John Spotila, JD
Chairman and President
The Honorable John Spotila is the former Chief Executive Officer of R3i Solutions, LLC, a Washington D.C. based management consulting firm that excelled at process improvement and clear communication. For eight years, John served President Clinton as General Counsel of the Small Business Administration and as Senate-confirmed Administrator of OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the White House. After success as President and Chief Operating Officer of a public company providing information technology to government, he formed R3i Solutions in 2005. John holds a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Languages from Georgetown University and a Juris Doctor degree from The Yale Law School.
Sheri Yi, MBA
Board Member and Executive Vice President
Sheri Yi, a native of Beijing and an American citizen, has been a pioneer for over 25 years in promoting understanding and good working relationships between the United States and China. She is the founder and President of Global Culture to Culture, a nonprofit organization which brings people together through customized US-China cultural, educational and professional exchanges. Bilingual in English and Chinese, Sheri earned an MBA in the United States and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the prestigious Beijing Foreign Studies University
James R. Spotila, Ph.D.
Board Member and Vice President
James R. Spotila is the distinguished Betz Chair Emeritus Professor of Environmental Science at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He also serves as Senior Science Advisor on Endangered Species Conservation for the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. A respected ecologist and physiologist, he has written two award winning books on seaturtles and more than 150 articles on mammals, fish, amphibians and reptiles in leading scientific journals. Dr. Spotila helped create the field of biophysical ecology and is the founding President of the International Sea Turtle Society and of the Leatherback Trust, two organizations dedicated to conservation and research on sea turtles. He served for two years in the Clinton Administration as Chief Environmental Scientist of the Department of the Army.
Frank Paladino, Ph.D.
Board Member and Vice President
Frank Paladino is the Schrey Distinguished Professor of Biology at Purdue University Fort Wayne in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He is a recognized authority on leatherback sea turtles and has worked for many years with James R. Spotila on conservation efforts to preserve them. Together, he and Dr. Spotila were instrumental in creating the important marine national park at Las Baulas in Costa Rica. Dr. Paladino has conducted important research in the field of comparative vertebrate physiology and physiological ecology, ranging from studies of locomotion of birds to respiration of elephants and sea turtles and has published extensively.
Marilyn Luber, Ph.D.
Board Member
Marilyn Luber is a licensed clinical psychologist in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. An expert in the Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) method of treatment for trauma and related disorders, Dr. Luber has presented at national and international conferences and given workshops in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and China on this work. She has edited five books, published articles in professional journals, and writes two columns in the official EMDR newsletter four times a year to promote the appreciation of colleagues worldwide and support the cross-pollination of ideas. She has received several awards for outstanding contributions and service. Dr. Luber has visited our reintroduction project in Chengdu, met our scientists there, and is a strong supporter of our collaborative effort to save giant pandas in the wild and other endangered species.
