Leslie Wakelyn has lived and worked in the NWT for 26 years, and is one of our founding Board members. She has been volunteering for CPAWS-NWT since our beginnings in 1996. Leslie represented our chapter on the National Board, bringing NWT conservation concerns to the national level, from 2000 - 2007. She has worked as a wildlife biologist for a variety of government and non-government organizations for almost 30 years, including more than 15 years with a caribou co-management board, from which she las learned much about the vital relationships between northern peoples, lands, waters and wildlife.
Sandra Stirling is an avid outdoor enthusiast who has been living in the north since 1976. Her earlier career days were spent working for the federal government, but she has been operating a successful sporting goods store in Yellowknife with her husband for over two decades. Sandra has volunteered for a variety of organizations in Yellowknife, including Ecology North, the Yellowknife Ski Club, and the Bahai's of Yellowknife, and now dedicates her time to CPAWS because of her deep care for the northern wilderness.
Christian Bucher has been calling the NWT home for over 30 years. He has worked as a biologist, park warden, park planner and in various natural and cultural resources management positions. Through his work with Parks Canada he has been privileged to experience areas of the NWT that few people get to see and to work closely with many of our communities, from the southern reaches of the Territory to the Arctic. Christian loves the north and its people and he feels fortunate to live in a place where wilderness can be found at one’s door step. He wants to do his outmost to ensure future generations of northerners can in turn enjoy clean air, pure water, and the sight of free roaming caribou.
James Hodson moved to Yellowknife in 2009. His interest in conservation science and wilderness protection drew him to CPAWS, and he became a member of our Board shortly moving north. James has a PhD in wildlife ecology from Laval University, and works as an Environmental Assessment Coordinator for the Canadian Wildlife Service. It is James’s goal to visit each of the NWT’s protected areas.
Peter Redvers is a long time northerner who has worked extensively with First Nation and Métis communities on a wide range of community planning, cultural research, and conservation planning initiatives. His formal training is in adult education and community development, but his love of the northern eco-cultural landscape propelled him to become actively involved in cultural and environmental issues. He has worked with communities to engage with and carry out traditional knowledge research geared toward environmental assessment and regulatory intervention, land and resource management programming, and engagement in the NWT Protected Areas Strategy. He currently works primarily in the Dehcho region on PAS initiatives and engagement in other land and resource management planning initiatives. He has a particular interest in boreal caribou protection and has coordinated some field-based research relating to boreal caribou over-wintering habitat.