Peel Environmental Youth Alliance

PJ Partington

A native of Toronto, Ontario, P.J. Partington is passionate about engaging youth in issues of domestic and international climate policy. After receiving his BSc in Environmental Policy at the London School of Economics at the age of 20, P.J. became a founding member of the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition. Serving as its Policy Co-ordinator he has helped organise two highly-successful Canadian Youth Delegations to the UN climate change negotiations in Nairobi (COP-12 / CMP-2) and Bali (COP13 / CMP-4), as well as smaller teams to talks in Bonn and New York. As Climate Change Programs Manager at TakingITGlobal he is now working to organise this year's Canadian Youth Delegation to Poznan. This spring, PJ managed a global e-consultation on Climate Change and Youth Action for the OECD and recently spoke at their international conference on Competitive Cities and Climate Change in Milan.

PJ is also a volunteer presenter with the Climate Project and a director of the Climate Action Network Canada and the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition. He is also terribly fond of canoes and often wishes he could grow vegetables.

Josh Darrach

Josh is a student activist who has focused most of his efforts over the last few years on campus sustainability issues and climate change education. He has had the honour of representing Canadian Youth at the two preceding COP/MOP conferences in Nairobi, Kenya and Bali, Indonesia. Josh has seen first hand the influence youth have at these international meetings, stating “We have what others have described as envied access to people and events, we work well with media, and most importantly our presence serves as a constant and vocal reminder that the decisions made today directly influence the world we are set to inherit.” I believe in community, communal living, local organic food and vegetarianism, reduction in material and energy consumption, investment in renewable energy, cross-generation communication and interaction, music and other forms of personal expression, the power of youth and individual action, and the beauty of the human spirit.

Adam MacIsaac

With his passion for youth engagement Adam was the Prince Edward Island Youth Engagement Coordinator for the Creating Local Connections Canada Project (CLC Canada) which is an initiative of TakingItGlobal.org (TIG). Adam was also a panelist of the 2007 MESH Conference, Canada’s premier technology conference where he spoke on the topic of “The Always-On Generation - What Do Youth Do with the Web?” and currently has a blog featured on ShowYourRealFace.com. Adam sits on the Executive Committee for the Sierra Youth Coalition. Adam also joined with other young Canadians on the Canadian Youth Delegation to Bali, Indonesia and attended COP-13 where he documented the youth delegation and the international youth climate movement. In April 2008 Adam received training from Al Gore to present the Academy Award winning documentary “An Inconvenient Truth”, and was a panelist during a round table discussion at The Royal Commonwealth Society along with Canadian environmentalist Dr. David Suzuki. While working as an International Development Intern with Rescue Mission Canada, he has worked with youth on the international scale and recently worked with Peace Child International, United Nations Development Programme and international youth to create a summary of the United Nations Human Development Report 2007/2008.

Adam MacIsaac's profile on TakingITGlobal.

Meagan McKeen

A seventeen-year-old student from Oakville, Ontario, Meagan was an International Climate Champion through a British Council program last year. She attended the G8 Environment Ministers meeting where the ICC’s presented their global youth statement. Meagan led the Canadian Climate Champions in their national project called ICCommit where they engaged 15,000 students from across the country in making environmental commitments. She is the founder of her school’s Eco Schools program which won the Gold Eco Schools Award. She has spearheaded several environmental initiatives including a “greening project” that plants over 250 trees in Oakville every fall and spring. Meagan is a Student Representative for the Halton District School Board’s Environmental Management Team. She was also a delegate at local town council sessions where she debated the use of cosmetic pesticides. Her participation allowed for a bylaw to be enacted several months later.

Maia Green

Maia Green is the coordinator of the Canadian Youth Delegation to Poznan and the director of FUN Society. She has over 15 years of experience working with youth and 11 years of experience in environmental leadership. She has an Environmental Studies Degree from the University of Victoria and a certificate in Graphic Design from Emily Carr University and BCIT. She began her environmental career at a young age by starting an International environmental club at the age of 10, while living on a sailboat in the South Pacific. Since then, many environmental leadership projects have followed. She adores working with youth and she adores exploring (and protecting) this planet and all the amazing places it has to offer. She is dedicated to increasing environmental awareness and action among Canadian Youth and is extremely excited to be involved with this year's Canadian Youth Delegation.

