Board of Directors 2023/24
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Wayne White
President In 1971 Wayne started his career in public service with the Pollution Control Branch in Vernon, implementing the discharge and receiving monitoring program for the Okanagan Region from Field, BC to Manning Park. Over the years he has been responsible for the inspection and monitoring of some major southern BC mines. He has served on the Comox District School Board and was a founding director of the Tribune Bay Environmental Education Society. Wayne wore two hats on the Tsolum River Task Force in 1995, one as a representative of the Pollution Prevention Branch and one as a watershed resident. This was one of the earliest multi-stakeholder efforts to clean up the Mount Washington Copper Mine. Wayne was a founding director of the Tsolum River Restoration Society in 1998, which continued the restoration effort after the Task Force disbanded. Recently retired, he continues to work with the Tsolum River Partnership, which focuses government, industry and community effort to remediate the major copper sources at the Mount Washington Copper site. In addition to serving as TRRS President, Wayne also works with the Courtenay and District Fish and Game Protective Association on their Comox Lake watershed committee and is a member of the Estuary Working Group. Wayne received the BC Achievement Community Award in May of 2022 in recognition of his decades of work towards improving the health of our local environmenta and community. 
Ron Frank
Director Ron is a Registered Professional Forester (B.C.) and a partner of Shelterwood Forest Management Ltd.. In the past he has provided forestry-consulting services to government, industry, and First Nations clients. Through his work, Ron facilitates connections between organizations and develops community-based initiatives; these practices are applied to his work within the TRRS. He recognizes the wide scope of the Tsolum Watershed ecosystem and believes that the TRRS must speak for the entire community of organisms, including people, and the ecosystems on which they rely, using all the powers of technology, skills of negotiation and strategic planning, and working with the strength of community support and volunteers to ensure a healthy, sustainable and productive Tsolum Watershed. He has maintained ties with the K'omoks First Nations for many years and worked with coastal First Nations since the 1970s. His children have been a part of the Tsolum River Watershed since 1984 and he has been a member of the TRRS Board of Directors since near its inception. Ron believes that he has a responsibility to be part of Uu--a-thluck (Nuu-Chah-Nulth for 'looking after') the Tsolum River, as it looks after his family in so many ways. |
David Morwood
Vice President David always had an interest in critters and some of his earliest (and best) memories were playing in a swamp in suburban Ottawa. As an adult this interest evolved into canoeing, hiking and fly fishing. A zoology degree was cut short by medical school at U of A and otolaryngology at UBC. He worked first in Yellowknife, travelling throughout the western Arctic, and was astonished by the richness and uniqueness of the flora and fauna and of its fragility. Yk was also a firsthand look at indigenous cultures and their relationship to the land. The lessons they had for the society at large were and are largely ignored. In 1980 Dr. Morwood and his family moved to the Comox Valley but a busy medical/surgical practice and a young family were demands that left time for little else. The transition from medical doctor to Tsolum River advocate was slow and it was 10 years before Dave felt comfortable with ecology thanks to help from particularly Jack Minard, Stewart Duncan and Wayne White. "As the effects of poor land use policies produce flooding, erosion, water pollution, decimated fish runs and a host of other problems, it is clear that the trajectory is towards a diminished, poorer earth. Grass roots organizations like TRRS are a local answer to that problem". 
Laura Ann O'Brien Secretary/Treasurer Laura moved to the Comox Valley from Vancouver in 1994. She and her partner, Dave, became connected with TRRS in 1998 after noticing large numbers of coho fry dying in a flood channel on their rented property beside the Tsolum. Her love of the river continued to grow after they purchased a home on the Tsolum. Laura has been a volunteer director for the TRRS since 2001. Laura has almost 30 years of experience as a legal assistant; this experience assisted with the successful application for federal charitable status in 2002. In 2003-2005 she wrote a series of “Tsolum River Walks” and other Comox Valley nature walks, informative historical pieces that were published monthly in the local Rural Shopper magazine. From 2010-2012 she created the series “Tsolum Sid”, about a fictional Western toad, published in the Rural Shopper. Laura sits on the Outreach Committee (OC) that attends public events to celebrate the river and watershed, develop community connections, share information, and raise awareness. Laura assisted in developing the OC's school education program that was piloted at Huband Park Elementary School. Laura looks forward to sharing her love of the Tsolum with others and encouraging them to be active stewards of our unique watershed. |
Stewie McIntosh
Director Retired Certified Arborist and longtime volunteer with the TRRS, Stewy brings deep knowledge of trees and ecology to our society. He is motivated to help TRRS reach its riparian restoration goals Stewy is a self professed "human-doing" versus "human-being", and we are happy to have him on board. 
Aleena Oates, GIS Technician
Director Aleena moved to Vancouver Island in 2015 to complete a Bachelor of Science in Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria. Through her classes on geomorphology, Aleena developed a fascination with rivers and how they shape and connect the landscape on their journey to the sea. After graduation, Aleena returned to school at BCIT to pursue a technical diploma in GIS, with the hopes of using her skills to guide river restoration projects. Aleena joined the board of directors, after working for TRRS as a summer student. She is excited to continue being part of TRRS in a multi-facetted role, all while learning more about the resiliency of the Tsolum!Aleena now lives in Cumberland, on the traditional territory of the K’ómoks First Nations. When Aleena is not intently staring at maps, you can typically find her riding her mountain bike in the woods or baking her famous double chocolate chip cookies.
Hamish Murray
Director 
Hamish Murray is a retired meteorologist who worked for Environment Canada, and provides invaluable detailed weather reports to the society. Prior to joining TRRS he helped found the Perserverance Creek Streamkeepers. He is very involved in flow monitoring, fry outmigration assessment and bullfrog removal from wetlands for the TRRS. Long term Cumberland resident, we are delighted to welcome Hamish to the other side of the valley, but don't forget to bring the donuts.
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Norm Wiens
Director Norm is a retired Professional Geophysicist. He graduated from UVIC in 1976 with a BSc in Physics and Mathematics. He worked for more than 30 years in Calgary as an Oil and Gas Exploration and Development geophysicist and manager. He and wife, Kerry, moved to the Comox Valley in 2010 after having visited the area every summer since 1987. Responding to a request for volunteers in an Echo article, Norm and Kerry began counting fry at the Rotary Screw Trap in the spring of 2011. Impressed by the determination and approach of the TRRS, they have become increasingly engaged and involved. 
Cory Frank
Director and K'omoks First Nation Representative Cory is a member of the K'omoks First Nation and the Fisheries and Guardian Watchman Manager. Fisheries Guardians protect and monitor the lands and waters within the K'omoks traditional territory, and work with stewardship groups such as TRRS, providing invaluable local knowledge, direction and support. 
Theresa Martin
Director Theresa is a Public Health Nurse who believes that human health is dependent upon healthy ecosystems. Theresa has worked as a Registered Nurse in many areas of the medical system, prior to choosing to stay in Public Health, including emergency, intensive care, and remote practise nursing. Her work in remote First Nations communities in northern British Columbia was instrumental in shaping her thoughts about our connection to the natural world and the importance of stewarding land, water, and biodiversity. Theresa and her husband, Brett, moved to the Comox Valley in 2014, into an area of Courtenay that is part of the lower Tsolum watershed. Their property contains a portion of a creek that flows into the Tsolum and they have seen firsthand the importance of preserving streams and wetlands. They are now raising their 4 year old daughter on the banks of the Tsolum and want to be involved in maintaining and restoring this important river. |