Keren A. Vivas, PhD, Hired as Director of Environmental Regulatory Affairs for WPC
Madison…The Wisconsin Paper Council (WPC) is pleased to announce a new member of the 57-year-old trade association’s growing leadership team. Keren A. Vivas, PhD, has joined the WPC as its Director of Environmental Regulatory Affairs.
“Our statewide trade association is thrilled to welcome Keren Vivas, PhD to the Wisconsin Paper Council’s team of professionals,” stated WPC President Scott Suder. “Keren’s impressive sustainability experience and PhD background will bring us to a new level of strategic capability for our members. We are very pleased to have a professional of such magnitude as a member of our team.”
WPC is the premier trade association that advocates for the papermaking industry before regulatory bodies, and state and federal legislatures to achieve positive policy outcomes. WPC also works to educate the public about the social, environmental, and economic importance of paper, pulp, and forestry production in Wisconsin and throughout the Midwest. The pulp and paper sector employs over 30,000 people in Wisconsin and has an annual payroll of $2.5 billion. Wisconsin is the number one paper-producing state in the United States, with the annual output of paper manufactured products estimated to be over $18 billion.
“I’m excited to begin work on behalf of an industry that is one of the economic engines of Wisconsin, which supports thousands of family-supporting jobs throughout Wisconsin,” stated Keren Vivas. “I look forward to the challenge of enhancing the Wisconsin Paper Council’s mission and strengthening its advocacy presence throughout the regulatory community.”
Prior to joining the WPC, Keren was Research Manager for the Sustainable and Alternative Fibers Initiative (SAFI) Consortium, where she led project development, coordinated member engagement, organized annual conferences, and mentored graduate students. Concurrently, she served as a Senior Research Associate at NCSU, leading consumer studies and managing benchmarking data for the tissue and towel markets.
While completing her PhD at NCSU, Keren led SAFI Consortium research on supply chains, techno-economics, and consumer behavior, focusing on the feasibility and perception of using alternative fibers in pulp and paper products. During this time, she also completed two internships with Kimberly-Clark Corporation, focusing on business and sustainability strategy management.
Beyond research, she served as Vice President of the Forest Biomaterials Graduate Student Association, was a member of the College of Natural Resources DEI Committee and worked as a teaching assistant for the Strategic Business Processes course in the Paper Science and Engineering program.
Keren was born and raised in Mérida, Venezuela, where she earned her degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Los Andes (ULA). She later moved to the United States to pursue her PhD in Forest Biomaterials at North Carolina State University (NCSU).
You can learn more about the Wisconsin Paper Council by visiting their website at www.wipaper.org.
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