Ray Mason was born, reared, and educated in Florida. He got his BSF from University of Florida, 1957.

Ray worked 32 years with USFS on National Forests in Florida, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Virginia. The last assignment was in the Forest Supervisor's office in Tallahassee as Assistant Forest Supervisor. Worked 14 years with the Florida Division of Forestry as Program Administrator for environmental education state-wide; Assistant Bureau Chief of Forest Management Bureau and Planning Bureau; Management Analyst in the Director's office. Retired October, 2003.

Presently Ray teaches a humanities type course to middle school aged children in a small private school.

Ray’s membership in the SAF began as a student in 1955 and has been uninterrupted since. He has held chapter and state offices in several states, plus numerous committee chairs and assignments. Ray received the Hux Coulter award from the Florida SAF in 1994. He was elected a SAF Fellow in 1998.

Ray was a President of the School of Forest Resources and Conservation (SFRC) Alumni Association at for 1 year in the 1980's and 4 years in the 1990's. He received a plaque for outstanding contributions to SFRC in 1995.

Ray has been married 47 years; has 2 children and 6 grandchildren. He is a Ruling Elder in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church since 1973.

Dr. Oghenekome U. Onokpise (Kome) is a professor at Florida A & M University (FAMU) where he has coordinated the 2+ 2 joint degree program in forestry and natural resource conservation with the University of Florida (UF) since its inception in 1992. He obtained his B.S. (Honors) in General Agriculture from the University of Ife, Nigeria; a M.S in Plant Breeding and Genetics, from the University of Guelph, Canada, and a PhD in Tree Breeding and Forest Genetics from Iowa State University, Ames Iowa.

Kome has been a member of the Society of American Foresters (SAF) for more than twenty years and served as the SAF student chapter President in 1983 at Iowa State University. From 1998-2000 Kome served as a member of the SAF Diversity Committee and presently serves as the Secretary of the Agroforestry Working Group of SAF. He has also served as the co-chair of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Science section of the Florida Academy of sciences from 1998-2000. Kome has been a member of the Big Bend Chapter of SAF for the past 15 years. He is also a member of the Florida Forestry Association and the Commonwealth Forestry Association.

Kome has on-going research in the areas of Agrosilvopastoral systems with small animals, and Invasive species in Florida. Kome was a member of an international expedition to the Amazon Basin, Brazil in 1981 for natural rubber Germplasm Collection. Recently, January – April 2002, he completed a sabbatical leave at the Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding, University of Gottingen, Gottingen, Germany. Kome is married to his wife, Lucy for the past 26 years and they have four sons (26, 23, 21 and 9 years old). He enjoys traveling, reading and fishing when time permits.

As chair elect and eventually chair, Kome will work with members to strengthen the SAF Big Bend Chapter and increase its representation at the regional and national levels.

Amanda Rountree was born and raised in Naples, Florida. She attended the University of Florida from 1996 – 2001 and graduated with a BS in Forest Management. Amanda began working for the Florida Division of Forestry in the summer of 2001 as a Forestry Inventory Analysis forester. In 2002, Amanda transferred to Tate’s Hell State Forest, where she is currently a Forestry Supervisor.

Amanda’s involvement with SAF began in 1999. She was the chair of the University of Florida SAF Student Chapter in 2000 – 2001. Amanda is currently on the Florida Chapter Awards Committee and a member of the Big Bend Chapter.

Amanda’s interests involve all outdoor activities including fishing, water skiing, biking and hiking. Amanda and her husband currently reside in Apalachicola.