SCS Management
Stanley Rhodes, Ph.D. – President and CEO
Linda Brown – Executive Vice President
Robert Hrubes, Ph.D. – Senior Vice President
Chet Chaffee, Ph.D. – Vice President
Wilfred Sumner – Director, Technical Services
Heena Patel – Director, Food and Agriculture Auditing Services
David Wager – Director, Forest Management Certification
Aaron Maizlish – Director, Chain-of-Custody Certification Services
Stanley Rhodes, Ph.D. – President and CEO
Ph.D., Organic Chemistry; Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
B.S., Chemistry; University of California, Berkeley, CA
As company founder, Dr. Rhodes has spearheaded the development of each of SCS’s major certification and evaluation programs in the fields of food safety and environmental claims. During the 1980s, Dr. Rhodes was the driving force behind the institution of the NutriClean food testing program, helping the company to gain national, and ultimately, international recognition as a neutral third-party certifier, and pioneering “clean food” (no detected residue) standards for agriculture products.In 1990, Dr. Rhodes turned his attention to the broad area of environmental claims, launching three major initiatives over the next several years: Environmental Claims Evaluation and Certification, the Forest and Marine Conservation Programs, and the Life-Cycle Assessment / Certified Eco-Profile programs, including Environmentally Preferable Product and Power certifications. These initiatives, in turn, have provided services in a wide range of industry arenas, including energy production, building and construction, household consumer products, electronics and communications.
Dr. Rhodes has taken a central role in the international effort to advance the science of life-cycle assessment in order to assist companies and policy-makers in gauging the environmental impacts associated with industrial systems, and to identify strategies for continuous environmental improvement through product design and process improvement innovations. He was a U.S. expert delegate to the ISO TC-207 (International Standards Organization Technical Committee on Environmental Management Tools), serving on the Subcommittees on Life-Cycle Assessment and Environmental Labeling.
Dr. Rhodes is a regular participant and contributor to scientific workshops and executive training sessions on life-cycle assessment. He is also the author or coauthor of numerous patents and articles, stemming both from his work at SCS and from previous employment, including his work as analytical and advanced research chemist at Kodak and Delta Labs, his graduate research, and prior entrepreneurial endeavors in the area of food production and marketing.
Linda Brown – Executive Vice President
M.A., Journalism; Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
B.A., English; Emory University, Atlanta, GA
B.A., Political Science; Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Linda Brown is co-founder and Executive Vice President of Scientific Certification Systems (SCS), a recognized third-party standards developer and certifier of environmental, sustainability and food safety/quality market claims. Since its founding in 1984, SCS’s mission has been tosupport sustainable development initiatives in the public and private sectors through the development and application of certification assessment methods and standards that recognize outstanding achievements in terms of environmental and social responsibility.Together with business partner and company president Stanley Rhodes, Ms. Brown has helped to spearhead the development of certification and assessment programs in a variety of areas, including: life-cycle assessment, electric power environmental performance evaluation, environmentally preferable product assessment, sustainable manufacturing and agricultural production certification, indoor air quality certification, recycled content and biodegradability certification, well-managed forests and forest products, well-managed fisheries, pesticide residue free and organic foods, food safety management, and flavor-rich and nutrition-rich foods.
Ms. Brown currently is the acting director of sustainable agriculture certification programs and standardization initiatives for SCS. In this capacity, she is spearheading all team efforts related to sustainable agriculture, including setting strategic direction, managing business development, conducting stakeholder outreach, and establishing program policies and procedures. In addition, she has lead responsibility for a partnership with Leonardo Academy, an ANSI (American National Standards Institute)-accredited standards development organization, the purpose of which is to guide the first national standard for sustainable agriculture – “Sustainable Agriculture Practice Standard for Food, Fiber and Biofuel Crop Producers and Agricultural Product Handlers and Processors” (SCS-001) – to finalization under the auspices of a transparent, multi-stakeholder consensus-based process governed by ANSI.
Previously, Ms. Brown assisted Dr. Rhodes in the development of sophisticated Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) tools and Environmental Life Cycle Declarations, with a special focus on the power industry. In addition, from 1998 to 2001, she acted as Director of the company’s Environmental Claims Certification Program, evaluating environmental claims on a wide variety of consumer products as well as products used in the building and construction industry.From 1994-1998, Ms. Brown served as a member of the U.S. delegation to the ISO 14000 standard setting process, participating in the Subcommittees on Environmental Labeling and Life-Cycle Assessment, and the Working Group on Environmental Aspects in Product Standards (WG-1), and contributed to the writing of standards in these groups. She is the author of numerous articles on environmental certification, life-cycle assessment, and food safety issues, a contributor to several books on the topic of life-cycle assessment and environmental preferability, and has presented details of SCS programs and methods to diverse audiences around the globe.
