Board of Directors

Christina recently returned to Nova Scotia after 9 adventure-filled years in the Yukon, including 4 years as the Executive Director of the Yukon Conservation Society. Her professional experience has been in sustainability and the environment: management of renewable resources, land use planning, climate change adaptation, and advocacy for wildlife and habitat protection as well as energy conservation and renewable energy. She is passionate about finding interdisciplinary solutions to the interconnected social, environmental, cross-cultural and economic challenges we face today.  After many years away, Christina is excited to live by the ocean again and find ways to connect deeply with the land and people of Nova Scotia.

Helga Guderley made St. Margaret’s Bay her home since retiring in 2010 from being a professor of comparative physiology at Université Laval for 30 years. She continues to teach graduate students at Dalhousie University because the amazing variety of physiological adaptations of living organisms continues to delight her. Helga became involved with environmental advocacy shortly after arriving in Boutiliers Pt., fighting the clear cutting on nearby Crown lands. The strong support of her petition against the use of biomass for power generation started her collaboration with the Ecology Action Centre, in particular the Wilderness section. The EAC’s work in its various departments has consistently impressed her and she looks forward to working more closely with the organization.

Helga was born in Dayton Ohio, to recently arrived German immigrants. She did her PhD in Zoology at the University of British Columbia where she met her husband, John Himmelman. They have two grown sons and a lovely little grand-daughter. They look after a mix of gardens and forest in Boutiliers Pt. and enjoy being near John’s homelands along the La Have river. She enjoys hiking, biking, swimming, being in natural landscapes and knowing the names of the plants she sees.

Roland Evborokhai was born into a farming family in Nigeria and is an avid amateur gardener himself. Many years working for an oil major including five years in Gabon, a coastal oil producing country that values flora, fauna and environmental conservation increased his sensitivity to local and global climate challenges and the future of our planet. Gardening, fishing and trail walking further increased his zeal to be more personally involved in environment conservation activities. 

He has more than 17 years experience in Accounting & Controlling, Treasury, Joint Venture Accounting & Audit, Management Finance (FitB), Governance, Risk & Assurance and Finance Advisory within the Finance Function of the Shell Group, in Nigeria, Gabon and Saudi Arabia. 

He is now a proud Nova Scotia resident currently working as Manager, Finance Advisory Services with the Finance and Treasury Board, serving the Department of Community Services. He holds an MBA Financial Management, FCA Nigeria, CIMA UK and CPA Canada. 

Virginia started her environmental career in 1989 with a degree in Environmental Science and volunteering with Peterborough GreenUp in Ontario. She has worked in the public sector for most of her career while continuing to support the programs of Environmental Not-for-profits. Virginia has managed environmental programs for school boards and led government consultation projects. While working for Nova Scotia Environment she was involved with developing waste management policy, participated in the Canadian Council of Ministers of Environment Waste Reduction Working Group, and led staff training. Virginia served two terms on the Board of Directors for the Clean Foundation. Her capacity to focus on the big picture resulted in outcomes that are environmentally sound and cost effective. Since retiring in 2017, Virginia has volunteered with Canadian international development organizations in Myanmar and Tanzania. Projects included a community waste management plan and an environmental report for a national college. When not overseas, Virginia has volunteered with the Immigrants Services Association of Nova Scotia and Halifax Public Library Immigrants Services.

To the age of nineteen, Alyda lived on a dairy farm in Ontario which fostered her abiding gratitude for nature’s beauty. These early years also influenced her commitment to support local farmers, and, through the community created by farmers’ markets, getting to know the people who grow our food. She’s a year round commuter cyclist, backyard composter, and funnel spiders live in her basement. As a Professor at Atlantic School of Theology (AST), she teaches and researches in the areas of Christian Theology and Ethics with a focus on the poetics of ethics and theology. She regularly teaches courses in Sexual Ethics, Mystical Theology, and Theological Ethics & the Climate Crisis. She has been the President of AST’s faculty union since it certified in 2009, serves as Chair of the Research Ethics Board (AST), and as an Associate Editor (poetry) at the Dalhousie Review. Her most recent publications are works of poetry, Dust or Fire (2016) and Poisonous If Eaten Raw (2021, winner of the J. M. Abraham Atlantic Poetry Prize).

Curtis Whiley, a sixth-generation African Nova Scotian from Upper Hammonds Plains, is a dedicated public servant and social entrepreneur committed to advancing and liberating Black communities in Canada. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce and an MBA specializing in Social Enterprise Leadership. In 2022, he founded the Upper Hammonds Plains Community Land Trust to preserve historical lands, create affordable housing solutions, and empower his community through collective action. Curtis's leadership aims to preserve his heritage's integrity and history through innovation and community-led transformation.

