Living Lakes Network Canada Advisory Board

Anne Levesque
Senior Advisor
Canadian Boreal Initiative

Anne has 28 years of experience in developing, leading and managing regional, national and international conservation and environmental awareness programs. Her focus has been on building strategic alliances and partnerships with corporations, governments and organizations concerned with issues of sustainability. She is presently a Senior Advisor for the Canadian Boreal Initiative. Some of her previous leadership roles have been as National Executive Director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Executive Director of Wildsight and Director of an international funding program for the Canadian International Development Agency. She has developed grassroots partnership programs in British Columbia, New Brunswick, the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua and in Ecuador. Anne worked with Unilever Canada to secure the approval of the Columbia River Wetlands as Canada’s first member to the international Living Lakes Network and in organizing the Living Lakes Network Conference in 2004. She has a Master’s degree in business administration; is fascinated by the natural wonders of our planet; and is devoted to her yoga practice.

Bruce MacDonald

Head, Columbia River Section
Habitat and Enhancement
Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Bruce MacDonald is a fish habitat biologist and current head of the habitat management program in the Columbia River basin for Fisheries and Oceans Canada. He has bachelor degrees in biology and education from Acadia University and St Francis Xavier University and has taken post graduate courses at the School for Resource and Environmental Studies at Dalhousie University. He has worked in fish habitat management throughout British Columbia, Yukon and the Northwest Territories for the past 30 years including 25 years with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. He was a member of the Association of Professional Biologists of British Columbia for 20 years. He has extensive experience with impact assessment of land and water developments on fish habitat and has most recently been working on the assessment, classification and mapping of lake shorelines and the development of lake shoreline development guidelines for lakes in the Columbia Basin.

David Schindler
Killam Memorial Chair, Professor of Ecology
Department of Biological Sciences
University of Alberta

Dr. Schindler holds the Killam Memorial Chair and is Professor of Ecology in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta. His work on lakes has been widely used in formulating policy internationally. He received his doctorate from Oxford University, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. He has served as President of the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, and as Canadian National Representative to the International Limnological Society. He is the author of over 300 scientific publications. Dr. Schindler’s international awards include the G.E. Hutchinson Medal of the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, the Naumann-Thienemann Medal of the International Limnological Society, the first Stockholm Water Prize (2001), the Volvo Environment Prize (1998), and the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement (2006). In 2001 he was awarded the National Science and Engineering Research Council’s Gerhard Herzberg Gold Medal for Science and Engineering, Canada’s highest scientific honor. In May 2009, he received the Royal Canadian Institute’s Sandford Fleming Medal for public communication of science. Schindler is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Royal Society of London, a member of the U. S. National Academy of Sciences, and a foreign fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences. He has received ten honorary doctorates from Canadian and US universities, including the University of Winnipeg. He is an Officer in the Order of Canada and a member of the International Water Academy. In 2008 he was appointed to the Alberta Order of Excellence. Trent University has recently named an endowed professorship in aquatic sciences after Schindler. Schindler also chairs the board of directors of the Safe Drinking Water Foundation, a small non-profit foundation that specializes in helping aboriginal communities with their water problems and in educating students about protecting freshwaters.

Hans Schreier

Professor Emeritus
Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability
University of British Columbia

Hans Schreier is a professor at the University of British Columbia. His research focuses on watershed management, land-water interactions, soil and water pollution and GIS. He has worked extensively in watershed studies in 14 countries in the Himalayan and Andean regions, and in Canada. In 1999 he was recognized by the international Development Research Centre (IDRC) for his contribution to international development. He was a Co-Leader for the Watershed Program of the Canadian Water Network NCE 2004-2008, and he is a member of the Water Advisory Panel for the Columbia Basin Trust. Since 1995 he also teaches 4 WEB-based graduate courses on watershed management. In 2004 he received the “Science in Action” Award from The United Nations International Year of Fresh Water, for outstanding work in making watershed management knowledge and innovative, cost-effective applications possible, and in 2008 he received the King Albert International Mountain Award for scientific accomplishment of lasing values to the world’s mountains, in Switzerland.

Karen Kun

Director and Co-founder
Waterlution – A Water Learning Experience

Karen Kun is Director and Co-founder of Waterlution – A Water Learning Experience and Publisher of Corporate Knights magazine. She is a current DiverseCity Fellow and board member of the Small Change Fund (smallchangefund.org), Leadership Development at the Banff Centre, and the Living Lakes Network Canada. Karen has a combined business-environmental background, including a commerce degree from Concordia University specializing in international business and an advanced geography education from York University, with a focus on water and environmental management. She founded Waterlution in 2003, after piloting water-learning programs in South Africa with local stakeholders following involvement in the World Summit for Sustainable Development. With experience working as a consultant in the UK and as a field worker in Columbia, Costa Riva, Bolivia and South Africa (via Oxfam-Quebec and CUSO), Karen has developed extensive strategy and research capabilities surrounding environmental sustainability and corporate responsibility. She is devoted to advancing social change, systems thinking, and ecological diversity, and one of her greatest passions is encouraging inter-generational learning and transferring knowledge through mentorship opportunities.

