Meet the CPAWS Team

Chapter Board of Directors

We are pleased to introduce the members of the Board of Directors of the Calgary/Banff Chapter of Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS)

Gord James – Chair
June Kilcolm – Vice-Chair
Susan Ellis – Director
Susan Eaton – Director
Maureen Hill – Director
Anthony Jordan – Director
Dean Orlando – Director
Robert J.D. Page – Director
Justin Thompson – Director
Jill Kirker – Director
Bart T. Robinson – Director

Gord James – Chair

Gord James recently retired after working at Suncor Energy for 25 years, with the last ten years as the corporate controller. He has used his skills as an accountant to help in the CPAWS office and later was asked to join the Board. Over the years, Gord has volunteered for a variety of organizations and has always had a love of wilderness. His job at Suncor took him and his family from Toronto to Calgary in 1995. Gord spent much of his time in the parks of Ontario, and here he has enjoyed living near the mountains and getting to experience a different landscape. He is passionate about hiking, cycling, and running.

June Kilcolm – Vice-Chair

June has recently retired after running Integrated Strategies Group, a consulting firm specializing in strategic planning, related to environmental and regulatory issues. Global warming was a key focus for the last 15 years and included work with all the major stakeholders: governments, industry associations and individual corporations. June also brings a business perspective based on more than 20 years strategic planning experience with TransAlta, C.D. Howe Institute and at the corporate level of Canadian Pacific. She is a board member of both Calgary Buffalo constituency and Beltline Community Association. Hiking, travelling, music and volunteering round out a very enjoyable new phase in life.

Susan Ellis – Director

Susan Ellis (shown here enjoying the Alberta wilderness with her husband) is a human and organizational development consultant with 19 years experience working with organizations designing and facilitating initiatives to tackle challenges, tapping people’s wealth of knowledge and experience in order to commit to coordinated action. A business analyst, education consultant, and management consultant, Susan has consulted through her company Ellis & Associates Inc. since 1993. She earned a Master of Arts in Applied Behavioural Science, with emphasis in leading and consulting, to complement her business and adult education background. Susan has worked extensively in the not-for-profit sector on governance, strategic planning and policy work. Susan’s experience in the oil and gas sector has included the human structure and start-up of a facility, restructuring a large facility, leading change, continuous improvement and a number of environment, health and safety policy, communication and development initiatives. An active volunteer, Susan is currently serving on her fourth board, instructing for Alberta Board Development and was presented the Queens Golden Jubilee Medal for Leadership in the community.

Susan Eaton – Director

Susan Eaton’s background is diverse – she’s educated in biology, geology, geophysics and journalism. During her twenty-four-year career in the petroleum industry, she has been involved in corporate due diligence and financial, strategic, environmental and geotechnical evaluations. Susan’s business and finance background was honed while working as a vice-president of exploration in two small, publicly traded oil and gas companies. A former television reporter with CBC-TV, she currently writes on emerging technologies, exploration trends and business issues in the energy sector, contributing frequently to Canadian and American magazines. Susan has been involved in the grassroots conservation sector since 1990, specializing in environmental education, media relations and fundraising. Her varied non-profit experience includes participating in the Canadian Environmental Network’s Forest Caucus; organizing events for the Grizzly Bear Alliance; volunteering as a Director of the Calgary Rainforest Action Group; and representing Suncor Energy Inc. on the Board of Directors of the Alberta Ecotrust Foundation. Susan is passionate about Canada’s wild spaces and the animals who call them home. She spends her spare time in wild spaces watching bears – grizzly bears, spirit bears and polar bears.

Maureen Hill – Director

Maureen Hill joined the board in January 2006, and has worked in the environmental industry in the public and private sectors since 1995. She is currently an environmental consultant with Jacques Whitford-Axys in Calgary. As a consultant, she has coordinated and contributed to federal environmental assessments under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act in Banff and Jasper National Parks. Her travels have taken her from Targhee National Forest in Idaho where she worked as a wildlife technician, to Japan where she researched climate change initiatives and the Kyoto Protocol. Maureen has a Bachelor of Science in Ecology and a Master of Environmental Design (Environmental Science) from the University of Calgary. She is also on the board of the Alberta Society of Professional Biologists.

Maureen is an avid traveler, an enthusiast of all things wild, and a strong believer in CPAWS and the ability of grassroots organizations to affect change.

Anthony Jordan – Director

Tony has a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Saskatchewan, a law degree from Dalhousie University, and a Master’s in law from the University of Saskatchewan. He articled and practiced law in the Northwest Territories from 1971 to 1975. He then did his Masters and taught law at the University of Saskatchewan from 1975-78. During that time, he was also the research director of the Native Law Centre of the U. of S. Since then, Tony has practiced law in Calgary with Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, previously called Code Hunter. Tony has been a supporter of CPAWS for a number of years and a director since 2004. Tony is a part of CPAWS because he feels that the organization is one of the most effective seeking to protect wild lands in Canada, primarily because it has a down to earth, practical approach. He has also been a board member and chair of a seniors’ public housing project.

