Erica Blake:
Erica has been employed with the Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s Salmon Enhancement Program for over 28 years.
Although currently she is the Community Advisor for the Community Involvement Program, previous roles within the Department embrace a strong fish culture background - Operations Manager, Nitinat River Hatchery, Community Advisor for Southern Vancouver Island, Enhancement Technician at Major Facilities (Nitinat and Robertson Creek Hatcheries), and Selective Fishing Program Coordinator.
Erica supports the aspirations of SEP community partners to engage in watershed scale local planning and governance processes with a fish and fish habitat focus and freshwater and marine stewardship initiatives that are linked to overall aquatic ecosystem health and/or the salmonid resource – many of which are enhancement related.
John Candy
Mr. John Candy is a Program Head in the Molecular Genetics Section of the Pacific Biological Station (DFO). For the past 20 years he has managed the Genetic Stock Identification program at the lab. Recently he has been involved in the Parentage-Based Tagging (PBT) initiative. He will be discussing this new technology which allows high volume throughput of gene sequencing making it possible to identify hatchery production back to brood-parent crosses.
Brian Murland (may be helping with Beach Seine):
I have worked with the Department of Fisheries and oceans from June 1984 to February 17, 2017.
My post retirement plans for 2017 are to continue to assist in organizing and leading some 2/3 day Birding trips for the British Columbia Field Ornithologists in the interior of BC. Continue to assist Baker Creek Enhancement when I can. Retirement plans past 2017 are to attempt to visit as many of Canada’s World Heritage sites and National Parks as my wife and I can.
Pat Fairweather:
Over 30 years of fisheries related experience working for both the provincial and federal governments as well as First Nations and the private sector:
Tom Rutherford (Watershed Round Tables Coastal):
Tom Rutherford is a fisheries biologist with well over 35 years’ experience supporting community outreach and engagement, citizen science and technical programming directed towards the protection and restoration of salmon stocks and the habitats that support them. Tom has recently retired from his position as DFO Section Head, Community Involvement and Habitat Restoration, South Coast and is currently working to support local watershed governance and stewardship in the Cowichan Valley as Executive Director of the Cowichan Watershed Board.
Wayne Salewski (Watershed Round Tables Interior):
Wayne Salewski is the current Chair of the Nechako Environment Water Stewardship Society (NEWSS) a non-for profit society working towards enhancing stream restoration in the Nechako Valley.
Wayne is also the current chair of the Community Working group for the Nechako White Sturgeon recovery…. a project that he has worked on for the past 30 plus years.
Wayne is also a founding member of the Nechako Roundtable, which has moved forward a group of individuals and communities that have created a watershed health report card and an organization dedicated to the health of this important watershed.
Wayne is very pleased to have been recognized with a BC Interior Stewardship Award for Ecosystem Excellence award by this organization in 2013.
Barry Booth (Nechako Watershed Integrated Studies):
Barry is a wildlife biologist who is currently the research manager for the Integrated Watershed Research Group (IWRG) at UNBC. In this role he helps facilitate the research efforts of four university professors who are engaging in a multi-year, interdisciplinary research project in the Nechako Basin. In his past life he has worked as a private consultant where he examined the interactions between human disturbance and resource extraction on wildlife, particularly birds. He has also been active in the not-for-profit sector where he worked to acquire and manage for conservation purposes as well as developing conservation plans with communities throughout BC.
Michael Allchin (Quesnel River Research Centre):
- My background is primarily in writing geomatics software to implement the outputs of hydrological research as operational applications. My principal clients were at the UK Natural Environment Research Council's Centre for Ecology and Hydrology at Wallingford.
- I have since worked for the University of Saskatchewan's Centre for Hydrology and Foothills Research Institute
- From 2011-2013 I studied (remotely) for an MSc in geographical information systems with the universities of Leeds and Southampton (UK): my dissertation was awarded a national prize by the Geographical Information Science research Group of the Royal Geographical Society
- Since then I have been in the Natural Resources and Environmental Studies PhD program at the University of Northern BC, investigating associations between snow cover and landscape, and trends in snow-covered area over the Northern Hemisphere
- In May 2016 I was offered the post of manager at Quesnel River Research Centre, where I help to provide support for a variety of projects by scientists from universities at UNBC, elsewhere in BC and Canada, and internationally.
Jennifer Sutherst
Jennifer is a Biologist and Environmental Scientist that has working as an environmental professional and stewardship leader most of her career; and has extensive experience working in freshwater, marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Ranging from projects as diverse as research on climate change for Simon Fraser University to traditional ecological knowledge surveys of marine mammals for the ‘Namgis First Nation. She has won awards for her work with Fisheries and Oceans Canada and for the production of the Lost Streams of Victoria informational map. She is a Streamkeepers and Wetlandkeepers Instructor and has worked extensively with multi-disciplinary teams of volunteers, First Nations, government agencies and non-profits to achieve habitat protection and stewardship objectives. Currently she is the Estuary Coordinator and Staff Biologist for the Comox Valley Project Watershed Society.
Brian Riddle
Dr. Brian Riddell is the President and CEO of the Pacific Salmon Foundation, an independent, non-governmental organization dedicated to creating a sustainable future for wild Pacific salmon and their habitat. Riddell is an internationally recognized fisheries scientist who has extensive experience in fisheries management and environmental policy development.
Among numerous professional distinctions, Riddell serves as a member of the Royal Society of Canada’s Expert Panel on Ocean Climate Change and Marine Biodiversity. He is also an appointed Canadian Commissioner to the Pacific Salmon Commission, the body formed by the governments of Canada and the United States to implement the Pacific Salmon Treaty. His fields of research focus on salmon population biology and genetics, international fisheries management, and formulation of science-based policy for conservation and utilization of salmon.
Prior to joining the Pacific Salmon Foundation in February 2009, Riddell worked for 30 years in various scientific research and management positions with the Government of Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Riddell was the scientific lead in the creation of Canada’s Policy for Conservation of Wild Pacific Salmon, for which he received the Government of Canada’s Public Service Distinction Award in 2005; and earlier he contributed to the development of the Pacific Salmon Treaty, the 1985 bi-lateral agreement between Canada and the United States governing management, research and enhancement of Pacific salmon.
Riddell earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology from the University of Guelph in 1974. He completed his doctoral studies in salmon biology and genetics at McGill University in 1979.
Residents of Nanaimo, B.C., Brian and his wife Lorna have three grown children. Lorna is a secondary school teacher while putting up with Brian’s work and travel for almost 40 years.
Martha Rans
The Facilitator: Martha is the Project Lead of the Law for Non Profits and the Legal Director of the Pacific Legal Outreach Society. She has been a lawyer for over 20 years. Her Vancouver-based law practice specializes in the legal needs of non-profits, charities and digital creatives. She advises on charity law, incorporation, governance, privacy, employment, labour, health & safety and human rights. She spent 10 years as labour employment and human rights lawyer/mediator with the BC and Ontario governments. A recognized expert on the BC Societies Act, she has co-chaired the provincial Continuing Legal Education of BC Charities and Non Profit Law Conference since 2014. (martharans.ca)
Rob Dams
Over 30 years fisheries related experience working with DFO and a private consultant: