Paul is a NC Registered Forester who holds an MS in Forestry from the University of Illinois – Urbana and a B.A in economics. He spent a dozen years in the Andean region of South America, first as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Colombia, and subsequently as the highlands forestry advisor for the US Agency for International Development in Peru and as agroforestry advisor for USAID in Ecuador. From 1991-1997 he worked as a consulting forester in western North Carolina and since 1997 has been with the Land Trust.