Karen is committed to creating spaces for dialogue through facilitating and documenting the voice of specialized groups and stakeholders. She has used film production as a method of achieving this goal, and completed her first film, “A New Culture of Water”, in Soweto, South Africa in 2004. Karen is currently working on a film on water in Canada.

Oliver Brandes

Senior Research Associate and Associate Director

POLIS Project on Ecological Governance

Oliver M Brandes joined the POLIS Project in 2003 to lead the Water Sustainability Project. He is a political ecologist with a Master of Economics degree from Queens University and a Law Degree from the University of Victoria. He also studied ecological restoration through the Restoration of Natural Systems program at UVic and international relations in Europe. Oliver was involved in various environmental and development projects in Costa Rica and Ecuador, including a tropical reforestation initiative, water treatment facility construction and a sea-turtle restoration project. He also worked in Canada’s North for the territorial judges at the Nunavut Court of Justice. His work at POLIS focuses on sound resource management and ecological based legal and institutional reform. As Water Sustainability Project leader, Oliver provides strategic water policy advice to NGOs and all levels of government and has authored several major reports. In 2007, Oliver took on the role of Associate Director of POLIS.

Robert Sandford

Chair, UN Water for Life Decade Canada
Director, Western Watersheds Climate Research Collaborative

Bob Sandford is the Canadian Chair of the United Nations International Decade “Water for Life” Decade, a national partnership initiative that aims to advance long-term water quality and availability issues in response to climate change in this country and abroad. In this capacity, Bob is the only Canadian to sit on the Advisory Committee for the prestigious Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy. Bob is also the Director of the Western Watersheds Climate Research Collaborative, a not-for-profit research institute that promotes understanding of climate impacts on river systems originating in the Rocky Mountains. Bob’s third book on water issues in Canada, Restoring the Flow: Confronting the World’s Water Woes, was published by Rocky Mountain Books in the fall of 2009.


