How would the world look if we honoured the champions of this Earth? Those that protect the landscapes we love and defend wildlife that can’t speak for themselves?
It’s why we launched the Ellen Zimmerman Award. Those most deserving of recognition are often the ones praised the least.
We are honoured to announce this year’s Ellen Zimmerman Award recipient: Dr. Suzanne Bayley, whose passion for water health has helped support water protections across North America and inspired countless water stewards.
For the love of water
Suzanne grew up on the shores of Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, USA where her love of all things aquatic began. After a few years traveling and earning her PhD at Johns Hopkins University, she worked on multiple coastal ecological projects on the Atlantic coast, specializing in aquatic vegetation in estuaries (the tidal mouth of a river where fresh and saltwater mix). She held academic positions in both Florida and Louisiana, where she directed the Coastal Ecology Lab at Louisiana State University and conducted research on the Mississippi Delta’s threatened habitats.
When she married Dr. David Schindler, a fellow fan of all things water-related who dedicated his life to defending Canada’s freshwater from harm, she brought her research mindset to Manitoba’s northern waters. Suzanne worked alongside her husband on groundbreaking experimental lakes projects, studied the effects of acid rain on wetlands, developed techniques to assess the health of wetlands and lakes, and focused on a range of freshwater ecology projects. She also spent two decades at the University of Alberta as a professor of ecology and wetland science.
Her gradual move to British Columbia’s Columbia Valley began with overseeing graduate projects in the Columbia Wetlands and providing scientific advice on projects with the Columbia Wetlands Stewardship Partners (CWSP). With an eye towards retirement, the couple purchased property adjacent to the wetlands she had grown so fond of, moving fulltime to the valley in 2013.
Stewardship mindset
The Columbia Valley is better off for having Suzanne settle here. Shortly after the move, she took on a leadership role with the Columbia Wetlands Stewardship Partners, a collaborative network of more than 30 groups including conservation organizations, local government, businesses and outdoor recreation groups.
“One of the amazing things about the CWSP is that it brings together such a wide range of interests,” she says. “From Rod and Gun clubs to environmental groups to local government — we all care about the same landscapes, and this gives us a way to work together.”
Suzanne’s scientific background and collaborative approach have been a key factor in CWSP’s success for almost 10 years now. Under her leadership, CWSP developed its first Strategic Plan which has guided the organization and laid out clear steps to protect the ecological integrity of the wetlands.
One of CWSP’s more recent projects that Suzanne is particularly excited about is a wetland restoration project.
“Climate change is having a big effect on us. We looked at all the little lakes, wetlands and streams on the western side of the Columbia Valley. We looked at how many there are, and how we can restore some that have been degraded. This will provide water for the species up there,” she explained of the multi-year project underway now.
Suzanne is also enjoying CWSP’s explorations into landscape protections for wildlife surrounding the wetlands. She points out that while the north-south corridor of the Columbia Wetlands is protected, wildlife need protected lands to move east-west from mountain range to mountain range across the Columbia Valley.
Aside from her efforts at CWSP, Suzanne also sits on the board of the Kootenay Conservation Program and the Summit Trail makers Society, as well as contributing her knowledge and time as a volunteer advisor and mentor for conservation projects across the region.
Ellen Zimmerman Award
Ellen Zimmerman was a tireless advocate for the wild places of this region and a longstanding part of the Wildsight family. Her legacy includes protecting the Cummins River Valley (a low-elevation Rocky Mountain rainforest and wilderness north of Golden), safeguarding the eastern shore of Columbia Lake, and advocating for recognition and protection of the Columbia Wetlands.
Ellen passed away in 2020; we honour her legacy with an award each year which recognizes an individual who has made an extraordinary contribution to environmental conservation in the upper Columbia River watershed (from Canal Flats to Revelstoke). Past recipients include Rachel Darvill, Annette Lutterman, Kat Hartwig, and most recently, Tracy Flynn.
Suzanne was awarded the 2025 Ellen Zimmerman Award at this year’s CWSP AGM on Thursday, June 5 in Invermere. In her presentation, Wildsight Golden board member Joan Dolinsky praised Suzanne’s hard efforts through the year: “All the work you’ve facilitated, all the mentorship you’ve done, all the community and conservation-related projects — you’ve really raised the profile of conservation in the upper Columbia. Ellen would have been thrilled to see you receive this award.”
For Suzanne, receiving the Ellen Zimmerman Award is both a personal honour and a collective recognition of the hard work of dozens of partner organizations and individuals working to protect the Columbia Wetlands.
At the ceremony, Suzanne praised Ellen’s work in the wetlands, which included it being recognized as a RAMSAR site, and enacting a 20-horsepower designation on the river, something Ellen fought to achieve for more than two decades.
“Winning this prize was really very, very nice, because, in addition to honouring my work, what it shows is how all the various partners have been advancing learning, researching and trying to get conservation actions that protect the wetlands, and the wildlife that uses the wetlands.”
Looking forward
Suzanne’s hope for the future is that the Columbia River continues to flood naturally each spring; that the wetlands remain rich in biodiversity, and undammed — something Suzanne points out is rare and worth fighting for. And she hopes that the valley community keeps working together to safeguard this globally significant ecosystem.
“This valley is very special,” she says. “You can walk 10 minutes and be in an area that’s fairly wild and natural. So many people in the valley love these wetlands, and we all hope they stay the same as they have always been: beautiful, free-flowing and wild.”