Dan Rutabingwa Gakire is a passionate and dedicated environmentalist who hails from Rwanda. Growing up on a farmhouse, Dan's early exposure to the outdoors sparked a lifelong fascination with nature and outdoor activities. Hiking and bike riding through parks became his cherished pastimes, solidifying his commitment to protecting the environment for future generations. Dan pursued this passion further by obtaining a degree in Environmental Science from the University of Manitoba, honing his expertise in the field.

Currently, Dan serves as a climate change campaigner with Ecology Ottawa. His journey towards becoming a prominent figure in the fight against climate change and sustainability issues began as an enthusiastic volunteer, lending his time and skills to various environmental causes. He is determined to use his extensive experience, knowledge, and unwavering dedication to make a significant impact in shaping a greener and more sustainable future for all.

Dawn was born and has lived most of her life in Halifax. Her early career was in the field of nutrition where she worked as a clinical dietitian in both Alberta and Nova Scotia. Having completed a Master in Health Administration, and training as a leadership coach Dawn enjoyed several roles in the NS health system in the areas of staff wellness, leadership development and coaching, and change management. Throughout her career Dawn fostered a systems view of how living-systems like teams, organizations, forests and oceans actually behave as a means to achieve lasting change. An eco-system view of life continues to be Dawn’s sweet spot in retirement as she engages in volunteer opportunities that contribute to enhancing the health of the planet. Dawn is a life-long nature enthusiast and is most happy on her bike, on a seaside hike or on the golf course.  She can also be found on her yoga mat as the sun comes up.

Grant has been a supporter of EAC since its early days and has served on the board in the past.

He retired in 2016 as a professor of public policy, conflict resolution and organizational behaviour at Dalhousie University. He had a long career as a university-based adult educator helping Nova Scotia non-profits on matters of leadership and governance. He now writes on this subject and occasionally advises groups.

Grant was born and went to school in Saint John, N.B. He and his spouse Susan have two grown daughters, and four young grandchildren, who, with their partners, are all living in Nova Scotia. Adding to the mix there is a sweet but complicated 9-year old, border collie named Gracie. He keeps busy exploring as many nearby trails as he can find (dog in the lead), cooking and baking, binge watching TV mystery series, reading children's books and putting shoes on little feet. 

He is also involved as chair of a local resident-business community group, the Pleasant-Woodside Neighbourhood Association in Dartmouth.

Keith MacMaster is a lecturer and Ph.D. Candidate at the Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University. He holds a Master of Law degree from Dalhousie and an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at Western University. He concentrates on legal issues in environmental finance for banking and ocean-based industries, especially working on problems of seabed mining. The lack of environmental and human rights data in companies’ disclosure documents lies at the heart of this research. This research aims to enable an environmentally and socially sustainable mining industry for the post-pandemic, low-carbon world. 

Keith has worked with EAC in the past, serving as a consultant on the Regional Assessment of Offshore Oil and Gas Exploratory Drilling East of Newfoundland and Labrador project. 

Before teaching, Keith led TD Bank’s carbon neutral program and environmental real estate portfolio. He practiced corporate and real estate law and is a licensed financial planner. Keith is originally from Cape Breton and now resides in Greenwich, Nova Scotia. He serves as Treasurer of the Cole Harbour Rural Heritage Society and is passionate about farming and environmental rights.

Laurette Geldenhuys was trained as a physician and a pathologist in South Africa and has master’s degrees in Anatomical Pathology and Medical Education. She is a Professor at Dalhousie University and specializes in her medical practice in the pathology of medical diseases of the kidney, including transplantation. She also has interests in Medical Education, the Medical Humanities, including Medical History, and most recently and most passionately, Planetary Health.

She served as Division Head and Service Chief of Anatomical Pathology at the QEII Health Sciences Centre for 10 years; and is a Past President of the Canadian Association of Pathologists (CAP-ACP); Vice Chair of the CAP- ACP Section on the Humanities and International Health; Chair of the CAP- ACP National Specialty Network on the Environment; Board Member of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE); Chair of the CAPE Nova Scotian Regional Committee (CAPE NS); and member of the Department of Pathology Green Team, and St. Matthew’s United Church Earth Spirit Action Team.

She is particularly interested in the greening of health care; the health effects of the climate emergency; and the beneficial health effects of spending time in nature.

Her three lovely daughters, her two adorable grandsons, and her love of nature inspire her in her planetary health advocacy.