Albert Lavoie

Albert is 22 years old and is a student at the Univesity of Moncton, were he is finishing my Bachelor in Finance. Albert is involved in various types of fields and events including politics, the environment, the university council, sports and social events. Albert describes himself as someone who is outgoing, loyal, and can be very persuasive.

Alex Doukas

Born and raised in Toronto, Alex now lives in Calgary and works with the Pembina Institute as a Technical and Policy Advisor. Alex has been a part of the Institute's Sustainable Communities Group for just over a year, working on topics ranging from renewable energy to community energy planning. Before joining the Pembina Institute, Alex worked with the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association on renewable energy education and policy development, and helped facilitate the development of community-based wind and solar energy projects. He holds a BA in Environmental Policy and Practice from the University of Toronto's Centre for Environment. Alex is also an avid Ultimate Frisbee player, and an active member of Step It Up Alberta, a group calling for real climate leadership in Canada’s oil sands province.

Caroline Lee

Born in Fredericton, NB, Caroline has also spent one year in Ottawa, and four years in Hong Kong during her teens. Caroline has completed a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Sciences in 2006, and after that worked for the Nature Trust of New Brunswick to preserve provincially significant land. She is now at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver working on my Masters in Resource Management. Her thesis will evaluate potential international climate change architectures (policy frameworks) that might replace the Kyoto Protocol using an economic model. Caroline really enjoys biking, walking, cooking, eating, and many other fun things about life.

Christel Hyshka

Christel was born and grew up in the City of Champions: Edmonton, Alberta. After completing a Bachelor's degree at the University of Alberta in Political Science (Economics Minor), she moved to Ottawa to begin a Master's degree in Canadian politics at Carleton University. Her research interests include Canadian political institutions, mechanisms and strategies used by Canadians to engage with their political institutions (i.e. social movement activism), environmental politics, Canadian climate policy and Alberta politics. Currently, Christel is back in Edmonton finishing a major research project on the capacity of the Canadian environmental movement to respond to increasingly complex environmental problems (such as climate change), to satisfy the requirements of her M.A.

Derek Pieper

As a past CYD member at the 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia Derek worked with youth from around the world to advocate for climate action. He hopes to continue that work in Poznan by building networks among international youth and communicating to the public about the need for strong climate mitigation and adaptation measures. Derek Pieper graduated in 2007 with a B.Sc. in Biological Sciences from the University of Guelph and recently served as an executive of the Central Student Association, the undergraduate student union on campus. A committed advocate for environmental issues, Derek was part of a team at Guelph that successfully advocated for a campus-wide building retrofit project to reduce campus energy consumption. He spearheaded a referendum to approve a $4.3 million contribution by students to the project. Derek believes that effective domestic climate policies are especially needed in Canada, a country with a proud international reputation to uphold. In his future career he hopes to work towards increasing public awareness of the scientific, economic, and social implications of global environmental change. Derek is currently studying for his M.Sc. in Environmental Change & Management at the University of Oxford in the UK. Outside of school Derek enjoys cross-country skiing, piano, squash, and wilderness canoe trips. He is also a trained presenter of Al Gore’s ‘An Inconvenient Truth’.

Erin Harrison

Erin Harrison is the National Youth Representative at the Canadian Labour Congress. She began her activism within her home union the Canadian Auto Workers at the age of 18. As a delegate from CAW local 222, Erin was quickly elected as the first Durham Region Labour Council Youth Executive Board Member at Large. She started to change the union demographics within her local by chairing and re-forming CAW local 222's youth committee, and ensuring youth were involved in all issues and campaigns. Through her labour council activism, Erin became one of Durham Region's CLC Municipal and “Better Choice” Campaign organizers. Erin was seconded to the CLC in March of 2008, where she is the liaison for youth within the labour movement, and works hard to insure that youth are involved in all aspects of the union movement.

