"staff is" or "staff are"

chris2010Our professional staff is members of well renowned organizations such as..............

With "members" being there, 'are' is required.

chris2010 Our professional staff is members of well renowned organizations such as..............

The object of study is inhibitants of the Amazon.
This game is three different levels, each consisting of..
John yelling at Adam after the latter has droped the dish onto the floor, "Look what you've done, it's pieces now!"

Now

chris2010Our professional staff is are members of well renowned organizations such as.........

In your example "staff" is conceptualised as being a plurality of people rather than a single entity. This is evident from the use of plural "members" in the predicate, which can only refer to the individual membe