The committee, which consists of six eminent scientists and natural resources professionals, serves in an advisory capacity to the center staff and to the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, which provides the core financial support for the facility. The only other person from the University of Georgia to serve on the committee is the late Eugene Odum, founder of UGA's Institute of Ecology. Current members, in addition to Kundell, are Dr. Gene Likens, Director of the Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, New York (Chair); Dr. Jerry Franklin, Professor of Ecosystem Management at the University of Washington; Dr. Malcolm Hunter, Libra Professor of Conservation Biology, University of Maine; Dr. Robert Naiman, Professor of Fisheries, University of Washington; and Mr. Leon Neel, Forest and Wildlife Consultant in Thomasville, Georgia.
Located in Baker County, Georgia, the 29,000-acre Jones Center is a nationally recognized research and education outdoor laboratory dedicated to natural resources management and conservation in the southeastern coastal plain of the United States, particularly in relation to the ecosystem of the longleaf pine and aquatic ecology and water resources. Established as a quail hunting reserve in the 1920s by Coca-Cola founder, Robert Woodruff, the area was transformed into an ecological center in 1991 and named in honor of former Coca-Cola senior vice president and Woodruff Foundation chair emeritus Joseph Jones.
