Our People

Leslie has lived in the Kootenays almost her whole life, growing up in Castlegar and now residing in Golden where she has been for almost 30 years. She loves the wilderness and spends as much time as she can outdoors; camping, hiking, swimming and cross-country skiing. Leslie has 7 grandchildren and it is important to her that they are able to enjoy the wilderness as much as she does forever.

Aita is a born and raised Parson-ite, she moved away for school and life but recently moved back. She is a biologist and map-maker, and joined Wildsight to advocate for our amazing landscapes. She enjoys gardening, the outdoors and connecting with people.

Rachel is a registered professional biologist who developed and currently coordinates Wildsight Golden's Columbia Valley Swallow Project and Community Invasive Plant Program. She also developed and managed on the hugely successful Columbia Wetlands Waterbird Survey for Wildsight.  At the top of her class, she graduated with a Master of Science degree in Environment and Management in 2014, and has a Bachelors of Science degree (biology major) from the University of Victoria.  She has...

Golden Branch Director & Biologist on the Golden Rocky Mountain Sheep Project and Project Coordinator for the Plant Awareness Project

As a consulting boreal river ecologist, Annette Luttermann works with Aboriginal communities across Canada primarily investigating the cumulative environmental effects of large hydroelectric developments. Annette holds an interdisciplinary PhD from Dalhousie University where her research focused on the historical effects of dams and impoundments on riparian habitats of the Churchill River in Labrador.

Verena Shaw is a very passionate naturalist who loves to get outside into the wild and has been birdwatching for many years. Verena has been involved with various environmental projects with some bird related ones being swallow, bluebird, wood duck nest box monitoring, nightjar and marsh bird surveys, a western screech owl study, and various other bird counts. When coming to the Wings Over the Rockies Bird Festival two years ago she fell...

My name is Calvin Beauchesne. I have a BA (Honours) in Environmental Studies and MA in Sustainability Studies. I led the fossil fuel divestment campaign at my university from 2013- 2015. I wrote my masters thesis on the effectiveness of different tactics and strategies of opposition to the Trans Mountain pipeline in BC. I have lived in Golden for 3 seasons. This past winter I presented to Golden City Council proposing the town...

Aita is a born and raised Parson-ite, she moved away for school and life but recently moved back. She is a biologist and map-maker, and joined Wildsight to advocate for our amazing landscapes. She enjoys gardening, the outdoors and connecting with people.

Kate grew up with a profound love of nature after summers camping in Jasper with her family and hunting with her dad every fall. For 16 years, Kate played ringette in the winter in her hometown of St.Albert, Alberta. Kate moved to Golden in 2021 after completing a 4-year  Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Alberta, Augustana Campus in Environmental Studies and Outdoor Education. While at Augustana, Kate was the university’s Outdoors...

Joan has been volunteering with WIldsight Golden since it’s inception in 1989. She has been the branch president for many years, spearheading and supporting many initiatives and projects Joan finds it a privilege to work with the great people that are part of Wildsight and to live and play in such a wild and wonderful place.

Natalie spent the best part of 10 years travelling the world as a Snow Sports Instructor. After witnessing the unpredictability from season to season due to environmental factors she returned to the UK to complete an Environmental Science B.Sc (hons). Since then has worked in invasive species (plants) with Spectrum Resources Group, as a Community Coordinator with WildSafeBC and as a Junior Biologist. She looks forward to working with Wildsight Golden as it...

Tyler grew up in White Salmon, Washington on the Columbia River. He got his BSc in Fire Ecology and Forest management at the University of Idaho while also working as a Wildland Firefighter for 6 years. Here is where his love for trees, being outdoors, and conserving our natural spaces blossomed.  He moved to Golden in 2021, with the hope of participating in conserving this beautiful landscape (also on the Columbia) for years to come! I want to...

Jen has been in Golden since 2019, after moving from Revelstoke. Over the last 10 years, she has developed a strong sense of place and love for this region and is finding joy in exploring this side of the Columbia Valley now. For the last five years Jen has worked in ecological monitoring and now wildlife management as well, for Parks Canada. Prior to this, her somewhat meandering career as a biologist took...

Golden Branch Director & Biologist on the Golden Rocky Mountain Sheep Project and Project Coordinator for the Plant Awareness Project

Jenna is a life-long nature nut. She is a trained fish and wildlife technician and has worked in resource conservation at Parks Canada for the past 4 years. Previously, she worked as an environmental educator in Alberta developing and delivering programs to students and teachers about the natural world and natural resources. She recently nested in Golden and is proud to have the Columbia wetlands and both the Purcell and Rocky mountains in...

Brittany moved to beautiful Golden five years ago, to pursue early years education and has worked at several local childcare centres, including supervising the ski hill’s Kicking Horse Kids Club. Prior to that she worked in the environmental non-profit sector in Alberta, creating nature-based excursions and experiences for people of all ages, and advocating for the protection of wild spaces. She is a fully certified Early Childhood Educator, has a degree in Biology...

Mathew Zaleski has degrees in electrical and human factors engineering and a PhD in computer science from the University of Toronto. He has worked as an engineer, manager, and business owner and recently finished a 5 year stint as a computer science professor. In 1986 he started as a software engineer for IBM. Subsequently he worked for Autodesk, Adobe and Intel. In 1994, with two partners, he founded and operated Mountain Lake Software...