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Flow '99 Speakers Biographies |
Michael M'Gonigle, graduate degrees from the London School of Economics and Yale University, Ph.D. in Political Economics, is a Professor of Law and holds the Eco-Research Chair of Environmental Law and Policy in the Faculty of Law and School of Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria. As a lawyer and political economist he has been working on community forest initiatives, forest law reform and sustainability issues provincially and internationally. A long-time environmental activist, he is co-author of the award-winning Stein: The Way of the River (1989); Forestopia: a Practical Guide to the New Forest Economy (1994); and Forests in Trust: Reforming British Columbia's Forest Tenure System for Ecosystem and Community Health (1997). He has participated extensively in the wilderness/forestry debate in British Columbia, and is a co-founder of Greenpeace International, a founding director of the Sierra Legal Defense Fund, and a former Chairperson of Greenpeace Canada.
Merve Willkinson, Merve Willkinson is a walking legend and ecoforestry practitioner. Merve and his wife Anne have been inspiring the world with the work that they have been doing for the last 60 years at the internationally renownedWildwood Farm. After graduating in Forestry at UBC in the early 1940's, Merve made a life choice. He realized the different systems of forestry and their differing ecological and economical impacts - and he opted for individual and small group tree selection forestry. An easy choice he says! While practicing ecoforestry on his own 147 acreage, he also works on three other properties on a similar basis. He has also done a lot of prescription work in California and Oregon and regularly gives classes, lectures and does field days on his property, as well as at numerous universities in British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Oregon, Washington and California, passing his message of sustainable forestry across the world.
Robert Theobald, B.A, M.A in Economics, is a renowned speaker throughout North America and Australia, a consultant, speaker at numerous conferences and for radio and TV series, and a writer who has been on the leading edge of fundamental change issues since the early 1960's. He has worked with business and labor, education and health, government and local communities, emphasizing the need for fundamental change. Widely published, he is author of over 25 books that deal with change, economics, and related issues. His latest book: Reworking Success - new communities at the millennium (1997).
Jim Jontz, Congressman in the USA for 18 years, he now heads the American Lands Alliance coordinating the ancient forests campaign for the Pacific Northwest. When he was a congressman he also worked on Pacific Northwest environmental issues.
Cheri Burda, B.Sc. in Environmental Science, M.A. in Forest Policy, is a forest policy strategist for the David Suzuki Foundation, currently working on forest tenure reform. She spent four years as Senior Researcher with the Eco-Research Chair of Environmental Law and Policy working on community forestry, tenure and forest policy issues in BC, as well as coordinating the establishment of the International Network of Forests and Communities. She is the principal author of "Forests in Trust: Reforming BC's Forest Tenure System for Ecosystem and Community Health," along with over a dozen other publications on forest policy issues. She currently sits on the Canadian Board of Directors of the Forest Stewardship Council, and she is co-founder and Chair of "Forest Futures". She is also a co-founder/editor of BC community forestry newspaper, the Wedge; a former director of the Vancouver Island Forestry Employment Project; a founding member of the Forest Action Network; and, a past campaigner with the Western Canada Wilderness Committee and former Director of the Ecoforestry Institute.
Lisa Matthaus, undergraduate degree in Commerce, M.A. in Environmental and Resource Economics (University College London (UK)), is the Forest Policy Analyst for the Sierra Club of British Columbia. Since joining the Club early in 1998, her work has focused on Vancouver Island land use issues, provincial forest policy issues (Forest Practices Code, private land regulations, privatization/tenure) and coordinating the Club's economic projects. She has also been involved in various forestry, treaty and municipal planning processes. Prior to joining the Sierra Club, Lisa spent seven years as an investment banking credit analyst in Toronto and London.
Herb Hammond, M.A in Forestry (University of Washington), has more than 25 years of experience as an ecological researcher, a field forester, instructor, consultant and negotiator. Across Canada, Hammond is a keynote speaker and workshop leader on ecosystem-based forest use for professionals and grassroots organizations. He is the author of the award-winning book, Seeing the Forest Among the Trees.
