Gordon has a keen curiosity about nature and has worked continuously for 40 years to address environmental challenges around the Salish Sea. He has been a forestry worker, an environmental planner for local governments and First Nations, and the conservation director for the Whatcom Land Trust. Gordon moved to Lasqueti in 2009 and joined the LINC Board in 2011. He has been Chair since 2014. He believes the vibrant mix of Lasqueti’s unique landscapes, cultures and ecologies makes this one of the most exciting places to live in the Gulf Islands, and he is grateful to be here.
Lasqueti grabbed Wendy during a January blizzard in 1975 and ever since, it’s felt like the right place to be. She’s lived a typical island lifestyle in an array of dwellings — tent, tipi, floathouse, her own hand built house — while doing a mixed bag of jobs — cooking, gardening, plumbing. Plants, yoga and food have been constant threads; how their interaction contributes to health Intrigues Wendy. Being involved with LINC is a creative way to encourage the natural world to thrive on this island she is lucky enough to call home.
James has been a property owner on Lasqueti island since 1984. He finally retired from his landscape garden business on Salt Spring Island a few years ago and is now a full time resident.
A Professor Emeritus at the School of Resource and Environmental Management at SFU, Ken is a forest ecologist specializing in the temperate rainforests of the west coast of North America, and has published extensively on old growth forests. Much of his recent research examines how changing climate drives ecosystem change, including effects on fires and watershed hydrology. Ken has received awards for research, contributions to forest management and conservation, and for education and community engagement.
Duane West and his husband Tejomaya moved to Lasqueti from Gabriola Island in the fall of 2018. Shortly after while standing in the yard of their place at the base of Earl’s Mountain he heard a strong voice state, “this is the home you have been seeking all your life”. Could it have been Johnny Osland? Retired from a conservation career with Parks Canada in 7 National Parks from Cape Breton Highlands to Kluane, Duane’s passions include hiking and amending soil.
Kaia spent her childhood being home-schooled in the intertidal zone of the Southern Gulf Islands, and also the concrete jungle of Tokyo. She arrived on Lasqueti in 2019 and feels very fortunate to have found a place to grow vegetables and build a house. As a marine biologist examining our role as humans in the ecological matrix, Kaia is in awe of the ecological and cultural richness of the North Pacific, and is grateful for the ability to live and learn on the lands stewarded by the Coast Salish peoples since time immemorial.
Peter joined LINC’s board because he wants to help develop (and implement) sustainable approaches to preserving Lasqueti’s many ecosystems while enhancing their biodiversity as well as ecological and economic value. He has special skills in aquatic biology and invasive species. Peter recently retired as a professor in Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology at the University of Minnesota (St. Paul) where he founded its Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center and Marine Biology program. He has over 35 years of experience and has published approximately 200 articles and books on topics ranging from fish biology and pheromones, to aquatic toxicology, and invasive species biology/ control. Silver and common carp are now largely controlled in Minnesota owing to his team’s efforts. Peter still has small research projects on fish passage and fisheries conservation, the latter in collaboration with UBC, and now strives to bring his skills to bear on island issues. He and his wife Gail have had a house on Maple Bay since 2017 which they love.
Sheila Harrington is an author, sailor, and environmental advocate with a thirty-year career in the conservation field. She was the founding executive director of the Land Trust Alliance of BC (LTABC) from 1997 to 2011 and a director of the Lasqueti Island Nature Conservancy for more than twelve years. She is co-author of the bestselling Islands in the Salish Sea Community Atlas, a finalist for two BC Book Awards and third-place winner of the BC Historical Federation prize. She edited and published Positive Vibrations magazine in the 90s and Giving the Land a Voice, Mapping Our Home Places and the BC Kingfisher magazine in the early 2000s. She currently lives off-grid on Lasqueti Island.
Martha and her family have had a summer home on Lasqueti for 20 years. After 35 years working as a litigation lawyer, she has retired and is happy to be able to spend more time on Lasqueti. She is a long-time supporter of West Coast Environmental Law Association and joined the LINC board to support efforts to preserve Lasqueti’s unique environment for everyone, and especially for her 4 children and their families.
Norm Stacey was born in Vancouver and studied fish reproduction at UBC and herring spawning at the Pacific Biological Station before joining the Biological Sciences Department at the University of Alberta (Edmonton). He has been a property owner on Lasqueti since 1983.