Service programs in six states, and then as the assistant regional director for migratory birds and state programs.  Bennett was the region’s deputy regional director for five years until being named regional scientist. 

As regional scientist, Rick guides the region's efforts on topics such as strategic habitat conservation, climate change, National efforts on amphibian and reptile conservation, ocean science initiatives and science coordination across programs and agencies.

Prior to working for the Service, Rick was a member of the faculty at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Pathology, in Baltimore.  He has been with the Northeast Region since 1993 and science advisor since 2007.

Rick has a bachelor’s degree in marine biology from Farleigh Dickinson University in Madison, N.J., a master’s degree in biology from Adelphi University in Garden City, N.Y., and a doctorate in aquatic pathology from the University of Rhode Island in Kingston.

Dr. Bennett is married with two daughters and makes his home in Sunderland, Massachusetts.

Hi-res image downloads

All Captions: Rick Bennett, Regional Scientist, Science Applications
All Credits: USFWS/Heather Bell

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Credit: USFWS/Rosie Walunas Henry Chang, Assistant Regional Director - Budget and Administration

Henry Chang
Assistant Regional Director - Budget and Administration

Henry Chang began his career with the Service in 2003 as program analyst for Ecological Services in the Hadley, Mass., Northeast Regional Office. He was responsible for the program's regional budget allocations and worked closely with field offices and program managers.

Chang was selected as the Northeast Region's assistant regional director for budget and administration in 2010. He manages the region's finances, contracting and purchasing, human resources, engineering, information technology, and safety and occupational health.

Prior to working for the Service, Chang was with the Peace Corps headquarters in Washington, D.C., as an administrative officer/resource and program coordinator. Previously, he worked as program examiner for the Office of Management and Budget in Washington, taught English and social studies in a Washington multicultural high school, and served two stints as a Peace Corps volunteer - first in Sierra Leone as a health extension worker, and then in Botswana as an English teacher.

Chang graduated from the University of California in Irvine with bachelor's degrees in both psychology and sociology. He earned a master's degree in secondary education from George Washington University and a master's degree in international affairs from Columbia University.

Hi-res image downloads

All Captions: Henry Chang, Assistant Regional Director - Budget and Administration
All Credits: USFWS/Rosie Walunas

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Credit: USFWS/Rosie Walunas Kenneth Elowe, Ph.D., Assistant Regional Director - Science Applications

Kenneth Elowe, Ph.D.
Assistant Regional Director - Science Applications

Ken Elowe joined the Service in 2010 after 23 years with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. As director of resource management beginning in 1997, he was responsible for fish and wildlife programs. He began his career with the Utah Division of Wildlife working with bears, mountain lions and furbearers.

Elowe initiated Maine’s Beginning with Habitat program, working with communities and agencies to conserve landscape-scale habitat for all species.  Elowe also worked with the United Nations and the Jordanian government on a cooperative landscape-scale rangeland restoration program. 

Elowe coordinates the Northeast Region’s work on: landscape-scale conservationand climate impacts to fish and wildlife.

Elowe received a bachelor’s degree in biology from Bowdoin College. He earned both a master’s degree and a doctorate in wildlife biology from the University of Massachusetts for his work on ecological behavior and reproductive physiology of black bears.

Hi-res image downloads

All Captions: Kenneth Elowe, Ph.D., Assistant Regional Director - Science Applications
All Credits: USFWS/Rosie Walunas

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Credit: USFWS/Heather Bell Kyla Hastie, Assistant Regional Director - External Affairs

Kyla Hastie
Assistant Regional Director - External Affairs

Kyla Hastie began working for the Service in the Southeast Region. Based Athens, Ga., she was in several positions, including public affairs specialist, Native American liaison, friends group coordinator and special event planner.

Now as assistant regional director for External Affairs for the Northeast Region, Hastie manages the region’s relations with the news media, Congress and Native Americans, as well as the Internet presence, and audiovisual and publication production. She has worked for the Northeast Region since 2008.

Hastie began her career in conservation with The Nature Conservancy, working as a government affairs specialist in Arlington, Va., and as outreach coordinator for the Altamaha River Bioreserve in Darien, Ga.

Hastie holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Southwestern University, and master’s degrees in public affairs and in environmental science from Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs.