Ms. Brown earned her M.A. in Journalism from Stanford University (Palo Alto, CA) in 1982, and her B.A. degrees in English and Political Science from Emory University (Atlanta, GA) in 1979.
Robert Hrubes, Ph.D. – Senior Vice President
Ph.D., Wildland Resource Sciences; University of California, Berkeley, CA
M.A., Economics; University of California, Berkeley, CA
M.S., Resource Systems Management; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
B.S., Forest Management and Outdoor Recreation Management; Iowa State University, Ames, IADr. Hrubes has principal responsibility for leading the company’s natural resource management and chain-of-custody programs. Dr. Hrubes is a registered professional forester and resource economist with over 27 years of professional experience in both the private and public sectors. Prior to joining SCS, he was managing principal of Natural Resource Associates, a Northern California-based forestry and resource economics consulting firm.
In 1991, SCS first engaged Dr. Hrubes’ consulting services to design and implement its forest certification program. Dr. Hrubes is an internationally recognized expert in natural resources management and environmental certification. As principal architect of the SCS Forest Conservation Certification Program, Dr. Hrubes functions in the company in an executive leadership capacity while also maintaining his involvement as a certification practitioner. He has served as team leader on evaluations of more than 25 forest management operations worldwide, totaling more then 7 million acres. He has also served as auditor for many chain-of-custody certification evaluations, worldwide.
While principal consultant for Natural Resource Associates, Dr. Hrubes specialized in wildland management planning, sustainable forestry analysis, resource economics analysis, operations research analysis, and forest management. In addition, he applied management science techniques and principles to a broad range of resource management problems.
Dr. Hrubes served for four years on the Board of Directors of the Forest Stewardship Council and was the founding chair of the Board of Directors of the Forest Stewards Guild, a U.S.-based professional forestry society. Prior to establishing a private consulting practice in 1988, Dr. Hrubes worked for the USDA Forest Service for 15 years. His last position with the Forest Service was Principal Forest Economist/Operations Research Analyst on the Management Sciences Staff in Berkeley, California.
Chet Chaffee, Ph.D. – Vice President
Ph.D., Marine Biology; University of California, Santa Cruz, CA
B.S., Biology; California State University, San Francisco, CA
Joining the company in 1990, Dr. Chaffee has played a key role in the development and implementation of SCS’s environmental programs. As Director of Environmental Certification for several years, Dr. Chaffee participated in the development of standards for single attribute environmental claims, supervised the certification of a wide variety of products and claims, consulted frequently with regulatory agencies to ensure compliance with green marketing laws and establish guidelines for new claims development, and advised companies in the proper use of green marketing claims. In this role, Dr. Chaffee also directed SCS’s retailer-based environmental claims evaluation programs, represented SCS on the US Green Building Council, and made numerous presentations to trade associations, industry conferences, government agencies, and grassroots environmental organizations.
In 1996, Dr. Chaffee’s emphasis shifted to address the most pressing biological issues in the company’s environmental division —habitat disruption and species impacts assessment under the company's life-cycle assessment and environmentally preferable products certification programs, and the establishment of the Marine Conservation Program.
Before joining the company, Dr. Chaffee worked as a Program Manager at SRI International (formerly Stanford Research Institute), where he was involved in monitoring the use and management of key industrial technologies, focusing on biotechnology and environmental sciences. Dr. Chaffee has also held positions in environmental and biological sciences for CH2M Hill, Inc., California Academy of Sciences, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Wilfred Sumner – Director, Technical Services
M.S., Entomology, minor in Toxicology; University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
B.S., Chemistry and Entomology; University of California, Davis, CA
Wilfred Sumner supervises the laboratory analytical functions associated with SCS’s food safety and environmental certification programs. Within the NutriClean division, he manages the Supermarket Testing and Import Testing programs. In this role, he manages pesticide residue, microbiological, and environmental testing services for more than 10,000 samples per year. Operations include six laboratories, each with 10 or more chemists, 14 field samplers, and support staff.
He has also played a leading role in co-development and supervision of SCS's HACCP-based sanitation and safety certification program for agricultural product manufacturers, and its Partners in Flavor program for growers and retailers. In addition, Mr. Sumner supervises activities in the areas of risk assessment, methods development, regulatory affairs, and technical support for marketing. Finally, Mr. Sumner provides analytical support and supervision services for the company’s environmental division, and has participated in the development of testing protocols for specific environmental certifications.
