President Marja de Jong Westman
Marja is a biologist, and her passion for the natural world is an inherent part of her character. After graduating from UBC, this passion found a home for 10 years in her work at the Vancouver Aquarium. In 1984, Marja joined the teaching faculty at Capilano University. She is presently teaching and the head of the Department of Biology at CapU. Outside the classroom, Marja has been active in the world of environmental stewardship, founding the North Shore's most respected environmental stewardship group, The Lighthouse Park Preservation Society. In this role she has been recognized with a Heritage Award from the West Vancouver Municipality and also with the Frank Sanford award for outstanding community achievement bestowed by the Vancouver Natural History Society. Marja feels her Cree roots speak the loudest within her.
Vice-President Warren Warttig
Warren is a Registered Professional Biologist in BC (R.P.Bio.) in BC, specializing in habitat ecology. Warren is involved with many non-profit societies involved in environmental stewardship, and has been president of the Mountainaire Avian Rescue Society (a wildlife rescue centre near Courtenay) for seven years. Warren recently received the Bill Young award for excellence in Integrated Resource Management.
Secretary Ann Casselman
Anne is a National Magazine Award-nominated journalist with over ten years of experience and she regularly contributes to Scientific American, Canadian Geographic, The Walrus, BCBusiness magazine and National Geographic News. Since 2008 Anne has also worked as an interpretive writer and communications consultant for private organizations and institutions including Parks Canada, the Canadian Museum of Nature, WWF Canada, the Musqueam First Nation, Beatty Biodiversity Museum, and Science World British Columbia. Anne has an undergraduate degree in Zoology from the University of Toronto and a Master’s in Science Communication from Imperial College, London. When not chasing up science and environment stories along British Columbia’s coast, she spends her time off-grid with her husband and daughter at their cabin on the Salish Sea.
Treasurer Diane Burton
Diane is a retired Biology Lab Technician who last worked at the University of the Fraser Valley but also worked as a Lab Technician at the University of Saskatchewan and Dairyland. She is currently a co-owner of the tissue culture firm, AquaFlora Nurseries, with son Tim. She is also Accounts Manager for her husband's Veterinary practice. At home, she is an avid gardener and runs Burton's Fallow Deer Farm in rural Abbotsford. Diane first visited and fell in love with Valdes Island in 1977. Bruce and Diane first leased, then purchased their lot and cabin in Starvation Bay.
Marja is a biologist, and her passion for the natural world is an inherent part of her character. After graduating from UBC, this passion found a home for 10 years in her work at the Vancouver Aquarium. In 1984, Marja joined the teaching faculty at Capilano University. She is presently teaching and the head of the Department of Biology at CapU. Outside the classroom, Marja has been active in the world of environmental stewardship, founding the North Shore's most respected environmental stewardship group, The Lighthouse Park Preservation Society. In this role she has been recognized with a Heritage Award from the West Vancouver Municipality and also with the Frank Sanford award for outstanding community achievement bestowed by the Vancouver Natural History Society. Marja feels her Cree roots speak the loudest within her.
Vice-President Warren Warttig
Warren is a Registered Professional Biologist in BC (R.P.Bio.) in BC, specializing in habitat ecology. Warren is involved with many non-profit societies involved in environmental stewardship, and has been president of the Mountainaire Avian Rescue Society (a wildlife rescue centre near Courtenay) for seven years. Warren recently received the Bill Young award for excellence in Integrated Resource Management.
Secretary Ann Casselman
Anne is a National Magazine Award-nominated journalist with over ten years of experience and she regularly contributes to Scientific American, Canadian Geographic, The Walrus, BCBusiness magazine and National Geographic News. Since 2008 Anne has also worked as an interpretive writer and communications consultant for private organizations and institutions including Parks Canada, the Canadian Museum of Nature, WWF Canada, the Musqueam First Nation, Beatty Biodiversity Museum, and Science World British Columbia. Anne has an undergraduate degree in Zoology from the University of Toronto and a Master’s in Science Communication from Imperial College, London. When not chasing up science and environment stories along British Columbia’s coast, she spends her time off-grid with her husband and daughter at their cabin on the Salish Sea.
Treasurer Diane Burton
Diane is a retired Biology Lab Technician who last worked at the University of the Fraser Valley but also worked as a Lab Technician at the University of Saskatchewan and Dairyland. She is currently a co-owner of the tissue culture firm, AquaFlora Nurseries, with son Tim. She is also Accounts Manager for her husband's Veterinary practice. At home, she is an avid gardener and runs Burton's Fallow Deer Farm in rural Abbotsford. Diane first visited and fell in love with Valdes Island in 1977. Bruce and Diane first leased, then purchased their lot and cabin in Starvation Bay.