Hi-res image downloads

All Captions: Kyla Hastie, Assistant Regional Director - External Affairs
All Credits: USFWS/Heather Bell

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Credit: USFWS Scott Kahan, Regional Chief - National Wildlife Refuge System

Scott Kahan
Regional Chief - National Wildlife Refuge System

Scott Kahan took the helm as chief of the National Wildlife Refuge System in the Northeast in August 2011. A native of Massachusetts, Kahan returns to New England. Most recently, he was the project leader at the Detroit Lakes Wildlife Management District in western Minnesota where he led a team working with landowners to establish thousands of acres of easements on private lands to conserve important areas for waterfowl.

Kahan has been instrumental in the development of the new vision for the National Wildlife Refuge System. He co-chairs the urban refuge initiative team as part of implementing the vision.

Kahan holds a BS degree in wildlife biology from Colorado State University and is a graduate of the Service’s Advanced Leadership Development Program.

Hi-res image downloads

All Captions: Scott Kahan, Regional Chief - National Wildlife Refuge System
All Credits: USFWS

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Credit: USFWS/Heather Bell Sherry Morgan, Assistant Regional Director - Migratory Birds and State Programs

Sherry Morgan
Assistant Regional Director - Migratory Birds and State Programs

Sherry Morgan started her career with the Service working in the Pennsylvania Field Office in State College, Pa., in 1987. Subsequently, she worked in the Northeast Regional Office in Newton Corner, Mass., followed by a stint in Washington, D.C., on wetlands and wetlands regulatory issues. She moved to Cortland, N.Y., as project leader for the New York Field Office and then to the Regional Office in Hadley, Mass., as one of two geographic assistant regional directors. She served as ARD for ecological services before being named ARD for migratory birds and state programs in 2003.

As ARD, Morgan oversees two disparate programs -- migratory birds, guided largely by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and wildlife and sport fish restoration, which manages federal grants.

Before working for the Service, Morgan worked for the Missouri Department of Conservation and for The Nature Conservancy.

Morgan is a Virginia native. She has a bachelor's degree in biology from Virginia Tech and a master's degree in botany from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Hi-res image downloads

All Captions: Sherry Morgan, Assistant Regional Director - Migratory Birds and State Programs
All Credits: USFWS/Heather Bell

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Credit: USFWS John Organ, Chief, Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration

John F. Organ, Ph.D.
Chief, Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration

John Organ began work in 1979 as the Service’s first assistant regional wetlands coordinator. John is currently chief of Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration for the Northeast Region. He and his staff work with the 13 northeast states and the District of Columbia to administer the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife and Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration programs, the State Wildlife Grants program, the Section 6 Endangered Species Recovery program, Coastal Wetlands Conservation program, Highlands Conservation program, and other collaborative grant programs.

John is an adjunct associate professor of wildlife ecology and conservation at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst where he received his Ph.D. in wildlife and fisheries biology, and permanent invited professor at the Universidad Andres Bello in Santiago, Chile. He supervises M.S. and Ph.D. students studying carnivore conservation and ecology in Canada, Chile, and the U.S., and teaches wildlife conservation and management and human dimensions of wildlife in Chile.

John has coauthored books, book chapters, and papers on subjects and species ranging from Canada lynx, river otters, spotted-necked otters, beaver, adaptive management, human dimensions, wildlife education, wildlife policy, leadership and wilderness.

Credit: USFWS/Heather Bell Paul Phifer, Assistant Regional Director - Ecological Services

Paul Phifer, Ph.D.
Assistant Regional Director - Ecological Services

Paul Phifer has worked for the Service since 2001, most recently as the project manager for the Northern Spotted Owl Recovery Plan in the Pacific Northwest. Previous positions included marbled murrelet coordinator and chief of candidate conservation in Washington, D.C.

Prior to working for the Service, Phifer was a diplomat the with U.S. Department of State negotiating, at the United Nations, international treaties on invasive species and movement of genetically modified organisms. After graduate school, he led field research in New England to study the effects of environmental contaminants on birds and bats for BioDiversity Research Institute.

As assistant regional director for Ecological Services, Phifer directs the Service’s efforts in the Northeast in a host of species and habitat conservation areas, including endangered species, environmental contaminants, coastal issues and wetlands. He was selected for the position in 2009.

Phifer graduated from Boston College with a degree in philosophy and holds a doctorate in conservation biology from the University of Minnesota.

Hi-res image downloads

All Captions: Paul Phifer, Assistant Regional Director - Ecological Services
All Credits: USFWS/Heather Bell

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