François Décary-Gilardeau

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Gill Cerbu

Gillian is a student in forest ecology and management, originally from Toronto, but currently working on her thesis for the University of Freiburg on the opportunities and constraints for smallholder farmers in the Congo Basin (Cameroon) to join onto a REDD scheme. Her interest in and concern over global environmental issues started at the tender age of 10 when she rallied her Grade 5 class into baking to save the Amazon Rainforest through a WWF fundraising program. The last few years have seen Gill narrow her focus to the intersection between the environment, natural resources extraction and climate change: her undergraduate thesis focused on cloud forests' responses to climate change in Guatemala, while during the last year she examined the interconnectedness of climate policy, mitigation and adaptation issues while interning at the FAO's Forestry Department in Rome . She is very excited to be part of the Canadian Youth Delegation to Poznan for the UNFCCC's COP14 pushing the Canadian and other national governments to speed up the creation of an effective post-Kyoto climate change protocol and take some serious action.

Heather Sayine-Crawford

Heather’s family moved to Fort Smith when she was 9 and has called it home ever since. She graduated from the University of Alberta in June with a Bachelor of Science with specialization in environmental biology. She was fortunate enough to get a year long internship in Fort Smith with the Government of the Northwest Territories, working in the wildlife division under the territorial bison biologist. Heather loves to see new places and experience new cultures through travel. Heather is excited to be able to witness the UN meetings and learn how decisions as important as those surrounding the Kyoto Protocol are made.

Jasmeet Sidhu

Jasmeet is a third year Peace and Conflict Studies student at the University of Toronto. When she was 16, she started the Peel Environmental Youth Alliance (www.peyalliance.com) as a means of linking student environmentalists to create greener communities. I currently as well freelance for the Toronto Star.

Olivier-Jarvis Lavoie

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Katherine Trajan

Katherine’s home and family are in Nanaimo, British Columbia. She has completed a BEng in civil engineering with minors in environmental engineering and world religions at McGill University in Montreal, and an MSc in Water Science, Policy and Management at Oxford University on a Rhodes scholarship. I am now living in the Netherlands, taking the months leading up to COP-14 to dedicate myself to the goals of the Canadian Youth Delegation and to composing, performing, and collaborating on music. Swimming for McGill, Katherine travelled to South Africa, where she first witnessed poverty and began to comprehend global injustice. Studying in Barbados one semester she first understood what it means to be constrained by natural resources. Cycling to the tar sands with the Sierra Youth Coalition, she began to understand the complexity and far-reaching impacts of major industrial projects and the production of oil. Researching for her masters project on the power of stakeholder groups to influence water management around the Athabasca oil sands, Katherine became convinced of the importance of citizens holding their government accountable and insisting that they act in the public’s interest. Climate change is a topic that has captured her heart in the last few years, just as it has impacted countless individuals as reports of the scope of the impending disaster have flooded in. Katherine is a firm believer that action must take place at all levels to address our contributions to climate change and prepare for the unavoidable impacts of current changes.

Ben Powless

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Lauryn Drainie

Lauryn grew up in a concrete-filled suburb in Toronto and so has no inspiring stories about how living in close proximity to nature moved her to take up the environmental cause. What she did grow up with, however, are two insane (or perhaps sane) environmentalists for parents who spend their time running a carbon-neutral dried fruit company out of their basement, cycling everywhere, cooking with a solar oven, and writing almost daily letters to the editor on the subject of climate change. Having been inundated with climate change information at an early age it only seemed natural for Lauryn to enroll in the University of Toronto’s Environmental Policy and Practice Major, as well as a minor in Philosophy with a focus on ethics, and a minor in Political Science with a focus on international development. She has also worked or volunteered for a number of environmental organizations including Zerofootprint, The Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy, and Probe International. Lauryn is particularly interested in combining climate change advocacy with international development, particularly in those parts of the world that have the least capacity to adapt to the climate crisis.

Lia Johnson

Lia was born and raised in Whitehorse. She is currently on a break from her B.Sc at University of Waterloo, which recently took her to Australia for a semester exchange. Upon returning, she took a position as a Climate Change Analyst with the Yukon Government to keep her busy during her break from school. As a summer student in 2007 Lia was involved with the first annual Yukon Youth Outside (the box), an experimental summit on climate change. She’d like to see a Yukon youth network established and is working on some ideas to get the Yukon youth’s message out to the public. Lia enjoys anything outdoors including: running, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, and canoeing. She’s passionately in love with the North -especially the Yukon- and tries to spend every summer weekend camping under the midnight sun. She’s currently getting ready for hibernation, which includes berry picking and eating lots of chocolate.

