Board of Directors 2012/13

Charlene Rogers (president)
Charlene has a diverse background that includes an undergraduate degree in music from Queen’s University and a Master in Environmental Studies from York University where her area of concentration was Mining, Governance and Culture. She is critical of the dominant worldview of nature and humans as resources to be exploited for economic gain, and believes a different world is possible. Charlene’s areas of interest range from environmental education and advocacy to discourse analysis and natural resource and environmental policy.

Graham Saunders (vice-president)
Graham teaches meteorology at Lakehead University, Thunder Bay. He does research and writing for several publications about weather, climate and energy issues. He often speaks about these issues in elementary and high schools, church groups and service clubs. He has made formal presentations at professional and academic conferences, and he presented the keynote address, Trends in Temperature and Precipitation in Northern Ontario during the 20TH Century: Implications for Regional Management (Quetico Centre, Dec. 2004). Graham is a board member of Environment North and the Bay Credit Union, with involvement in the Audit and Social Responsibility Committees.

Lea Matuska (treasurer)
Lea Matyuska is the manager of Bay Credit Union in Thunder Bay, a position she has held for over 20 years. She attended the University of Waterloo studying Planning and Environmental Studies, while concurrently attending Wilfrid Laurier University's business program. Lea has been involved in environmental activities sinceher teens, and has worked for both the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority and the Long Point Region Conservation Authority. As a representative of Credit Union Central of Ontario's Legislative Review Committee, she gained valuable experience in reviewing and recommended change to Ontario's legislation. She currently serves on the Committee of Adjustment for the Municipality of Neebing.

Susan Grinstead (secretary)
Susan Grinstead was born and raised in Thunder Bay. Susan has been employed by the Lakehead Public Schools as an Educational Assistant for over 30 years. Her background education is geography and special education. She is one of the charter members of Environment North and is still active with them today. She is also an active member of Foresters, Nu-Vision Ministry, Suzuki Foundation, New Democratic Party and Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation. Her home is heated with a solarium addition and has been a host to EcoSuperior’s Renewable Energy Tour on several occasions. Her hobbies include: sewing, gardening, and writing. She is co- owner with her sister in a small card business called Horse and Dragon. Her passion is any solar technology.

Julee Boan
Julee holds a B.Sc. in Geography and Environmental Studies from the University of Victoria, a M.Sc. in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) through the University of London, England, and is currently working toward her Ph.D. in Forestry and the Forest Environment. She has 10 years of research and analysis experience in the field of conservation, with emphasis on protected areas planning and conservation analysis. She has extensive experience working in the non-profit sector, including fundraising and project management. Julee works extensively with aboriginal communities and northern grassroots conservation groups in Ontario. Previously, she worked on the Protected Areas Strategy for the Ministry of Sustainable Development and the Ministry of Forests in British Columbia, and conducted aquatic and salmon habitat research for a nongovernmental research organization in Clayoquot Sound, BC.

Scott Harris

Lucy Laframboise

Karen Peterson

Barry Beaupre