Board of Directors

Astrid Scholz, Ph.D.

Dr. Astrid J. Scholz is the Immediate Past President of Ecotrust, an organization based in Portland, Oregon (USA) committed to creating wellbeing for people and place. She advises the organization on the Resilience Exchange, an initiative to accelerate the pace of social change through fostering collaboration and innovation that Ecotrust has been incubating with a consortium of likeminded organizations and companies since 2013. Scholz is the co-editor of a book on integrated geographic information systems, Place Matters. Scholz holds an M.A. in Economics and Philosophy from the University of St. Andrews, an M.Sc. in Economics from the University of Bristol, and a Ph.D. in Energy and Resources from the University of California, Berkeley.

Tundi Spring Agardy, Ph.D.

Science and Policy Director at the World Ocean Observatory

Tundi Agardy feels fortunate to have had extensive field and policy experience in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, North America and the Pacific. She specializes in coastal planning and assessment, marine protected areas, fisheries management, and ocean zoning, and has published widely in these fields. Tundi founded Sound Seas in 2001 as an independent group working at the nexus of policy and science to promote marine conservation. At Forest Trends, she heads up the MARES initiative – a program that assess the value of coastal and marine habitats for the many ecosystem services they provide, and identifying opportunities for Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES), offsets or other market-like mechanisms to generate revenues that support conservation initiatives. She is also Science and Policy Director for the World Ocean Observatory, and is Editor of MEAM, the quarterly newsletter on Marine Ecosystems and Management published by the University of Washington.

Kory Wilson, LL.B.

Executive Director, Indigenous Initiatives and Partnerships, BCIT

Kory holds an International Baccalaureate from Pearson College in Victoria and a law degree from the University of British Columbia. With over 20 years of experience in post-secondary education, community development, and the legal profession, Kory’s passion lies “in ensuring success for Indigenous Learners and other multi-barriered learners”. She has a deep commitment to education and has dedicated her working life to ensuring that under-represented learners succeed, both within learning institutions and the larger community. Kory is a member of the We Wai Kai Nation (Quadra Island) and is Musgamagw Tsawataineuk and Laich-Kwil-Tach. Both nations are part of the Kwakwaka’wakw Nation, also known as the Kwak’wala speaking people.

Phillip Dearden, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Geography, University of Victoria

Philip Dearden leads the Marine Protected Areas Research Group at UVic. His research is focused on biodiversity protection with a particular interest in protected area planning and management. Research interests range from seagrass ecology through to coral reef monitoring, whale sharks, community-based conservation, marine ecotourism and understanding the impacts of global climate change on MPAs and related communities. He has undertaken research in many countries and is currently engaged in studies on the impacts of climate change on MPAs and livelihoods in Thailand, the role of MPAs in marine mammal conservation in Southeast Asia, poverty and coastal communities in Tanzania and Ghana as well as MPA-related studies in Canada. With over 250 academic articles and 9 books to his name he is frequently called upon to advise international and national governments on conservation matters and he was the Expert Advisor to the Auditor General’s recent audit of MPAs in Canada.

Rodolphe Devillers, Ph. D.

Professor, Department of Geography, Memorial University

Rodolphe Devillers is a marine Geographer interested in how geographic information sciences can contribute to marine conservation. He is Associate Professor in Geography at Memorial University of Newfoundland where he leads the Marine Geomatics Research Group, an interdisciplinary team exploring looking at how geospatial technologies can be used to improve our understanding of marine environments. His research interest includes systematic conservation planning, marine conservation and marine protected areas, seabed mapping and benthic habitat mapping and fisheries ecology. His research ranges from theoretical questions like the role of spatial scale in marine ecology, to applied research done in collaboration with various government organizations (Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Parks Canada, Geological Survey) and NGOs (e.g. WWF).

Evelyn Pinkerton, Ph.D.

Professor, School of Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University

Dr. Pinkerton is a maritime anthropologist who has integrated common property theory and cultural/political ecology in considering the role communities play in the management of adjacent renewable natural resources. She has played a key role in developing the theory and practice of power-sharing and stewardship through co-management agreements. Beginning with the introduction to her 1989 edited volume Cooperative Management of Local Fisheries (UBC Press), she has been generating middle-range theoretical propositions about the conditions under which co-management is likely to arise and to endure. She has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles on fisheries and forestry co-management arrangements, and in Fisheries that Work (1995, co-authored with Martin Weinstein), began to develop a more comprehensive framework for analyzing and comparing co-management arrangements. This work has since evolved into analysis of the developmental sequence of types of co-management rights and activities.

Andrew Cardiff, CEO

C-Tow Marine Assistance Ltd.

Mr. Cardiff has held the post of CEO of C-Tow Marine Assistance Ltd. since 2009. The company, founded in 1984, provides on-call assistance to member boaters across Canada. A resident of Garden Bay (Pender Harbour), Andy is a passionate supporter of all things marine. That includes, in particular, the removal of plastic marine debris from his home shores. C-Tow donated a work boat to aid in Living Oceans' Clear the Coast program and Andy takes an active interest in the project, helping out wherever possible to promote it.