Board Members
Laurence Turney
Board President
Laurence is an RPBio who graduated from the University of Victoria in 1983 with a B.Sc. in zoology and has worked for consulting firms and government in a wide variety of disciplines and geographic areas. Early in his career he spent time in the Queen Charlotte Islands and Beaufort Sea working on seabirds and marine mammals. From 1986 to 1991, he worked for the Department of Renewable Resources in Yellowknife, NWT in the areas of… Read more about Laurence Turney
Don Morgan
Board Vice President
Don Morgan is a natural resource management and systems researcher with the BC Ministry of Forests Research Branch, where he is the Team Leader of Wildlife Habitat Research. His main research area focuses on methods for describing and analyzing socio-ecological systems with an emphasis on wildlife habitat supply. He applies innovative methods to explore uncertainty, particularly the impact of climate change on ecological processes and its interaction with resource management decisions. He is a Registered… Read more about Don Morgan
Irene Ronalds
Board Secretary
Irene is a Consulting Biologist who focuses on Biogeoclimatic Ecosystem Classification (BEC), and Terrestrial Ecosystem Mapping (TEM). She also writes extension, planning and management reports which synthesize ecological research and inventory information. She moved to the Bulkley Valley in 1993 to work on the Protected Areas Strategy conservation analysis. She is the mother of two young boys who spend a lot of time in the outdoors. She weaves a variety of ecology projects into her… Read more about Irene Ronalds
Brian Edmison
Board Treasurer
Brian Edmison, born in Ottawa, obtained a BA degree from Queen's University in 1967 and a Chartered Accounts degree with Pricewaterhouse, Toronto in 1970. In 1972, he joined a CA firm in Smithers BC, becoming a partner in 1977, and remains with that firm, now called Edmison Mehr, CAs. His public practice includes financial statement preparation for corporations, not-for-profit organizations and individuals, auditing government entities, Canadian and international taxation and property management. In addition to… Read more about Brian Edmison
Alison Beal
Board Member
Alison M. Beal is the former executive director of the Fur Institute of Canada (1991-2000), in that capacity developing strong working relationships with the trapping community, including First Nations, across Canada; she has a strong background on local, national and international issues related to trapping, trapline management, humane trap research and development, and the establishment of international humane trap standards. Alison has served on the board of directors of the BC Wildlife Federation, the BC… Read more about Alison Beal
Phil Burton
Board Member
Phil Burton is Manager of Northern Projects for the Pacific Forestry Centre of the Canadian Forest Service, based in Prince George, B.C., where he is also an adjunct professor in the Ecosystem Science & Management Program at the University of Northern British Columbia. Phil has written several dozen papers and book chapters on vegetation dynamics and forest regeneration, and he currently researches various aspects of forest disturbance ecology. A common theme of his work has… Read more about Phil Burton
Debbie Cichowski
Board Member
Deborah Cichowski is a wildlife ecologist with a keen interest in the ecology and landscapes of northwestern BC. She has been involved with research and management of woodland caribou in west-central BC since 1985 and is currently conducting research on the effects of the mountain pine beetle epidemic on caribou habitat use and lichen dynamics. She has also worked on other research projects including a predator/prey study in Spatsizi Park with the Spatsizi Association for… Read more about Debbie Cichowski
Sybille Haeussler
Board Member & Past President
Sybille Haeussler is a forester and research scientist whose work focuses on the effects of human activities on the diversity, resilience and complexity of terrestrial ecosystems and plant communities, and on improving ecosystem-based forest and rangeland management. She is an adjunct professor with the University of Northern BC and currently works with the Bulkley Valley Research Centre, UNBC and other partners on several projects including whitebark pine ecosystem restoration, climate change adaptation and non-timber forest… Read more about Sybille Haeussler
Greg Knox
Board Member
Greg Knox was hired as the Executive Director of Skeena Conservation Trust in October of 2007, and is responsible for the overall management of the Trusts activities. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Geography from the University of Northern BC in 2000, after which he became a certified Fisheries Technician and Field Supervisor with the Nisga’a Fisheries program. In 2003, Greg also partnered in an ecotourism business based out of Terrace where he specialized… Read more about Greg Knox
Andrea Kosalko
Board Member
Andrea Kosalko is the School of Exploration and Mining manager at Northwest Community College. The school is built on partnerships between industry, the college and First Nations, backed mainly by funding from the provincial and federal governments. Andrea has coordinated the school since its inception in 2005 and it has won several awards for its partnerships, program design and contributions towards building sustainable communities. Andrea would like to see communities maximize benefits from exploration and… Read more about Andrea Kosalko
Tony Pesklevits
Board Member
Tony and his wife Lisa moved to the Bulkley Valley in 2008. His work with the First Nations Initiatives Division of the Integrated Land Management Bureau involves building collaborative agreements between government agencies and northwest First Nations on land use and resource management, shared decision-making, resource revenue-sharing, and governance. Prior to joining the provincial government in 2007, Tony spent nine years in Nova Scotia, where he led an environmental field research program at Acadia University… Read more about Tony Pesklevits
Paul Wojdak
Board Member
Paul Wojdak obtained B.Sc (Honours) in chemistry and geology from McMaster University and M.Sc. in economic geology from the University of British Columbia. He joined Cominco Limited in 1974 as a mineral exploration geologist and worked throughout western Canada and USA with Cominco and subsequently with Westmin Resources. In 1992, he joined the B.C. Ministry of Energy and Mines as Regional Geologist. Key components of the position are to track and document mining and exploration… Read more about Paul Wojdak
Irving Fox
Founding Director
Born and raised in Michigan, Irving received a BA from the University of Michigan in Political Science, and MA in Public Administration. After several years in the US Department of the Interior working on water basin management, he joined Resources for the Future in Washington, D.C., where he was a researcher and Vice-President from 1955-66. He was professor of Urban and Regional Planning and associate director of Water Resources Research at the University of Wisconsin… Read more about Irving Fox