Professor Ann Dale, Principal Investigator, held her university's first Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Community Development at Royal Roads University, School of Environment and Sustainability from 2004-2014. A former Trudeau Fellow Alumna (2004), she is a Fellow of the World Academy of Arts and Science, chairs the Canadian Consortium for Sustainable Development Research (CCSDR), a Board Member of the World Fisheries Trust. and the founder of the National Environmental Treasure (the NET). Current research interests include governance, social capital and agency, biodiversity conservation, place-based and virtual sustainable communities. She is a recipient of the 2001 Policy Research Initiative Award for Outstanding Contribution to Public Policy for her book, At the edge: sustainable development in the 21st century. Professor Dale is actively experimenting with research dissemination and social media, and has recently launched HEADTalks.

Kevin Hanna brings program and administration experience from academe and the Federal Public Service. Hanna’s research centres on impact assessment, integrated resource management, social capital and planning, and the role of local planning in community transition. His research has been supported by Infrastructure Canada, SSHRC, and CMHC. Most recently, he is the editor of books on impact assessment, integrated resource management, and parks and protected areas. Hanna has served as a policy advisor and analyst at Environment Canada and brings strong project management experience to the application, broad knowledge of community transitional planning, and good links to federal and provincial agencies.

Ken Lyotier has lived and worked in the Downtown Eastside sine the late 1970s, and is the founding Executive Director of United We Can, a social business enterprise and three other business lines. A community leader, Ken has advised the city of Vancouver and many other groups on social issues, such as medical and housing services and poverty alleviation in Vancouver's inner-City.

Jennie Sparkes had held numerous position in Parks Canada, starting as a Park Warden at Pukaskwa National Park. She currently works as a social science researcher examining the human dimension of ecosystem based management. She is a graduate of the Royal Roads' MEM program and is currently pursuing her PhD in Geography at the University of Victoria.