2010

Dr. Marvin Rosenau is an instructor in the Fish Wildlife and Recreation Program (FWR) at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) where he teaches Fish Ecology and Management as well as Environmental Monitoring at the second-year level in addition to year-long Projects course.  Marvin has a 35-year history of working in freshwater fisheries in the province of British Columbia. This includes stints as a consultant, in academia, with the International Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission, and with the provincial Ministry of Environment. Much of his work, within and outside of government, has focused on stream and lake habitat-protection and restoration, including issues relating to gravel-removal from streams, lake fertilization and flow-augmentation for fluvial fishes. Marvin worked extensively on lower Fraser River white sturgeon during the 1990’s as a BC fisheries program biologist and as a Director and member of the Science Committee within the Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society. In the 1990’s he also worked on Water Use Planning flow agreements, which modified stream discharges in a number of hydro-electric projects in southwestern B.C. to great success in increasing fish numbers. Species that he has, in particular, worked on over the years include sturgeon, kokanee, Salish suckers, Coho and Chinook salmon. He has a BSc (Honours) and an MSc from the Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, and a DPhil from the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand. In addition, he has won a number of aquatic conservation awards including the: Murray A. Newman Award for Significant Achievement in Aquatic Conservation (1999), the B.C. Wildlife Federation Ted Barsby Trophy Conservationist of the Year (2008), the Canadian Wildlife Federation Roland Michener Conservation Award (2010), and the Totem Fly Fishers Roderick Haig-Brown Conservation Award (2012).

Rebecca McMurray is a lifelong resident of Mission, a local naturalist, and environmental educator. She graduated from the Bachelor of Science in Ecological Restoration Program at BCIT in 2015. Focussing her efforts on inspiring an interest in nature in others, she has worked and volunteered with Metro Vancouver Regional Parks, WildSafeBC, Surrey Nature Centre, Mt Seymour Resorts, Abbotsford-Mission Nature Club and is currently working as a fisheries technician on the Coquitlam River.

Rick was born in the Fraser Valley and grew up exploring the outdoors. His love of the natural world led him into the realm of wildlife photography. Being outside observing and photographing raptors, other birds and wildlife in their natural habitat has become his passion and a subsequently meditative endeavor. He has produced calendars, note cards and coasters from his work. Rick can often be heard saying “I am going out to shoot birds with my Canon”.

Leanne Hodges is primarily a self-taught artist with an academic background and technical training acquired in a variety of visual art programs in the US and Canada. For more than twenty years, she pursued an art practice while developing a remote charter boat company and raising her son, Kai. In the far reaches of coastal BC, Leanne worked as an artist, a DFO contractor enumerating salmon streams, and a guide and naturalist for wildlife charters.

Images of wildlife, coastal landscapes, indigenous cultures, and environmental themes are expressively interwoven in Leanne’s paintings and mixed media artworks. Technically and creatively, she is attracted to and challenged by cross media formats, with a special interest in life-size models and murals. This gives her artwork a uniqueness and originality not typically found in west coast portraiture, wildlife or landscape art.

These qualities converge in Leanne’s current interest in paper pulp, an eco-conscious medium capable of lightweight applications and increased pliability for three dimensional pieces. It also lends versatility to highly modelled and textured surfaces in her works on canvas.

Currently her focus is on new works that evoke a spiritual and passionate connection with the wilderness as an intrinsic value. Urgently reaching out to the viewer to behold the sacred union between the human soul and Mother Nature as out higher power…

… before what we have is erased from existence.

Robert Martens grew up in a village founded by Mennonite refugees from the Soviet Union. Still in his teens, he leapfrogged several centuries into the postmodern milieu of student politics at Simon Fraser University. Robert subsequently settled in Abbotsford, BC, where he writes poems and enjoys the spoiled existence of the wealthy West. He has co-written and co-edited histories, anthologies, and periodicals; his most recent publication is a book of poems, hush. Robert is grateful for poetry, music, movies, friends and family, and for his cat, who sleeps soundly through the injustices of this world.

P’ eq sq’oves Slha’:li’- Yvette carries her traditional name, White-Plume-Woman, meaning close to the heart. She is Sto:lo meaning “People of the Fraser River” and is from Chawathil First Nations. Her healing journey began over 24 years ago; traditionally, culturally, and spiritually. Many of those years have been spent working alongside elders, spiritual healers, teachers and people of many different cultures and hierarchies. She has extensive knowledge of traditional plants and medicine.

Yvette is a caretaker, works in archeology, and also works with storytelling, Salish weaving, spiritual cleansing, and runs sweat lodges. Yvette’s talk is entitled “Traditional plants and Medicine.” This knowledge, which is common to First Nations people, has been passed on to her by mother Ida John, elders, herbologists and botanists.

Claude “Rocky” LaRock was born in 1958 in Seattle, Washington. At 12 years of age, Rocky moved to his mother’s Coast Salish homeland, the beautiful little community called Sts’ailes, nestled at the foot of Mt. Hemlock, located in the Fraser Valley.

For four decades Rocky has built a successful career as a first Nations artist showcasing his work in galleries, businesses, and private collections. Rocky also uses his talents to teach First Nations’ culture and art in many institutions such as the First Nations Correctional facility, the University of the Fraser Valley, and the community Sts’ailes school.

Rocky’s art is greatly influenced by the forests, surrounding wildlife, and a lifestyle rich in Coast Salish culture. Rocky continues to reside with his family in Sts’ailes and is an active member of the community and cultural traditions.

Carrie is a freelance writer who grew up on property in Northern Mission and now resides in Deroche, BC with her husband, son, and four-legged companions. She has always been drawn to words and language and began writing short stories in grade school, moving on to pursue English and Social Media & Culture studies post-secondary. She has contributed to several local publications through writing and editing and is a regular contributor to The Footprint Press. Since her move to Deroche five years ago, she established and maintains the website and social media platforms for “The Deroche Decibel” to help connect people and share local resources in her small and often isolated community.

Although writing has been a huge part of her life, her true passion has been the welfare of animals, both domestic and wild. She spent years working as a Veterinary nurse and now focuses much of her writing on compassionate ways to help the creatures around us. Carrie gains inspiration from spending time outdoors and reconnecting with nature and has a large list of hobbies including crocheting, reading, music, art, film, Eastern philosophy, cooking and nutrition.

Lovena is a native to Mission and now lives in Maple Ridge. She graduated from Simon Fraser University with a degree in Environmental Science and a focus in Applied Biology. She has worked with local groups such as the South Coast Conservation Program, Fraser Valley Conservancy, and the Fraser Valley Watersheds Coalition to raise awareness and enhance habitat for species and ecological communities at risk in the area. Her passion lies in environmental sustainability and she hopes to continue to undertake projects and follow a career that allows her to do what she loves.

Peter Gong was born in Mission B.C. and raised in Maple Ridge on Whonnock reserve #1. As a teenager, his uncle introduced him to west coast native art, in the form of carving wood and ivory. West Coast art has become a driving passion in his life, and he now works full time in his carving studio at his home in Mission . As an artist he wants to create new pieces that challenge his abilities and skills as a carver. Thanks go out to his friend and mentor Tom Patterson, and the late George Pennier (Leon), who have helped him develop as an artist.