Ernie Niemi, B.A. in Chemistry, M.C.R.P. in Urban Planning & Public Policy (Harvard), has been a vice president and project manager at ECO since 1978. He specializes in applying the principles of cost-benefit analysis to the problems of economic valuation and decision-making. Niemi has managed numerous projects related to natural resource management, economic development, land use management, energy pricing, hazardous waste disposal, and transportation. He is or has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Pacific Rivers Council, Center for Community and Watershed Health, the Technical Advsiory Committee on Land Use and Economic Development for the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development, the Water Marketing Task Force for the Oregon Water Resources Department, and many others. Niemi is the main author of The Sky Did NOT Fall: The Pacific Northwest's Response to Logging Reductions prepared for Earthlife Canada Foundation and the Sierra Club of BC (spring 1999).
Tom Milne spent over 20 years working for the B.C. Forest Service. From 81-87 he worked for Clearwater Forest Products as logging supervisor, road engineer and woodlands manager. Since 1987 Tom has been working for the Ministry of Forests. In 1993 he became manager of the Lumby Log Sort Yard.
Marty Horswill, BA in International Studies, has been involved with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) since 1995, first as CUSO's representative to the BC FSC working group, later as a Board Member of FSC Canada and since Feb 1999, as the FSC Co-ordinator for B.C. As a Field Staff Officer for CUSO in Africa and the Pacific, Marty has negotiated and supported small scale, community-based, forestry projects. In Canada he helped found the Kootenay Conference on Forest Alternatives, represented the Canadian Council on International Co-operation on the Canadian delegation to the 2nd Inter-governmental Working Group on Forests (Montreal Process) and, as an elected City Councillor, chaired the City of Nelson's Watershed and Environment Committees during the period of CORE and the West Arm Land Use Forum.
Alan Seid, B.A. in Whole-Systems Sustainability, has spent the last 10 years researching what can be done on a personal level to decrease dependency on what he calls an unsustainable economy. He is also editorial advisor to YES!: a Journal of Positive Futures, and has been a member of the New Road Map Foundation's Speakers Bureau since 1994 presenting the ideas contained in their latest bestseller: Your Money or Your Life by Vicky Robin and Joe Dominguez. Seid is an inspiring example of having become financially independent by the age of 27.
Will Malloff, noted author of Chain Saw Lumber Making and creator of the Alaska chainsaw mill has been researching and developing added value tools and technology for the past 20 years. He developed a series of new ultra light micro saw mills that are capable of harvesting trees of any diameter at the stump with minimal ecological impact. Through continued research on fine woodworking technology Malloff has created many unique examples of value-added furniture. He has also done extensive research in tropical hardwood harvesting, working in the Cook islands and Papa New Guinea, developing a coconut mill for coconut logs, a eucalyptus tension mill and reinventing a pit saw that uses 40% of the usually required energy. Malloff's gerneral appraoch is to make things affordable and 'do-it-yourself'.
Dr. Stan Rowe, B.Sc. in Botany, M.Sc. in Ecology and Ph.D. in Forest Ecology taught high-school for Japanese Canadian teenagers during the war years, in New Denver and part-time in Rosebery and Lemon Creek. He worked as a research forester and supervisor of silvicultural research for the Canadian Forestry Service in Winnipeg and then in Ottawa for 18 years. He also taught wildland ecology at the University of Saskatchewan for 19 years. Following retirement, Dr. Rowe returned to New Denver in 1990 and maintains a vivid interest in music and writing, forest ecology and hiking.
Colleen McCrory is chairperson of the Valhalla Wilderness Society. The VWS, with Colleen as chairperson, succeeded in having Valhalla Park, the Khutzeymateen grizzly sanctuary, and Goat Range/White Grizzly Park established. She was instrumental in getting South Moresby designated as a national park reserve (the world's largest remaining temperate rainforest). In 1991, after a cross-Canada trip documenting the boreal forest crisis, Colleen founded Canada's Future Forest Alliance, a network of environmental, native, labour and community groups and individuals interested in reform of forest policy and practice. It now numbers over 300,000 members. Colleen helped form an international network of environmental groups working for boreal forest protection, the Taiga Rescue Network. She has won 1 provincial, 2 national and 3 international awards in recognition of her work in the environmental field, including the 1992 Goldman environmental Prize for outstanding grassroots environmental initiatives (known as the environmental equivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize), and awards from the United Nations and IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources).
Marilyn Burgoon, is the Co-Chair of the Perry Ridge Water Users Association, Director of the Slocan Valley Watershed Alliance, Executive Director of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee (Nelson Chapter) and a Director of the Coalition of Supporters for the Sinixt Nation. She is an organic farmer in the Slocan Valley and has been working to protect water quality, quantity and timing of flow for the past 17 years. This experience has given her an education in the politics of trying to protect water in a rural farming area in the interior temperate rainforest region of B.C.