Dean Orlando – Director

Dean Orlando is a designated accountant who works in a rural community south of Calgary (High River). In addition, he is also working on his internal audit designation. His experience with the environment includes having worked with the Canadian Pacific Railway, Elk Island National Park, and volunteering with Glacier National Park in Montana. Dean and his wife Shauna love hiking in Banff National park as well as skiing.

Robert J.D. Page – Director

Robert Page, Vice-President, Sustainable Development is responsible for TransAlta's proactive approach to addressing greenhouse gas emissions and is involved in the wider environmental and renewable energy issues. Prior to joining TransAlta in 1997, Dr. Page spent 25 years in consulting, academic teaching and research. Most recently, he was Dean of the Faculty of Environmental Design at the University of Calgary.

Dr. Page is known nationally and internationally for his work on energy and the environment in areas such as climate change, emissions trading, biodiversity and protected spaces, environmental impact assessment, and policy and regulation. Dr. Page holds honours Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts degree from Queen's University and a doctorate (international relations) from Oxford University.

Dr. Page is Chair of the Board of Directors of BIOCAP Canada, a national research partnership on biological carbon capture and bio-energy and is a Past Chair of the Board of the International Emissions Trading Association (Geneva). He is an Adjunct Professor in the Environmental Science Program, Faculty of Environmental Design and a Fellow of the Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment, and Economy at the University of Calgary. He chaired the Banff Bow Valley Study (federal inquiry into the ecological intensity of Banff National Park) and served on the Alberta Special Places 2000 Committee. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Clean Air Strategic Alliance of Alberta (CASA), the International Institute for Sustainable Development, the Business Environmental Leadership Council, (Pew Center on Global Climate Change, Washington, DC) and the Canadian Water Network. He is a member of the Environment Committee of the National Chamber of Commerce. He has served for the Government of Canada in international negotiations on the Conference of the Parties for Kyoto, the NAFTA Negotiations, and trade and the environment. He is the author of many articles and several books on energy and the environment. He has been recognized nationally and internationally for his work.

Justin Thompson – Director

Justin Thompson worked for CPAWS Yukon several years ago on oil and gas issues around land use planning and wildlife conservation. He has a BSc in Biology and Environmental Science and an MA in Public Policy and Administration. Justin also worked as Manager of Business Development for Vision Quest Windelectric. His work in the wind energy industry spanned six years, and helped develop wind farms across Canada. He also worked on outreach for the Y2Y (Yukon to Yellowstone) initiative as publicist for the Y2Y hike. Currently, Justin runs his own business, Pocket Design, developing energy efficient residential homes, and works part-time as a rancher in SW Alberta. Justin is involved with CPAWS because he believes that the status quo will continue to erode Canada’s incredible natural heritage and the wild places that he loves, and that we need organizations like CPAWS to be effective advocates for a societal direction that better reflects the true value of our wild places.

Jill Kirker – Director

Jill grew up in Calgary where the Elbow and Bow Rivers meet. Through the years she has been extremely fortunate to have been able to hike, bike, ski, and paddle in the wilderness areas of Alberta and B.C. She is happy to join the board of directors as the CPAWS mandate of promoting the inherent value of wilderness through education, appreciation and experience aligns well with her values. Jill is looking forward to working with the CPAWS Calgary/Banff chapter as it has a great reputation for working co-operatively with governments, industry, other conservation organizations, the general public and other interest groups. Jill initially worked as a geologist in the oil and gas industry, then moved on to volunteer with many local environmental organizations. Most recently Jill worked with Alberta Ecotrust Foundation as the Grant Program Coordinator. She is looking forward to contributing to the vision of CPAWS.

Bart T. Robinson – Director

Bart Robinison is an editor, author, journalist, communications consultant, and life-long conservationist. In 1982, he was a founding editor of Equinox: Canada’s Magazine of Discovery. By combining his vocation as an editor and journalist with his avocation of conservation, Bart has contributed to numerous North American campaigns. Bart was also one of the three founders of the campaign to create a sanctuary for the rare Kermode (Spirit) bear on British Columbia's mid-coast, and he organized a campaign to create and protect wildlife corridors in Alberta's Bow Corridor. While at Equinox, he created the annual Equinox Citation for Environmental Achievement, as well as the Friends of Equinox, which raised funds and used journalism to support a variety of conservation efforts.

From 1997 to the end of 2003, Bart worked for the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, first as the Coordinator, then the Executive Director, and more latterly the Communications Director. In 2002, he was awarded the Wilburforce Foundation's Award for Outstanding Conservation Leadership. He currently sits on the boards of the Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative and is a former board member of the Miistakis Institute for the Rockies and The Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley.

Bart has a BA, cum laude, in political science from Utah State University, and from 2004 to 2006 was a Research Affiliate at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. In 2005, he was a faculty member with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, participating as an instructor in a course on regional conservation collaboration. In 2004 and 2005, he worked as a Program Associate with both the Chinook Institute and the Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley. Bart is now the Program Director of the Bow Valley Sustainability Hub, and an Associate with The Natural Step Canada.

Bart resides in Canmore with his wife Barbara. His current consuming interests are sustainability, community stewardship, and conservation. His hobbies include hiking and skiing, reading, and African and Afro-Cuban drumming.

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