Administration
 
Julie Gelfand, President
jgelfand(@)naturecanada.ca
ext 231
 
Tom Ryan, Manager, Finance & Administration
tryan(@)naturecanada.ca
ext. 234

Amanda Chantigny, Accountant
achantigny(@)naturecanada.ca
ext 298

Conservation

Mara Kerry, Director of Conservation
mkerry(@)naturecanada.ca
ext 238

Sarah Wren, Conservation Biologist
swren(@)naturecanada.ca
ext 300

Carla Sbert, Manager, Conservation Programs and Legal Issues
csbert(@)naturecanada.ca
ext 222

Andrew Van Iterson, Program Manager Green Bugdet Colition
avaniterson(@)naturecanada.ca
ext 243
 
Ted Cheskey, Conservation Ecologist
tcheskey(@)naturecanada.ca
ext 227
 
Darcie Laur, Coordinator, Community Engagement and Outreach
dlaur(@)naturecanada.ca
ext 235
 
Public Affairs
Ruth Catana, Director of Public Affairs
rcatana(@)naturecanada.ca
ext 240
 
Sue Robertson, Executive Assistant to the Director of Public Affairs
srobertson(@)naturecanada.ca
ext 236
 
Jodi Joy, Manager, Major and Planned Giving
jjoy(@)naturecanada.ca
ext 239
 
Lori Marcantonio, Manager, Corporate and Foundation Fundraising
lmarcantonio(@)naturecanada.ca
ext 245
 
Alan Ludlow, Manager, Annual Fund
aludlow(@)naturecanada.ca
ext 297
 
Trevor Dupuis, Annual Fund Coordinator
tdupuis(@)naturecanada.ca
ext. 230
 
Communications and Outreach
Chris Sutton, Manager, Communications
csutton(@)naturecanada.ca
ext 248
 
Board of Directors

MARK DORFMAN – Chair
Mark Dorfman was a professional planner in municipal government for 15 years before establishing his own practice in 1981. He is a planner for several private land developers and builders, and an advisor to Ontario municipalities and several community-based organizations in both urban and rural settings. Mark is an Ontario registered professional planner, a fellow of the Canadian Institute of Planners, and a member of the American Planning Association. He served as national president of the Canadian Institute of Planners from 1974 to 1976 and as chair of the Region of Waterloo Environmental and Ecological Advisory Committee from 1988 to 1991. Mark received his Master of Science degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Toronto. He has been an adjunct professor in the School of Planning at the University of Waterloo for many years. Mark was president of the Federation of Ontario Naturalists from 2000 to 2002 and served as president of the Ontario Society for Environmental Management. Currently he is a member of Waterloo Region’s Water Efficiency Advisory Committee.

LOUISE GRATTON – Past chair
Louise Gratton is an ecological consultant and expert in plant ecology and botany. Her work deals mainly with conservation projects, such as management and restoration of wildlife habitat. She also sits on the Quebec Department of Environment and Wildlife’s advisory committee on endangered flora. Other organizations she is associated with include the Association de biologists du Québec, Flora Québec, Fondation pour la sauvegarde des espèces menaces, and the Union québécoise pour la conservation de la nature.

KEN THORPE – Treasurer
Ken Thorpe is a long-time birder and currently treasurer of the Province of Quebec Society for the Protection of Birds (PQSPB), which has had long and close relations with Nature Canada. A certified financial planner (CFP) by profession, he is also president of the board of the Social Investment Organization, Canada’s national trade and education group that promotes socially responsible investing. He is a member of the board of Earth Values Inc., which promotes environmental education, and the Helios Centre, an energy policy organization. Ken, his wife Janice Linder, and their two sons appreciate nature together—from background birds to exotic species.

DOUG SCHMEISER – Secretary
Doug Schmeiser is professor emeritus of Law at the University of Saskatchewan and does consulting work for governments, law firms and international organizations. He is honorary president of Nature Saskatchewan and a life member of Saskatoon United Way. He has served as dean of law, president of the Canadian Association of Law Teachers, chair of the Law Reform Commission of Saskatchewan, president and campaign chair of Saskatoon United Way, and president of Nature Saskatchewan. He is an avid bird watcher.

PETER LEE – Director
Peter Lee is national coordinator of Global Forest Watch Canada, an organization affiliated with the World Resources Institute and operational in more than a dozen forested countries worldwide. With an education in biology, geography and ecology (MSc), Peter has worked on conservation issues in industry, government and academia throughout Canada and internationally. Peter has been involved in numerous local and global conservation organizations. He currently serves on the executive of the Federation of Alberta Naturalists and the Alberta Environmental Law Centre, and is a board member of the Castle Crown Wilderness Coalition.

CLIFF WALLIS – Director
A biologist by profession, Cliff Wallis uses his diverse background to operate his own Calgary-based environmental research and consulting firm, Cottonwood Consultants Ltd. As a volunteer, Cliff has worked on environmental projects or served on the boards of several NGOs since the early 1970s. Cliff has worked proactively with federal, provincial and regional government agencies, non-profit organizations, indigenous communities and local landowners in support of his interests in strengthening NGOs and NGO networks, protected areas, endangered species, effects of trade on environment, and environmental law. His international experience includes working with the Canada-Asia Partnership Program, partnering to develop a sustainable community in the southwest province of Cameroon, participating in international meetings on forests and biodiversity, and attending meetings for NAFTA’s Commission for Environmental Cooperation since the mid 1990s. Cliff is also a former president of Nature Canada and has been monitoring international issues on the organization’s behalf for the past two years.

CAROL SCOTT - Director
Carol Scott is a recently retired civil servant with experience in wildlife, parks, aboriginal land claims, communications and administration. She graduated with a B.Sc.(hons. Zoology) supplemented by a later MBA. Combining a longtime interest in natural history and resource management with a keen appreciation of prairie human history, she is an active member of Nature Saskatchewan and the Manitoba Historical Society and a longtime member of the Manitoba Naturalists Society. She is active as well in several courts of the United Church of Canada. Carol has always had a special interest in herpetology, and has been herpetological editor for Nature Saskatchewan’s “Blue Jay” off and on over the years.

PETER STOCKDALE - Director
Peter Stockdale is a retired veterinary academic who specialized in diseases caused by parasites. He and his wife are now running an organic farm in Enderby, South Central BC. In Alberta he worked with the technical committee of the Man and Biosphere Program of Waterton and Glacier (US) National Parks in monitoring disease of wildlife. He later worked with the New Zealand Department of Conservation on diseases of birds to mitigate their effects in captive breeding programs; both on diagnosis and designing management systems. He was also active with the World Conservation Union (IUCN) in both their veterinary and conservation breeding specialist groups. Since his retirement he has been involved with the sociological control of diseases shared by wild and domestic sheep in the South Okanagan. He is an active member of the North Okanagan Naturalists Club as Program Director and with Spring and Winter Bird counts. He has two children and five grandchildren and is anxious to ensure they will continue to have warblers to greet and loons to hear.

RICHARD YANK - Director
Richard Yank has recently relocated from Australia to Ottawa at the end of his career with Alcan Inc. He joined Alcan Inc after graduating with a B.Sc in Chemical Engineering. Yank held a variety of positions within Alcan and retired as the president of its bauxite and alumina operations in the Pacific Region. A former Nature Canada director, he is interested in wilderness and habitat conservation, biological diversity, and climate change.