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.

Preferring to see the Elk Valley and beyond with the aid of running shoes, Courtney has been fortunate to call Fernie home for the last 32 years. Building on her passion for nonprofits and community building Courtney is keen to keep our area of the planet as abundant as she can. Graduating from the University of Victoria with a degree in Sociology and minors in Political Science and English Literature she feels very lucky that she was able to move home and be continually inspired by the mountains of her youth.

John was a leader in the 20-year process to create and complete the Purcell Wilderness Conservancy. He has been instrumental in designation of protected areas and parks in the East Kootenay, coordinated environmental appeals against industrial polluters, worked to establish the Southern Rocky Mountain Conservation Area, the Columbia Wetlands and East Columbia Lake Wildlife Management Areas.

Andrea loves everything outdoors, be it a microscopic plant or heartwarming snowfall against a colourful sunset. She brings experience with education, research, and management to the Wildsight Kimberley/Cranbrook branch, and is excited to be working within the communities she calls home.

Rachel is a registered professional biologist who developed and currently coordinates Wildsight Golden's Columbia Wetlands Waterbird Survey and Community Invasive Plant Program.  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 worked as a field and conservation biologist with several universities and agencies on multiple projects over the past two decades.

Founder of the Rocky Mountain Education Series, Dawn Deydey brings the experience and understanding of five years of Beyond Recycling coordination and development to the table. As Community Program Coordinator for the Wildsight Elk Valley Branch, her ability to weave environmental education and community action into successful programming that moves our community towards sustainability has been proven repeatedly.

Born and raised in Newfoundland, Bryan joined the Wildsight team in 2017 after working 10 years as a Financial Accountant on The Rock. He likes budgets, spreadsheets, dark coffee, and wild places. A CPA, Bryan is proud to work for the wild.

Robyn is the Executive Director of Wildsight and the campaign lead for Jumbo Wild. Born and raised in Kimberley, BC, Robyn fell in love with the mountains at an early age. Her work is driven by her passion for wilderness and wild places and a strong belief that we can minimize our footprint on the planet. She has been with Wildsight since 2006. Her university studies include a MSc-MA in Global Economics from LSE and the University of Vienna, and a BA in International Development from Dalhousie.

A Golden-native, Brian brings experience in natural resource management to the Wildsight team.

Vanessa is passionate about creating a world where both nature and humans can thrive. Bringing experience working with nonprofits, think tanks and United Nations organizations, Vanessa has been telling stories and creating compelling content for close to a decade.

Born and raised in Alberta, Jill is now a proud Kimberlarian! Jill spent the last 10 years working for Alberta Parks in a variety of different capacities, including interpretation, environmental education, and most recently in inclusion and accessibility. She is passionate about nurturing the natural world around her and fostering environmental stewardship in people of all ages. She loves exploring her new Kootenay stomping grounds by foot, bike and canoe and is thrilled to join the Wildsight family to continue to connect people to natural places.

Alannah is an Ontario farm girl now happy to call Kimberley home. After graduating from OCADU with a Bachelors in Fine Arts, it seemed natural to move further west in search of a community with a comfortable juxtaposition between outdoor adventures and artistic opportunity. She is very excited to be the new Kimberley Farmers' Market Coordinator and will probably show you a photo of her puppy or cats unprompted.

Graeme is fascinated by rivers and watersheds, both small and large, wild and urban. Born in Honduras and raised in California, Graeme came to B.C. in 2014 to attend Quest University Canada in Squamish. There, he pursued a self-designed interdisciplinary degree in water resource sciences with a special focus on the Columbia River and the Columbia River Treaty. To complement his academic study with place-based learning, in 2017 he spent six weeks cycling and paddling up the Columbia from sea-to-source while reading, writing, and interviewing along the way. His work on the Columbia River Treaty and related issues has since appeared in English and French in more than 50 publications across Canada and the U.S. As Program Coordinator of the Columbia River Field School, Graeme is inspired and delighted by the opportunity to introduce other young people to the beauty and complexity of this place. Read more about Graeme's work at www.graemeleerowlands.com

As Wildsight's Water Program Manager, Heather as been involved in stewardship efforts in the Columbia Basin for more than a decade. She works with individuals and groups to increase capacity and knowledge to better protect our watersheds. Under this guidance, Wildsight's water programs have won awards from foundations and industry, and have been recognized by the federal government as a best practices example in community based monitoring.

Randal moved to Fernie in the 1990’s and with his wife Lisa raised their family in the Kootenays. Randal is the publisher of Oolichan Books, prior to which he was a museum curator and consultant, working throughout western Canada with museums in human and natural history. He spent much of his life in public service with 15 years as a member of Fernie City Council including six as Mayor and and six as a Director on the Region District of East Kootenay.

A passion for the wilderness and a gift for teaching have drawn Monica into the field of environmental education where she has worked both inside and outside the classroom for the past 15 years.

Born and raised in the Cranbrook area, Eddie has a deep passion for the outdoor world and the Kootenays. He has a strong interest in land use issues and protecting biodiversity and wild places. Eddie is excited to continue to learn, explore, and protect the globally significant landscape he calls home.

Born in Cranbrook, Dave is a wildlife biologist, educator, wilderness guide, writer and photographer whose work is driven by his passion for wilderness and wild spaces. His work with endangered mountain caribou and badgers, threatened fisher and grizzly, as well as lynx and other species has helped shape his understanding of the Kootenay backcountry and its wildlife, and help shape his efforts to protect what remains.

Victoria is this year's Get Wild! Education Coordinator. She moved to Golden from Vancouver in June 2018, and she is from Grande Prairie, AB. Victoria has been involved in The Golden Women's Center, Wildsight Golden, and she has organized The Forest March, and The Lorax Festival. She sees the importance of educating the adults of the future to connect, and protect nature, and our communities.

Lars has a BA.&Sc. in physics and a life-long love of data and the stories it tells. His passion is climate solutions: transportation, buildings, energy and waste. Lars loves to turn science into compelling narratives, driven by the love of the wild that we share, and to craft communications strategies that get results. He optimizes Wildsight's capacity by making systems efficient, numbers tell stories and technology sing.

While Mary doesn't enjoy writing her bio, she does love the opportunity to adapt and present some of Wildsight's amazing environmental education school programs (Beyond Recycling, Winter Wonder). She started work in environmental education in the last century as an interpreter for the Friends of Mt. Revelstoke and Glacier National Parks, has degrees in Biology and Education, and is currently working on her Masters in Environmental Education and Communication.

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 deeply in love with this area and the amazing Columbia Wetlands.

Corinna takes part in Golden's water quality monitoring program and this summer she will be coordinating a new Limber Pine project in the Golden area! Corinna grew up in Edmonton Alberta, and for the past decade she has been exploring and living in the majestic Rocky Mountains. Her passion for the environment lead her to Selkirk College in Castlegar. She has decided to call the beautiful Columbia Valley home. In her spare time Corinna enjoys being in the mountains, running, climbing, skiing and going on wilderness backpacking trips.