Jennifer Yeow, B.Sc. in Biology, has worked as a microbiologist and department supervisor in private and industrial laboratories. She has served as a consultant to industry on water quality issues. Now, as co-owner of a analytical test laboratory in the Kootenays she is the initiator and co-ordinator of the largest grassroots water monitoring program in Canada that uses technical standards for water measuring.
Martin Carver, B.Sc. and M.A. in Engineering, Ph.D. Resource Management Science (UBC). His thesis explained patterns of water quality and sediment transport of mountain streams in agricultural catchments in Nepal. After two years of working for the Ministry of Environment as a terrain specialist, he began a consulting business in 1998 focusing on watershed/channel assessment and water-quality analysis in relation to land-use.
Darcie Quamme, MSc. R.P.Biology (UBC), works as a biologist for Aquatic Resources Ltd. Based out of Nelson, B.C. Darcie has has spent over 9 years studying the various aspects of invertebrae ecology and has been involved in a wide variety of projects including water quality and benthic invertebrate assessments, contaminant sampling, lake and stream surveys, impact assessments, fish health and watershed restoration projects.
Al Isaacson, B.Sc. in Forest Management (Washington State University), B.Sc. in Business Management (Lewis and Clark College), MA in Aquatic Ecology (University of Idaho). His career with the US Forest Service began with 20 years as a Supervisory Hydrologist on the Idaho Panhandle N. F. where he supervised the soil and water programs. This was the biggest workload forest in the U.S. at that time. In 1986 he began teaching college courses in the hydrology, water quality, and fisheries fields. Presently he is a full-time tenured faculty member at Spokane Community College, also teaching specific courses and classes for Lewis and Clark College and the University of Idaho. He also works as a consultant, dealing with all aspects of hydrology and water quality. In 1993 Isaacson began working in the Slocan valley and has worked in most of the major watersheds since that time.
Susan Hammond is the executive director of the Silva Forest Foundation. She co-authored Community Guide to the Forest: Ecology, Planning and Use, an extensive literature review for community activists. Susan works with communities around British Columbia on ecosystem-based mapping.
Grant Copeland, B.A in Business Administration (Washington State University) and M.A. in Urban Planning (University of Washington), has thirty years of experience working for and with most levels of government in the US and Canada, and many First Nations in B.C and the Yukon. His innovative economic development projects in the US and Canada have been widely published. Grant currently serves on the boards of the Sierra Club B.C. and the Friends of the Stikine. Grant will present his latest findings and recommendations from his new book Acts of Balance, Integrating Economic Viability with Social Appropriateness and the Ecological Bottom line, as well as his comprehensive estimate of perverse subsidies to the BC forest industry.
Tom Green, M.A. in Ecological Economics (University of Victoria) has used forestry in the Slocan Valley as his case study. He works with First Nations and communities to prepare ecological economic critiques of industrial projects, and to promote more ecologically sustainable alternatives. Tom will present the use of ecological economics to demonstrate how the transition from an era of exhaustion economics to economics of abundance can take place.
Rami Rothkop brings with him 16 years of business experience within the BC forest industry. Owning and managing a medium-sized silviculture company, he was responsible for business planning and development, competitive bidding on contracts, directing staff, and business expansion. In 1996 he decided to leave the silviculture industry and industrial forestry, becoming involved in numerous environmental and eco-forestry endeavors, including the campaign to protect the West Arm Park, co-creation of the Nelson Ecocentre, and the development of the Silva Forest Foundation's Education Centre. He is currently employed by the Harrop Proctor Watershed Protection Society and is also a director of the Silva Forest Foundation.
Ramona Faust is trained in horticulture and social service work. She worked in silviculture and forest research for the Ministry of Forests between 1982 and 1990. Ramona has been a community and environmental coordinator for over 15 years, and has applied skills in organization, mediation, facilitation, research, publication, media relations, and government liaison in order to make changes in forest policy. She was the media spokesperson for the local campaign to protect the West Arm Wilderness. Currently she works as a childcare worker in the public school system and as a Project Coordinator for the Harrop Proctor Watershed Protection Society.
