Speakers

Margaret Birch, a Registered Professional Biologist from Port Moody, BC, has a working career spanning 40 years with federal, provincial, municipal and First Nation governments, fisheries consultants, industry, and non-profits. As the City of Coquitlam’s Environmental Coordinator, 2007 – 2020, she organized a community visioning process with the diverse sectors in the Coquitlam River watershed to develop a framework for a healthy Coquitlam River watershed. The city anticipated a short project, however the peoples’ resilience and determination ultimately led to a collaborative organization being formed – the Coquitlam River Watershed Roundtable. Fifteen years later, the Roundtable endures, and Margaret’s involvement also continues. She will join the Board this month.

Margaret stays active walking and quilting, travelling internationally and recreating at the family property on Hornby Island. Her presentation will highlight her experience in the community-driven process that led to and sustains the Coquitlam River Watershed Roundtable. 

Dr. Blair Feltmate is the Head of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo. Previously, he was Vice President of Sustainable Development Investing at the Bank of Montreal, director of sustainable development at Ontario Power Generation, and partner of Sustainable Investment Group/YMG Capital Management. Blair has written textbooks on Sustainable Banking and Aquatic Ecology.

A recognized authority on climate adaptation, Blair has actively promoted the need for more creative adaptation to prepare homes and communities for the growing risk of flooding, wildfire and extreme heat across Canada. Blair was an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow (University of Waterloo). He holds a Ph.D in Theoretical and Applied Ecology (University of Toronto), a Master’s in Sustainable Development (Wilfrid Laurier University), a Master’s in Zoology (University of Toronto), and an Hon. Bachelor’s in Biology (University of Toronto).  He is generally interviewed by the media 150 times per year on climate change/ESG-related issues.

Dr. Deborah McGregor is an Anishinaabe scholar and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) expert from Whitefish River First Nation. At York University, cross-appointed to Osgoode Hall Law School and the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, she is a Canada Excellence Research Chair in Planetary Wellbeing. Her work has focused on Indigenous knowledge systems and their various applications in diverse contexts including water and environmental governance, environmental justice, climate justice, and Indigenous research theory and methodologies. Deborah has held roles in both academic institutions and public organizations to address issues related to climate change and was recently appointed to the International Joint Commission.

Dr. Peter Sale, MSE Chair and past chair of Muskoka Watershed Council, is Professor Emeritus at the University of Windsor and a former scientist with the United Nations University’s Institute for Water, Environment and Health. His research focused on the ecology of coral reefs.

Brian Dwayne Sarazin is an Indigenous artist, singer, and educator of Algonquin, Lakota, Onondaga, and Chippewa descent who comes to us from the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation. As a third-generation Residential School survivor, Brian feels it is his personal duty to continue educating and raising awareness of the beauty and simplicity that Indigenous cultures have to offer, which he conveys through painting, storytelling, and song. As a musician, Brian has performed with mainstream artists for Royalty, Prime Ministers, Governor Generals, and Cirque du Soleil. He received the Medal of Excellence from General W.J Natynczyk, Chief of Defence, one of only three civilians to do so, after singing an honour song during the first occasion on record of the Canadian and U.S. National Defense being in one room.

Dr. Shaun Watmough received his PhD from Liverpool John Moores University, UK. He joined Trent University, Peterborough, in 2004, where he is now Professor and Director of the Environmental and Life Sciences Graduate Program. For the past 30 years, he has studied how human activities impact forests, wetlands and lakes with particular emphasis on nutrients (calcium, phosphorus and nitrogen) and metals, along with their complex interactions with climate change. His extensive catchment scale studies in the Muskoka-Haliburton region have enabled us to understand better how processes within watersheds can affect the quality of our lakes. Working with enthusiastic students, government and university scientists, non-profit organizations and the public, he has co-authored over 180 journal articles and book chapters on ecosystem biogeochemistry.  Along with Friends of the Muskoka Watershed, he is currently addressing the effects of residential wood ash to mitigate calcium decline in our forests.