Steering Committee for Community Tool Development

Steering Committee for Community Tool Development

Valerie Behan-Pelletier

Dr. Valerie Behan-Pelletier is a Research Scientist in Biodiversity in the Environment Program at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. She is an expert on systematics and biodiversity of soil mites in ecosystems globally, and has a broad research interest in biodiversity and ecology of arthropods in soil and canopy habitats. She is currently engaged in major research initiatives on ancient forest canopy biodiversity in British Columbia, on tall-grass prairie soil biodiversity in the USA, and on arthropod biodiversity of tropical rainforest in Costa Rica. Dr. Behan-Pelletier teaches on mites at the Acarology Summer Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, and has recently advised Ph.D. and postdoctoral students from Canada, USA, Norway and China. She is a member of the UNEP Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) Soil and Sediment Subcommittee exploring the interrelationships and interdependence of soil, freshwater and marine sediments. She is a member of the Advisory Committee for the IBOY sponsored Global Litter Invertebrate Decomposition Experiment, comparing plant litter decomposition and the contribution of invertebrates to this process in 35 countries. Valerie has been a recipient of Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science Fellowship, is a past member of NSERC’s GSC on Evolution and Ecology, and is a recent member of the Scientific Committee of the Biological Survey of Canada. She is a graduate of University College Dublin, Ireland and McGill University, Montreal.

Tony Boydell

Tony Boydell is currently Director of the School of Environment and Sustainability at Royal Roads University, Victoria, British Columbia. He was first appointed as a professor in 1996 and subsequently served as Dean of Science, Technology and Environment. Prior to 1996, Tony had an extensive background in the public and private sectors, as a Regional Director General in Environment Canada, as consultant to the British Columbia government, and to the B.C. Round Table on Environment and Economy, and as Vice-President of J.D. Tait and Associates, involved in land and community development. His expertise includes environmental impact assessment, environmental management systems design, risk assessment, and sustainable community design and development. He has extensive experience in the management of public review processes and has worked with political leaders in federal, provincial, and local levels of government.

Paul Gregory

Paul Gregory has eight years experience working with all levels of government, business and non-profit environmental organizations. Paul provides municipalities with a broad range of skills and a breadth of knowledge in environmental sustainability issues. Paul’s involvement in recent FCM projects has helped municipalities focus on best practices for becoming sustainable communities, and provides him with the opportunity to recommend options for improving energy efficiency (which reduces GHGs building capacity within Canadian municipalities). Paul has a background in marketing and serves as a board member to Seeds, The Society, Environment and Energy Development Studies, and has been a member of the Canadian Government’s delegation at the United Nations (COP 7) negotiations in Bonn, Germany.

Jim Hamilton

Jim Hamilton is a seasoned consultant with extensive experience in the governance and financing of public institutions, especially in relationship to questions of sustainability.  Jim’s experiences stem from over twenty-five years in analyzing and advising on financial, environmental and sustainability matters while with Hamilton, Thomas and Associates Ltd and previously as a senior executive and analyst within the Treasury Board Secretariat within the Government of Canada.  Included among his major contributions is co-founding the Federal Buildings Initiative within Natural Resources Canada.  The Federal Buildings Initiative is a government-wide initiative to take advantage of alternative techniques to finance energy and water savings investments, which presently enjoy widespread application within provincial governments, municipalities, hospitals, schools and universities across Canada.  Jim was also instrumental in the initial development of federal built heritage policy as well as Treasury Board policies with respect to environmental matters. Jim’s primary interest today is in assisting others, including governments and organizations, in understanding how their decisions, and in particular their decision processes, impact sustainability over the longer term.  He also has an abiding interest in demonstrating how sustainability can be self-financing.  When, not involved in these, his focus quickly changes to the outdoors and writing. development.

Greg Wilburn

Greg Wilburn has been working in the field of environmental policy at the federal level for almost twenty years. During that time he has managed the federal government’s outreach programs on climate change, has been involved in the development and implementation of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, and has managed the federal government’s strategic environmental assessment program. Greg has worked on a number of sustainable governance projects in the People’s Republic of China to build capacity for the integration of environmental factors into decision-making (including the development of China’s new environmental impact assessment law). Greg lives in Ottawa and currently works as a senior policy advisor at Environment Canada. He completed his master’s degree in environment and management at Royal Roads University, with his thesis research building on his longstanding interest in the role of political systems and governance in the achievement of sustainable development.