Cloud Nine Rescue Flights

Theodore DuPuis

President, Founder and Chief Pilot

Ted was born in New York City and has always been an animal lover, having had a variety of pets ranging from goldfish to cockatiels, snails to rabbits, and gerbils to his current two dogs. Ted started out in animal rescue volunteering at his local animal shelter working on rehabilitation of dogs that had come in, and after he started flying helped as a volunteer pilot flying rescue animals to new homes. Seeing a way to expand on the basic principle of aviation-based animal rescue, Ted founded Cloud Nine Rescue Flights as a way to transport more animals more efficiently and more reliably over longer distances. Aside from serving as president and chief pilot of Cloud Nine, Ted is the owner and manager of DuPuis Aviation, LLC, providing engineering, flight instruction, and aircraft charter/management services.

Laurie Puckett

Chief Operating Officer, Secretary

Laurie grew up in rural Nebraska surrounded by pets from cats and dogs to fish and birds. Laurie has been a professional pilot for 13 years having experience as a Chief Pilot for a private airplane charter operation and has extensive experience as an aircraft instructor and check pilot.  Her current job is operating large helicopters in search and rescue operations in the North Atlantic off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador and in the Gulf of Mexico.  Her very flexible work schedule allows her to devote a full-time schedule to Cloud Nine and she has been instrumental in obtaining donations of aircraft parts and fuel required for transports.  Additionally, she heads up all fundraising efforts for the organization.  Laurie lives in Pennsylvania with her rescued parrot Codi.

Melis Hereens

Treasurer

Melis Heerens has been involved in the many financial aspects of the real estate industry, through experience from negotiating lease terms between landlords and clients, negotiating sales terms, and reviewing clients’ financials for lease packages and board packages.  Melis has also been running his own real estate company, HEERENS HOF LLC, since 2008. Duties ranging from daily operations to corporate taxes.  Melis has two cats and also enjoys snowboarding and motorcycling.

Stephen H. Bryan, Ph.D.

Board Advisor

Aside from being a life long animal lover and dedicated human for his two dogs, Stephen Bryan is a professor of accounting with many years of experience designing curricula, teaching, and consulting, both domestically and internationally.  He is author of the text, Fundamental Financial Accounting and Analysis, which has been used extensively in executive coaching programs, as well as in new-hire training programs in an array of industries. He additionally has decades of background in the business world, and has a firm understanding of how to run a business in order to ensure its success.

All Cloud Nine Board Members are volunteers and receive no compensation.