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	Living Lakes Network Canada Advisory Board Anne Levesque Senior Advisor Canadian Boreal Initiative Anne has 28 years of experience in developing, leading and managing regional, national and international conservation and environmental awareness programs. Her focus has been on building strategic alliances and partnerships with corporations, governments and organizations concerned with issues of sustainability. She is presently a Senior Advisor for the Canadian Boreal Initiative. Some of her previous leadership roles have been as National Executive Director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Executive Director of Wildsight and Director of an international funding program for the Canadian International Development Agency. She has developed grassroots partnership programs in British Columbia, New Brunswick, the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua and in Ecuador. Anne worked with Unilever Canada to secure the approval of the Columbia River Wetlands as Canada’s first member to the international Living Lakes Network and in organizing the Living Lakes Network Conference in 2004. She has a Master’s degree in business administration; is fascinated by the natural wonders of our planet; and is devoted to her yoga practice. Bruce MacDonald Head, Columbia River Section Habitat and Enhancement Fisheries and Oceans Canada Bruce MacDonald is a fish habitat biologist and current head of the habitat management program in the Columbia River basin for Fisheries and Oceans Canada. He has bachelor degrees in biology and education from Acadia University and St Francis Xavier University and has taken post graduate courses at the School for Resource and Environmental Studies at Dalhousie University. He has worked in fish habitat management throughout British Columbia, Yukon and the Northwest Territories for the past 30 years including 25 years with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. He was a member of the Association of Professional Biologists of British Columbia for 20 years. He has extensive experience with impact assessment of land and water developments on fish habitat and has most recently been working on the assessment, classification and mapping of lake shorelines and the development of lake shoreline development guidelines for lakes in the Columbia Basin. David Schindler Killam Memorial Chair, Professor of Ecology Department of Biological Sciences University of Alberta Dr. Schindler holds the Killam Memorial Chair and is Professor of Ecology in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta. His work on lakes has been widely used in formulating policy internationally. He received his doctorate from Oxford University, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. He has served as President of the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, and as Canadian National Representative to the International Limnological Society. He is the author of over 300 scientific publications. Dr. Schindler’s international awards include the G.E. Hutchinson Medal of the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, the Naumann-Thienemann Medal of the International Limnological Society, the first Stockholm Water Prize (2001), the Volvo Environment Prize (1998), and the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement (2006). In 2001 he was awarded the National Science and Engineering Research Council’s Gerhard Herzberg Gold Medal for Science and Engineering, Canada’s highest scientific honor. In May 2009, he received the Royal Canadian Institute’s Sandford Fleming Medal for public communication of science. Schindler is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Royal Society of London, a member of the U. S. National Academy of Sciences, and a foreign fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences. He has received ten honorary doctorates from Canadian and US universities, including the University of Winnipeg. He is an Officer in the Order of Canada and a member of the International Water Academy. In 2008 he was appointed to the Alberta Order of Excellence. Trent University has recently named an endowed professorship in aquatic sciences after Schindler. Schindler also chairs the board of directors of the Safe Drinking Water Foundation, a small non-profit foundation that specializes in helping aboriginal communities with their water problems and in educating students about protecting freshwaters. Hans Schreier Professor Emeritus Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability University of British Columbia Hans Schreier is a professor at the University of British Columbia. His research focuses on watershed management, land-water interactions, soil and water pollution and GIS. He has worked extensively in watershed studies in 14 countries in the Himalayan and Andean regions, and in Canada. In 1999 he was recognized by the international Development Research Centre (IDRC) for his contribution to international development. He was a Co-Leader for the Watershed Program of the Canadian Water Network NCE 2004-2008, and he is a member of the Water Advisory Panel for the Columbia Basin Trust. Since 1995 he also teaches 4 WEB-based graduate courses on watershed management. In 2004 he received the “Science in Action” Award from The United Nations International Year of Fresh Water, for outstanding work in making watershed management knowledge and innovative, cost-effective applications possible, and in 2008 he received the King Albert International Mountain Award for scientific accomplishment of lasing values to the world’s mountains, in Switzerland. Karen Kun Director and Co-founder Waterlution – A Water Learning Experience Karen Kun is Director and Co-founder of Waterlution – A Water Learning Experience and Publisher of Corporate Knights magazine. She is a current DiverseCity Fellow and board member of the Small Change Fund (smallchangefund.org), Leadership Development at the Banff Centre, and the Living Lakes Network Canada. Karen has a combined business-environmental background, including a commerce degree from Concordia University specializing in international business and an advanced geography education from York University, with a focus on water and environmental management. She founded Waterlution in 2003, after piloting water-learning programs in South Africa with local stakeholders following involvement in the World Summit for Sustainable Development. With experience working as a consultant in the UK and as a field worker in Columbia, Costa Riva, Bolivia and South Africa (via Oxfam-Quebec and CUSO), Karen has developed extensive strategy and research capabilities surrounding environmental sustainability and corporate responsibility. She is devoted to advancing social change, systems thinking, and ecological diversity, and one of her greatest passions is encouraging inter-generational learning and transferring knowledge through mentorship opportunities. Karen is committed to creating spaces for dialogue through facilitating and documenting the voice of specialized groups and stakeholders. She has used film production as a method of achieving this goal, and completed her first film, “A New Culture of Water”, in Soweto, South Africa in 2004. Karen is currently working on a film on water in Canada. Oliver Brandes Senior Research Associate and Associate Director POLIS Project on Ecological Governance Oliver M Brandes joined the POLIS Project in 2003 to lead the Water Sustainability Project. He is a political ecologist with a Master of Economics degree from Queens University and a Law Degree from the University of Victoria. He also studied ecological restoration through the Restoration of Natural Systems program at UVic and international relations in Europe. Oliver was involved in various environmental and development projects in Costa Rica and Ecuador, including a tropical reforestation initiative, water treatment facility construction and a sea-turtle restoration project. He also worked in Canada’s North for the territorial judges at the Nunavut Court of Justice. His work at POLIS focuses on sound resource management and ecological based legal and institutional reform. As Water Sustainability Project leader, Oliver provides strategic water policy advice to NGOs and all levels of government and has authored several major reports. In 2007, Oliver took on the role of Associate Director of POLIS. Robert Sandford Chair, UN Water for Life Decade Canada Director, Western Watersheds Climate Research Collaborative Bob Sandford is the Canadian Chair of the United Nations International Decade “Water for Life” Decade, a national partnership initiative that aims to advance long-term water quality and availability issues in response to climate change in this country and abroad. In this capacity, Bob is the only Canadian to sit on the Advisory Committee for the prestigious Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy. Bob is also the Director of the Western Watersheds Climate Research Collaborative, a not-for-profit research institute that promotes understanding of climate impacts on river systems originating in the Rocky Mountains. Bob’s third book on water issues in Canada, Restoring the Flow: Confronting the World’s Water Woes, was published by Rocky Mountain Books in the fall of 2009.

News & Action Alerts

Living Lakes Network Canada Advisory Board