Click on a photo below to learn more about our speakers!
Stephen Scharper
Stephen Scharper
Dr. Stephen Bede Scharper is a U of T professor, author, editor, columnist, and public scholar with a special focus on social justice, sustainability, and the environment.
Dr. Scharper’s research and teaching are in the areas of environmental ethics, worldviews and ecology, religion and ecology, liberation theology, sustainability ethics, as well as nature and the city.
Dr. Scharper is hosting the ever-popular curated movie night, a regular favourite at Sources of Knowledge.
John Terpstra
John Terpstra
John Terpstra is a poet, author and cabinetmaker whose work often focuses on the built and natural geography of the not-quite-post-industrial city of Hamilton. His most recent non-fiction work, Daylighting Chedoke, concerns a buried creek in the city. One of his poems, Giants, is mounted on a plaque on the edge of the Niagara Escarpment overlooking downtown Hamilton.
Bill Caulfield-Browne
Bill Caulfeild-Browne
Bill is a former business executive and corporate director. He is a passionate conservationist and nature photographer and has published several books of his work. He is a former Chair of the Nature Conservancy of Canada and of the Sources of Knowledge Forum. He currently serves as a director of Canada’s History Society.
A citizen-scientist in the field of climate studies for over 40 years, he has documented climate change on the Saugeen-Bruce Peninsula by comparing records from his weather station in Tobermory with those of the 20th century.
Eric Miller
Eric Miller
Eric Miller is Director of the York University Ecological Footprint Initiative, while he also teaches courses in ecological economics and sustainability informatics. Eric is also a David Suzuki Fellow with a focus on enhancing ecological-economic literacy in Canada. His prior work as a consulting economist informed governments, industry, think-tanks, and NGOs. His earlier work in public service had him leading the team of economists in the Ministry of Natural Resources, after he had worked for the Ministry of Environment and for Environment Canada.
Ethan Meleg
Ethan Meleg
Ethan Meleg grew up near Point Pelee National Park, which turned him into a ‘bird nerd’ at a young age and inspired his passion for nature and parks. His Parks Canada career started in 1999 as a naturalist at Bruce Peninsula National Park and Fathom Five National Marine Park. He has grown into many different roles, and spent a few years at Georgian Bay Islands National Park, before coming back to the Saugeen (Bruce) Peninsula a few years ago – this time with a family in tow. Ethan is a member of the park management team and is currently the acting Park Superintendent.
Outside of his work with Parks Canada, Ethan is an accomplished nature photographer. His greatest passion is exploring parks and wild areas with his camera, whether on exciting trips or close to home.
Reid Gomme
Reid Gomme
Reid is a lawyer for Ecojustice’s Ottawa office, returning to the team after working at the Ottawa office as a 2021-22 articling student, a 2020 summer student, and having participated in the uOttawa Ecojustice clinic course in the fall of 2019. Reid is thrilled to contribute to Ecojustice’s work in fighting for a livable and equitable future for humans and all living creatures. Reid was actively involved in the youth climate case.
When Reid is not researching or taking a Zoom call, you can find him exploring trails and waterways in and around Ottawa, or out on the Salish Sea in a canoe with his Grandpa when he has a chance to visit family back in BC.
Emily Martin
Emily Martin
Emily Martin is a resident of the Northern Saugeen Peninsula and the Manager of Resources and Infrastructure for the Environment Office of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON). In her role she manages the duty to consult and accommodate SON for all proposed development in SON Territory (other than energy projects) and the relationship with Parks Canada for SON. Emily is passionate about public education in SON Territory and is looking forward to connecting with the SOK community.
Daimen Hardie
Daimen Hardie
Daimen is the co-founder and Executive Director of Community Forests International, a charitable organization with a mission to protect and restore the climate by enabling communities and forests to thrive together.
Community Forests created one of the first forest carbon storage projects in Canada in 2012, to preserve the endangered Wabanaki forest of the Maritimes, and leads community-based climate resilience projects internationally in vulnerable regions including Zanzibar and Mozambique.
Daimen has witnessed firsthand how people can become a restorative force for forests and the climate. He will share the latest learnings from Community Forests’ work on improving carbon storage and biodiversity of forests with highlights including the most climate-adapted trees, successful strategies for mobilizing communities and funding local forest protection, and inspiring findings on the link between the global climate stability and local disaster risk reduction provided by community forests.
Ralph Martin
Ralph Martin
Ralph C. Martin grew up on his family farm in Wallenstein, ON. After 4-H, his formal education includes, a B.A. and an M.Sc. in Biology from Carleton University and a Ph.D. in Plant Science from McGill University. His research and teaching began at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College, in 1990, and he realized students teach him too. In 2001, he founded the Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada www.dal.ca/faculty/agriculture/oacc/en-home.html to coordinate university research and education pertaining to organic systems, across Canada . In 2011, he was appointed as Professor and the Loblaw Chair in Sustainable Food Production at the Ontario Agricultural College, University of Guelph. In 2019, he retired and published his book, Food Security.
Steve Lee
Steve Lee
Between 2017-2019, Steve listened to the voices of over 100,000 young Canadians in person. He helped students undertake more than a hundred local sustainability projects. He drove 160,000 km to over 500 schools in more than 400 towns, focusing on rural and remote communities that didn’t want to talk about climate change. Enough students were talking about it at dinner tables that Alberta’s energy ‘war room’ opened with an attack on Steve, which led to a barrage of death threats by parents requiring RCMP protection in some schools. What is climate denial really about? Why is it so emotionally charged? How do we bridge the divides? The answer: listening in love.
Dianne Saxe
Dianne Saxe
Dianne Saxe, Ph.D. in Law, is one of Canada’s most respected environmental lawyers. She ran an environmental law boutique for 25 years, and was the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario 2015 – 2019, reporting to the Legislature on environment, energy and climate. Now heads SaxeFacts, focussing on the climate crisis. Substantial board and media experience. Hosts Green Economy Heroes podcast. Senior Fellow, Massey College. Law Society Medal 2020 for exemplary leadership in environmental law. Clean50 honouree. Deputy leader of the Ontario Green Party and Green Party candidate in University-Rosedale. Global Competent Board Designation.