Staff and Board

Staff

Patti Graham

Administrator & Finance

Patti Graham’s background is in finance and administration management and she has been on contract as the RSBC’s accountant since January 2007 and administrator since January 2010. Patti looks after the administration and finance for a number of small non-profits and corporations. Patti was born and raised in Coquitlam and continues to live in the Tri-City area with her two sons.

Richelle Giberson

Communications Coordinator

A graphic designer with fourteen years experience and a formal design education, Richelle has worked with the RSBC on a wide range of projects, including the Keep it Cool transit campaign, the Sustainable Living Leadership Program campaigns and others. She manages the RSBC's social media accounts and website updates, as well as coordinating much of RSBC's outreach and marketing efforts.

Glenda Newsted

SLLP Facilitator

Glenda is a graduate of the Sustainable Living Leadership Program class of 2007, was a trainee in 2008 and a full facilitator in 2009. She is passionate about reconnecting people to nature. She has experience working and volunteering with non-profit and local government organizations in urban and rural communities within the Fraser River Basin. Glenda has a Diploma in Recreation Leadership from Langara College, and a degree through Thompson Rivers Open University focusing on sustainable community development and ecological restoration. Glenda lives in Prince George.

Doug Radies

SLLP Facilitator

Doug Radies worked full time on parks and wilderness and land use issues in British Columbia from 1989-2002. In 1990, Doug spearheaded the campaign to protect the Cariboo Mountains of BC, which led to a moratorium and ultimately a 130,000 hectare protected area between Bowron Lake and Wells Gray Provincial Parks in the central interior of BC.

He participated in the Cariboo and Robson Valley Land Use Planning Processes and, in 1995, co-founded the Quesnel River Watershed Alliance, a Cariboo-based grass-roots conservation group working to protect and maintain the overall health of the Quesnel Rivershed, the most productive sockeye salmon producing tributary of the Fraser River. Doug conducted extensive research and fieldwork in BC’s interior, producing tabloids, reports, magazine articles, posters, brochures, slide shows, and videos about the environment.

From 1999-2002, Doug coordinated the Lillooet conservation campaign for the Sierra Club of BC. Doug has a degree in Education from the University of British Columbia.

Jeremy Williams

Videographer, Jeremy Williams Photography

Jeremy is an independent filmmaker and award-winning photographer, specializing in remote wilderness productions. His films have been broadcast on CNN, CBC, satellite TV, and community TV. His photos have been published in many books, magazines, and newspapers, including the New York times, and the Vancouver Sun. Jeremy works with groups and communities committed to solutions for a peaceful, sustainable world.

Board Members

Fin Donnelly

Board Chair

Fin is the founder of the Rivershed Society of British Columbia. Between 1990 and 2000, Fin twice swam the 1,400 km length of the Fraser River, and made 12 other marathon swims, covering more than 3,200 kilometres in BC’s rivers, lakes and ocean to draw attention to the health of these water bodies. Since 1995, he has talked to over 55,000 people in hundreds of BC schools and communities about the need to live sustainably. Fin was elected Member of Parliament for New Westminster-Coquitlam & Port Moody in November 2009. As NDP Fisheries & Oceans critic he introduced legislation to ban oil tanker traffic along BC’s sensitive northern coast and transition all fish farms to closed containment. He served on Coquitlam city council for seven years. Fin was born in New Westminster, grew up in Port Moody, and now lives in Coquitlam with his wife Lynda.

Siobhan Ashe

Board Vice Chair

Siobhan is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Sociology at the University of British Columbia. Her dissertation research focuses on sustainable community development planning and the role of socialization practices, in relation to community-based capacity building models, to foster local level democratic engagement. She has a keen interest in pursuing unlikely sources of social change and is actively engaged in advocating collaboration amongst community-based sustainability initiatives.

Neal Nicholson

Board Treasurer

Neal is a practicing chartered accountant in Coquitlam. He is an active community member, having been involved with the Evergreen Cultural Centre Board, the Douglas College Board, the Advanced Education Council of BC, the Association of Canadian Community Colleges, the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame Society, and the BC Seniors Games. He is seerving for the second time on Coquitlam City Council and looking forward to re-election in 2011. Neal lives in Coquitlam with his wife Barbara, not far from their children and grandchildren.

