Southern Appalachian Regional Office (SARO)
One Oak Plaza, Suite 308
Asheville, NC 28801
Phone: (828) 281-0047
Fax: (828) 253-5373
Southern Appalachian Regional Office Staff
Paul Sisco, Ph.D., Regional Science Coordinator
Paul joined The American Chestnut Foundation in 1986 at the urging of Dr. Charles Burnham, one of TACF's founders.
"I'm a 20-year member! "
Dr. Paul Sisco joined TACF staff in April 1998 as a staff geneticist at theMeadowview Research Farms. In April 2002, he became the Southern Appalachian Regional Science Coordinator. Paul develops, coordinates, and oversees cooperative breeding projects with our regional partners.Paul received a PhD. in plant breeding and genetics from Cornell University. He comes to TACF from the USDA's Agricultural Research Service at North Carolina State University, where he worked with molecular markers in crop genes, and isolated and characterized genes from corn.
"I can think of nothing better than the goal of getting blight-resistant American chestnut trees. What I hope to do at TACF is develop the best possible molecular markers for blight resistance. Molecular markers are like signs that say ‘genes for resistance are present.’ Found in a bit of DNA from a chestnut leaf, they'd be all we need to decide which trees to keep and which to cull."
Meghan Jordan, Director of Communications
Meghan became Director of Communications in August 2005 and will be based in the Southern Appalachian Regional Office in Asheville, NC. Prior to this she was a freelance writer and editor; her clients have included Mission Hospitals, Asheville School, and the Institute for Servant Leadership all located in Asheville.
Meghan has nearly 20 years of communications and events planning experience in corporate, association and education environments. She has served as the Manager of Youth and Consumer Programs for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) in Washington, DC. where she wrote, designed and produced a national award-winning communications portfolio for the association’s youth tour. She also served as the point person for the tour which attracts more than 1,000 high school students each year. Her corporate experience includes several years with computer giant Electronic Data Systems (EDS) both as an events planner and as a public relations representative in Washington, DC.
As an events planner for EDS, she planned meetings and special events not only for corporate officials but also international visitors and visiting members of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. She wrote press releases and assisted in the first-ever media training program for corporate officials as a public relations representative for the company.
Meghan graduated from the University of Delaware with a degree in Communications. She and her family live in Asheville