Nicolas Nadeau

Born in Quebec, but with his roots in New Brunswick, Nick completed his Bachelor's degree in Arts and Sciences at the University of Guelph. His interest in international co-operation has been long-standing, having garnered professional and volunteer experience on four continents, most recently as a community tourism developer in Oaxaca, Mexico. Nick celebrated his return to Canada on a two-month bicycle tour through Ontario with The Otesha Project, and has recently relocated to Montreal to work on environmental education programmes with ENvironnement JEUnesse. He looks forward to building on the skills he acquired at the previous Conference of Parties in Bali, and hopes that the strong Canadian public interest on climate change will be reflected in the actions of its government. In the meantime, Nick prepares for his first Canadian winter in two years, and looks forward to warmer months and planting his radishes.

Rosa Kouri

Rosa Kouri is currently a graduate student at the Oxford University Centre for the Environment, completing an MSc in Nature, Society, and Environmental Policy. In 2007, Rosa was recognized by the World Conservation Union as one of 25 influential women across the globe leading the fight against climate change. Rosa's experience in youth leadership in climate change ranges from national campaigns to tracking policy on parliament hill to local projects with youth of all ages. Specific activities include being a founding member of the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition, serving as the National Director from 2005-2007 of Canada's largest national youth environmental organization, the Sierra Youth Coalition; founding the Sustainable McGill Project at McGill University in 2004; bicycling the west coast of California in 2003 with the Deconstructing Dinner Caravan; and attending and coordinating youth delegations at the UN climate conferences in Montreal (2005) and Bali (2007). At Poznàn, Rosa will be part of the Communications team of the Canadian Youth Delegation, a group that will ensure Canada and the world have an honest, informed, and heartfelt window to the Poznàn negotiations. Rosa is originally from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and has a Joint Honours BA in Economics and Political Science from McGill University.

Stephan Cronin

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Steven El-Helou

Steven is 25 years old, and lives in Windsor Ontario, where he is the Plant Chairperson at HBPO Canada Inc. Steven is a recent graduate of the University of Windsor with a bachelor degree in Electrical Engineering.

Thea Whitman

Thea grew up making forts in the woods, reading, and playing with her brother and sisters. These first forays into environmentalism and sustainability, bolstered by a healthy interest in the world, led her to study environmental biology at Queen's University. While there and during a year-long exchange to the University of Leeds, U.K., she was involved with various environmental groups, including lobbying for climate action with the U.K. youth group People and Planet and working with an amazing group of people as deputy sustainability officer last year at Queen's. Currently, she is doing graduate research at Cornell University, studying biochar (a carbon-based soil fertility amendment / bioenergy product / carbon sequestration mechanism) and hopes to ultimately work in policy and academia. She is excited to go to Poznan because she is very worried about the future and thinks that it is important that we combine our rights as primary stakeholders (youth) in the climate crisis with our privileges as free and relatively wealthy citizens in Canada to speak out and fight for a just and stable future. While there, she hopes to push the country's negotiators to work more productively with other nations to commit to hard and progressive targets and to accurately represent the wishes of Canadians and, in particular, young people during climate negotiations. She also hopes to enhance her understanding of the negotiation processes in order to increase their accessibility to youth and influence decision-makers more effectively.

Wendiiosta Horn

Wendiiosta is a Geography major in her second year at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario. She is a Mohawk from Kahnwake, Quebec and has been active in Aboriginal political and cultural organizations for many years. At St. Lawrence College in Cornwall, Ontario she was the Native representative on the Student Council. She has worked as a native youth and children’s camp councilor in Tyendinaga, Ontario, and as a Mentor/Tutor at the Urban Aboriginal Alternative High School in Ottawa. At Carleton she has served on the Aboriginal Student Council as Vice President and currently as Treasurer. This past summer she worked for The Assembly of First Nations, which is the national Aboriginal political organization. During the 2008/2009 school year, she will be the Program Coordinator Assistant of the Aboriginal Service Center at the University. Wendiiosta has a passionate interest in environmental issues, particularly in the area of Indigenous peoples of the world and climate change.