Prior to joining SCS, Mr. Sumner was a senior scientist in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s San Francisco laboratory division, where he performed pesticide residue analysis, developed pesticide residue methods, and analyzed consumer complaint samples related to food tampering, chemical contamination, and adulteration. He supervised technicians in the analysis of food contaminants and developed and published new analytical methods, and he was responsible for sanitation inspections at food plants and warehouses.
Mr. Sumner also served as acting compliance officer in cases involving violations of pesticide residues, antibiotics, and other food contaminate laws. Mr. Sumner has also held supervisor and managerial positions at the Stored Product Research Laboratory of the University of Minnesota, conducted research for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other sponsors, and worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the Grain Inspection and Agricultural Research Service.
Heena Patel – Director, Food and Agriculture Auditing Services
Heena Patel joined SCS in 2000 and directs food safety programs for growers, packers, shippers, processors, and other related agricultural operations. Ms. Patel holds a B.S. in Microbiology and Cell Biology from the University of Auckland in New Zealand.
Ms. Patel manages the SCS food safety auditing team and quality assurance, conducts food safety training, oversees the SCS Vendor Management program, and conducts Good Agricultural Practices, Good Manufacturing Practices, SCS Food Safety Management Certification (CertiClean), FPA-SAFE, GlobalGAP, Tesco Nature's Choice (TNC), BRC, LEAF, SQF 1000, 2000 and organic audits.
Her 15+ years of experience in food and agriculture include work in quality assurance, microbiology, and plant sanitation.
David Wager – Director, Forest Management Certification
M.S., Forest Resources; Utah State University, Logan, UT
B.S., Business, minor in Environmental Studies; Skidmore College; Saratoga Springs, NY
Mr. Wager has served as the Director of Forest Management Certification since September 2000 and is fully conversant in the certification procedures and practices of the Forest Stewardship Council. Mr. Wager has expertise in business and forest ecology and uses both in his position with SCS. He oversees the day-to-day operations of SCS’ Forest Management Certification Program and conducts Forest Management and Chain-of-Custody evaluations throughout the world. Mr. Wager recently led forest management certification evaluations of several Indian reservations in the Northern Rocky Mountains, Potlatch’s Hybrid Poplar Plantation in Oregon, and the Perak Integrated Timber Complex in Malaysia. As Director, Mr. Wager oversees first-time certification evaluations, annual audits, and contract renewal certifications on approximately 50 active clients. These active clients include numerous large industrial forest management operations, large public land operations, as well as numerous small landowners.
Prior to SCS, Mr. Wager assessed ozone damage in forests of the Intermountain West while working as an independent consultant to the US Forest Service’s Forest Health Monitoring Program. While studying forest ecology at Utah State University, Mr. Wager was awarded a NASA Graduate Student Research Fellowship to develop dendrochronological techniques to assess Douglas-fir growth reduction in Utah’s Central Wasatch Mountains.
Aaron M. Maizlish – Director, Chain-of-Custody Certification ServicesB.A., Geography and Development Studies; University of California , Berkeley
Mr. Maizlish directs the company's Forestry and Marine Fisheries Chain-of-Custody Certification programs. Through the Forestry division, Mr. Maizlish manages over 500 annual certifications worldwide, ensuring that procedures are in place so product carrying the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) logo is properly tracked – from well-managed forest to finished product. On the Fisheries side, Mr. Maizlish works with seafood wholesalers, distributors and retailers that must earn chain-of-custody certification before affixing the Marine Stewardship Council eco-label on product.
Prior to joining SCS, Mr. Maizlish served as president and CEO of EcoTimber International Inc, the first commercial lumber distributor in the U.S. to promote Forest Stewardship Council chain-of-custody certification. In this capacity, he developed a business strategy to introduce and advance sustainable wood products – FSC certified exotic hardwoods, domestic lumber, hardwood flooring and dimension lumber – pioneering an entirely new industry in the 1990s.
Before founding EcoTimber, Mr. Maizlish served as general manager for Map Link, the leading distributor of maps in the United States. Between 1985 and 1989, he authored The World Map Directory, a reference catalog of 30,000 maps in print.
Mr. Maizlish is a founding member of the Forest Stewardship Council and has consulted with diverse stakeholders in the development of sustainable forestry standards. He is a frequent speaker on chain-of-custody and the promotion of FSC products.