Sharolise Baker

Board Member

Sharolise has been involved with the Fraser River Fisheries for many years. She has worked as Stewardship Coordinator for both the Fisheries Renewal BC and Habitat Conservation Stewardship Program; as Fisheries Field Technican and Fisheries Program Manager for Carrier Sekani Tribal Council and currently for her own community Stellat'en First Nation.

Sharman Learie

Sharman has worked nine years in the Outdoor Adventure Industry doing Leadership Development, Hiking, Whitewater rafting/canoeing & Kayaking. He is a graduate of the Adventure Guides and Tourism Management programs at the University College of the Cariboo.

Bette McLennan

Board Member

Bette was born in Manitoba and was raised on a farm. She and her family eventually moved to Williams Lake where she worked at Scout Island Nature Centre for several years. She was a founding member of the Williams Lake Environmental Society some 16 years ago. In 1996 she met Fin at a Water Institute conference in Kelowna. A couple of years later Fin came to Williams Lake to swim it to raise awareness of the San Jose Watershed. From funds raised, a video was produced about the watershed, and a new group, the San Jose Watershed Group was founded. Bette has been a strong supporter of Fin’s endeavours ever since.

Kim North

Board Member

Kim is a member of the Lillooet Naturalist Society. Kim coordinates and implements restoration, stewardship and sustainable living education projects in the Lillooet area. Passionate about life, learning and community capacity building, Kim enjoys hiking, swimming, kayaking, and of course, she loves the Fraser River, having lived beside it for over 30 years.

Dave Palidwor

Board Member

Dave came to RSBC in 2002. He is a registered Landscape Architect and has worked in the private and public sectors. He was born and raised in Coquitlam. Dave worked in Park Planning and Design for the City of Coquitlam for 23 years and is now a private design consultant. Areas of particular interest include: watershed planning and management, public consultation, community development, stream stewardship, green infrastructure and master trail planning.  Dave completed his Masters in Environment and Management at Royal Roads University with an emphasis on sustainability and performance measurement. Dave is a past director with the British Columbia Society of Landscape Architects and a member of the Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC. Dave's blend of knowledge, skills and practical experience coupled with his enthusiasm for building sustainable communities is valued on the RSBC Board.sustainable communities is valued on the RSBC Board.

Olga Schwartzkopf

Board Member

Olga has been a Legal Assistant at Glen Orris, Q.C. Law Corporation in Vancouver for the last 25 years. Her interest in watersheds developed while living and growing up around the Niagara River and its surrounding agricultural environment. She is presently influenced by the Capilano, Seymour and Coquitlam Rivers and the environment of Mount Seymour and Indian Arm, and of course, the dominant Fraser River. She has a Degree in Agricultural Sciences from the University of British Columbia. Olga is a Director for the Soil & Water Conservation Society, BC Chapter, is on the Advisory Board of the Burns Bog Conservation Society, was a member of the GVRD Regional Water Advisory Committee (from 1992 to 2006), is the present Chairperson of the National Water Caucus for the Canadian Environmental Network in Ottawa, and is a member of ALR-PEC for the preservation of the Agricultural Land Reserve in BC. Olga is on the Board of the Scow Institute, as treasurer and sits on several committees: the Acid Raid Task Group (CCME), The National Pollutant Release Inventory Work Group (EC), the National Fish Habitat Coordinating Committee (DFO). She has worked on public consultation committees with federal government representatives and industry on the following issues: Upstream Oil and Gas Emissions, Toxic Substances as classified under CEPA, the National Agriculture and Environment Standards Initiative, Particulate Matter and Ozone within the Construction and Demolition Industry and others.

Leif Douglass

Board Member

Leif Douglass is a graduate of the 2011 Sustainable Living Leadership Program. This experience inspired him to become increasingly involved in creating a sustainable student experience at Thompson Rivers University (TRU), where he is an undergraduate anthropology student.  He is now a Director-at-Large for the TRU Students Union, a representative for the Environmental Advisory Committee at TRU, and an elected representative for the TRU Senate. Through his work with the Students Union, Leif has been an active piece of the ongoing campaign to ban the sale of disposable plastic bottles at TRU, receiving pledges of support from almost 3000 students and endorsements from more than half of the faculty departments on campus. When he is not in university, Leif spends his time doing native plant restoration in the Lillooet area.