Adam Scott

Representing Guelph Ontario, Adam Scott joins the delegation to offer his experience and knowledge on a variety of topics and issues related to climate change. Adam has a solid understanding of environmental issues and the many tools that are needed to solve them. Adam will share his knowledge of policy and the UN process with the delegation as a mentor to the policy working group this year in Poznan. Before graduating with a degree in Geography from the University of Guelph, Adam lead a campus environmental group which successfully pushed for an massive energy retrofit at the University, made the case for reducing GHG emissions, and enhancing the public's understanding of the issues. Adam has spent many summers working to protect the Great Lakes as a project coordinator for the Georgian Bay Association, a task that involved monitoring water quality, wetland integrity, forest health, and trans-boundary air pollution. He now works for the Global Environmental Change Group at the University of Guelph, a leading team in the field of climate change impacts, vulnerability assessment and adaptation. Adam's desire to improve climate policy at all levels of government has led him to participate in many local and international conferences, including the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, the Canadian Youth Delegation to the COP12 in Nairobi, Kenya, and COP13 in Bali, Indonesia. Adam's experiences have led him to develop a deep appreciation for the serious implications climatic change holds for our planet.

Genevieve Gilbert

Genevieve Gilbert is a graduate student at the University of Ottawa studying vulnerability and adaptation to drought in the Canadian prairies. In 2007 she attended COP13 in Bali, Indonesia as a member of the Canadian Youth Delegation. She has previously been involved with the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition as a volunteer member and attended the 2008 youth summit on the oil sands in Edmonton, Alberta. In addition, she is a volunteer presenter for the Climate Project, an educational campaign by former Vice-President Al Gore. She is passionate about mitigating climate change and preventing catastrophic impacts. Genevieve now lives in Toronto while writing her masters thesis. In her spare time she likes taking her dog for a walk, reading a good book, and relaxing with her sister.

Hannah McKinnon

Hannah McKinnon has been exploring different facets for her passion for the environment for a number of years, and thinks she might have found something particularly interesting at her current position with an environmental NGO in Zaragosa, El Salvador. Hannah grew up in a rural community in Manitoba, but somehow felt a constant pull towards the ocean which she has kept herself in close proximity to for the last 7 years. Hannah graduated from Pearson College (UWC) before living through an honours degree in biochemistry at Mount Allison University in which she specialized in biochemical ecology. Left feeling a little overwhelmed by the natural sciences Hannah completed a masters at the London School of Economics in Biomedicine, Bioscience and Society, which ended up being a combination of environmental health and politics. Hannah has had opportunities to work in the environmental realm in various countries and cultures, each of which have added another incredible perspective to challenges facing the climate change movement today. Hannah is head over heels in love with the beauty and complexity of nature, as well as its fragility. She is working on translating this passion into practical tools of empowerment such that actions and consequence can be better understood.

Jennie McDowell

Jennie settled in Guelph, ON after completing her Bachelor of Science in Ecology in 2007 at the University of Guelph. She continues to contribute her time to working within the community to educate and increase awareness about climate change, environmental sustainability, and conservation. Jennie’s experience at the oikos International Conference on Sustainability in Higher Education gave her the tools to launch constructive negotiations with the University administration on completing an energy conservation retrofit. Jennie now works as the Transportation Demand Management Coordinator for the City of Guelph, to facilitate sustainable transportation in Guelph. In Poznan, Jennie will continue her role as Policy coordinator for the CYD, building upon her experience from the 2007 UN climate conference in Bali. Jennie’s previous UN participation also includes the 2005 International Youth Conference on Climate Change in Montreal, and the 2006 United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development.

Jessica Wishart

Jess Wishart is 22 years old, and lives in Halifax. She recently graduated from the University of King's College with a degree in International Development and Spanish. Jess has been involved with a number of non-profits, and over the last few years her focus has shifted to environmental issues. This interest was solidified when she worked as a part of the Nova Scotia Youth Conservation Corps, a project of the Nova Scotia government. Jess was a member of the CYD at the UN Climate Change Conferences in both Nairobi and Bali, which further amplified her passion for youth involvement in political issues. Jess has helped organize and present at various conferences on climate change and the work of the CYD. Jess is beyond excited to be a part of another amazing team heading to Poland!