Lesley Anderton, B.A., M.A. in Geology and Geography (U.B.C.), has been teaching first and second year university level geology and geomorphology at the Selkirk College, Castlegar, for the last 30 years. She also teaches Geology, Landforms and Soils in the Renewable Resources Technology Programs. Her areas of research include Quaternary Studies, terrain analysis and Kootenay Geology.
Craig Pettitt, a director of the Valhalla Wilderness Societyfor 25 years, has been working in and around the forestry industry for the last 30 years. He is the West Kootenay Regional Coordinator of BC's Forest Watch Program, organized by the BC Environmental Network and the Sierra Legal Defense Fund.
Will Koop has widely researched the history and policy of the Greater Vancouver Regional District's three watersheds, as well as similar issues in other cities and communities (Seattle, Portland, Victoria, the Sunshine Coast, and a number of BC communities) in relation to water supply and logging practices. 1993 he released a draft manuscript, "Wake Up Vancouver", which provided the first compiled historical perspectives on the issue. He later produced many other reports and critiques on the Greater Vancouver Regional District and its politics about logging in the watersheds. Presently, he is involved in a campaign to suspend logging in the Greater Vancouver watersheds, and is co-ordinator of the B.C. Tap Water Alliance, a group dedicated to the protection of community drinking water supplies.
Dr. Lee Hutton, B.Sc. in Biochemistry (UBC), M.A. ( University of Miami), Ph.D. (UCLA), is a medical doctor practicing pathology in Nelson BC. He received his training in pathology from Oregon Health Sciences University and has been practicing hospital based pathology for over 13 years.
Cam Brewer, B.A. in Chartered Accountancy, M.A. in Environmental Studies (thesis on eco-certification in British Columbia), has volunteered and worked as an environmental activist for many years. He is currently employed as Co-Manager and Chain-of-Custody Assessor of the Silva Forest Foundation Certification Program. Previous to working with the Silva Forest Foundation, Cam spent many years working in Greenpeace Canada, most recently as financial co-ordinator.
Ricardo Hubbs, B.A. in Arts, has travelled the globe, capturing its beauty and diversity on film. In the Slocan Valley he continues utilizing his enthusiasm for and appreciation of photography to encourage protection of such beauty. Ricardo has been actively photographing the environmental movement in the valley for 4 years and continually supports water protection before development begins. His photos and slide shows have toured to California, Vancouver, Victoria and Alberta.
Dr. Fred Bass, trained in medicine (Case-Western Reserve, Epidemology (Harvard, Johnn Hopkins, Humanity (Antioch), is a physican-warrior fresh from the anti-tobacco trenches (directs the BC Doctors Stop-Smoking Program which helps patients to stop smoking). He was on Vancouver's Clouds of Change Task Force (global warming) and is a member of the BC Medical Association. The BC Medical Association released a report in 1998 speaking out against logging in watersheds in the Greater Vancouver Regional District.
Marilyn James, appointed spokesperson for the Sinixt Nation and First Nation Student Coordinator at the University College of the Cariboo, is a social and human rights educator. She has been involved in the Big Mountain Campaign in Arizona, the Salmon Scam in Washington and has made submissions to the United Nations regarding aboriginal rights. The Sinixt Nation has been declared extinct by the Canadian government. Marilyn has been involved in environmental work trying to protect the land, water and burial grounds within her traditional territory, which is a cross border territory. Marilyn James supports ecosystem-based planning and the Sinixt have a cultural zoning layer on the Slocan Valley Ecosystem-Based Plan.
Les Weisbrich has been painting for over 50 years, exhibiting regularly, and permanently has his art on display in his own gallery, just north of New Denver. His paintings are a powerful testimony to his reverence and concern for the environment. The realization that Canada is in the enviable position of enjoying approximately 10% of the earth's fresh water led him to travel 23,000 km across Canada with his wife in 1984, sketching and painting in numerous National parks, Provincial Parks and historical places of interest from British Columbia to Labrador. Since then he continually adds to this collection of paintings of lakes, rivers, creeks, marshes and seashores, titled 'The Shorelines of Canada'. Through his art Les encourages reflection on the extremely beautiful and delicate ecological systems that exist in and around our waters. His art calls upon our responsibility to respect, savour and protect the waters and the landscape that preserves it. On Saturday evening Les will share with FLOW participants his inspiration, and his appreciation and understanding of water through his series 'The Shorelines Of Canada'.