We're a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing nature-based solutions through trusted collaboration between land stewards, project developers and businesses across Central and Southern Appalachia.

Paul Patton is the new Executive Director of the Appalachian Carbon Exchange. Prior to joining the team at ACE, Paul worked for Accelerating Appalachia, where he served as Chief Operations Officer and connected forest landowners and regenerative farmers in 8 states of Central and Southern Appalachia to technical assistance and financial resources. Paul also served as the Chief Innovation Officer of Rural Action, a non-profit organization working in the Appalachian counties of Ohio, where he started their workforce development program, served as a liaison to the Central Appalachian Network, and expanded their social enterprises around farming, circular economy, regional history and native plants. 

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Along with his colleague Michelle Shively, Paul received the JMK Innovative Prize in 2019 for his work with True Pigments, a social enterprise that transforms acid mine drainage into high-quality pigment, restoring polluted streams and growing green jobs in rural Appalachia. He holds a Masters of Science from Ohio University in Environmental Studies and a PhD from The Ohio State University in Anthropology where his research focused on pre-European Appalachian indigenous cultures, their forest and landscape management practices, and the domestication of native crops. His research can be found in numerous books and regional and international journals.

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Aidan Campbell is a Forest Program Manager at ACE. Aidan has a background in land management, forestry, hydrogeology and land conservation with both the federal government and the non-profit sector.

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Aidan has served as a ranger with the US Forest Service, surveying timber stands and conducting intensive endangered species monitoring. He also has served as a research scientist with the US Geological Survey managing and implementing groundwater monitoring and contaminate plume tracking programs around the southeastern United States. In addition, Aidan served as the land manager and conservation director with the Southeastern Cave Conservancy, leading their carbon project efforts and refocusing conservation initiatives directed at holistic approaches to land management in karst landscapes. Aidan holds a B.A in Natural Resource Management from Sewanee: the University of the South.

Jake Lee is the West Virginia Program Manager at ACE. With a background in forest management, GIS and computer science, he has worked in both the private and public sectors to further a science based approach to land management.
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Jake has worked with both state and federal agencies as a part of the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation as well as the US Forest Service. While at these organizations, Jake worked across landownerships to procure grant funding as well as set up and oversee timber sales. Likewise, Jake has also worked with private carbon companies here in West Virginia, using GIS to find and monitor potential carbon projects. Jake holds two degrees, a B.S. from West Virginia University in Forest Resource Management and a B.S. in Cybersecurity from Penn State.

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Kacy Hicks is the Forest Management Program Director at ACE. She has a background in project and grant management, stakeholder engagement, community outreach, habitat and forest management, environmental science, and endangered species projects. Earlier in her career, Kacy worked as an Environmental Scientist with the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet, conducting mining compliance inspections and environmental monitoring. She also served with USDA Wildlife Services protecting endangered species and with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, where she restored habitats through prescribed burns, invasive species control, and timber stand improvements.

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Building on this foundation, Kacy developed a strong background at the intersection of natural resource management, energy innovation, and entrepreneurship. She went on to serve as Director of Entrepreneurship at Shaping Our Appalachian Region, where she built a tech-driven entrepreneurial ecosystem across Eastern Kentucky, and she also served as SOAR’s Energy Innovation Coordinator, where she connected communities with emerging energy opportunities and funding resources. Kacy is a graduate of Morehead State University with a B.S. in Biological Sciences.

Shawn Swartz has been a forester for nearly three decades. He is a silviculturist with a special interest in forest restoration. His approach to forest management is one in which landowner objectives are met through the application of forest ecology and an understanding of the natural disturbance regimes. He has extensive experience in agroforestry including silvopasture, alley cropping, mushroom production, and forest farming. He has also worked to restore forest communities such as bottomland hardwoods, shortleaf and longleaf pine, and spruce-fir. Shawn also has worked to restore individual species to the landscape such as eastern hemlock, American chestnut, and various birds. He has technical experience in forestry such as invasive species control, prescribed fire, forest recreation, and small-scale timber harvesting and lumber production.

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