Louis Joe Bernard began his career in economic development at Yellowquill College, Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, and graduated with an academic excellence award in 1993. Louis Joe has since then gone on to become a Professional Aboriginal Economic Developer (Paed); and a Technical Aboriginal Economic Developer (Taed), certification with the Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers (CANDO), and now a member of the National Certification Committee for CANDO. In 2008, in Montreal, Quebec at the National CANDO Conference, Louis Joe was voted among his peers of over 260 First Nations across Canada with the Economic Developer of the Year Award from CANDO. He was a Member of the Institute of Business Consultants (MIBC) in the United Kingdom for the past 8 years. Louis Joe also received a Certified Advanced Small Business Counselor designation from Confederation College, Thunder Bay, Ontario. He is a Certified Aboriginal Lands Officer through Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.  Louis Joe sat as a board member for the Labour and Advanced Education Apprenticeship Division for the Mi’kmaq of Nova Scotia for 2 x 3-year terms. Louis Joe also sat on the Tripartite Economic Development Working Committee, Maritimes and Northeast Pipelines Economic Benefits Committee, and sat on the Canadian Community Economic Development Network, Ottawa, Canada. He was a member of the Michelin Aboriginal Employment Partnership Advisory Council, since 2003. In 2009, when Dr. Pamela Sloan and Dr. David Oliver from the University of Montreal (HEC) won first prize in World Competition in the 2009 oikos Foundation Global Case Writing Competition in the Corporate Sustainability Track, they wrote, “Louis Joe played an active role in enabling this case to be written, he was intimately involved in setting the direction for partnership as well as in implementing it. … this allowed us to convey the challenges and complexity of the partnership – a feature of the case that was recognized in the adjudication of the oikos competition.”

Louis Joe also sat as a Chairperson on the Centre of Excellence on Matrimonial and Real Property Law as a representative of the National Aboriginal Land Management Association (NALMA) of which he has sat on the Board of Directors. As a chairperson for the Atlantic Region Aboriginal Lands Association (ARALA) which has a membership of eighteen (18) First Nations in Atlantic Canada.  Louis Joe has been with the Union of Nova Scotia Indians-Tribal Council under the title of Community Capacity Development Officer- Economic Development as his last position before retiring from the organization in 2015. Louis Joe now sits on the Board of Directors for Whycocomagh Coop as a volunteer Vice President.
 

Michael began to appreciate the outdoors at a young age, through many trips to Kejimkujik National Park as a child. Since then, he has gained a Bachelor of Commerce from Dalhousie, an MBA from Saint Mary's, and a CMA-CPA accounting designation. Having worked in different accounting and business roles from Halifax, Toronto, to Sydney, Australia, Michael gained a variety of experience working with diverse groups of people and processes. Aside from trying to travel as much of the world as possible and climbing Seven Bays, Michael is currently self-employed, helping clients achieve their finance, accounting, or strategic vision.

Originally from Finland, Milka moved to Halifax in 2020 with her family after three decades of studying and working in Europe and Asia. Most of her professional career she has worked in and advised multinational companies on corporate responsibility and sustainability. In 2018, Milka co-founded her own ESG (environment, social and governance) consultancy firm, specializing on business and human rights; helping companies identify and manage diverse human rights risks, including human rights implications of net zero strategies and the transition towards a low carbon economy. 

Milka is passionate about building better dialogue and finding new and innovative models of collaboration between the private and non-profit sectors. She has previously served on the board of the Global Network Initiative, a multistakeholder organization promoting and advancing freedom of expression and privacy rights across the technology ecosystem. She currently acts as a technical expert to Safe Online, a UNICEF-managed global partnership fund that finances and helps scale up technology solutions, research and awareness programs to fight online child sexual exploitation and abuse. 

When not working, Milka is mostly likely found outdoors in nature, her true happy place.

Having grown up in New Brunswick, studied in Montreal and lived for 18 years in Amsterdam, Rhiannon moved to Halifax in August 2018 after spending a year on a 44’ sailboat travelling with her family. This sailing experience brought home again the importance of protecting our oceans and habitats, the importance of communication on environmental issues and that each of us needs to take an active role in protecting the world around us. 

Rhiannon has spent her professional life working on the end-to-end supply chains of international corporations in food and consumer goods manufacturing and retail, most recently as a senior executive, board member and company director. Driving transparency, accountability and implementing strategies and practices to address these issues has been an important focus of her work. 

Rhiannon’s governance experience includes private, public companies and NGOs. She spent 6 years on the Supervisory Board of Fairfood International, an Amsterdam based NGO.  Rhiannon is also an active angel investor, mentor and supporter of early-stage female entrepreneurs.

Zahra's (she/her) journey has taken her across the globe, having lived and worked or studied in Barbados, the United Kingdom, New York and Baltimore, USA, and throughout Atlantic Canada. She holds degrees from Mount Allison University, Dalhousie University, and Morgan State University.

Zahra is an architect, and principal of zzap, as well as a sessional instructor at Dalhousie University in the Faculty of Architecture and Planning. Based in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Zahra brings a wealth of experience and a deep passion for the built environment to her work. Her research delves into the implications of climate and social justice on the built environment, with a strong focus on housing and community, social inclusion, poverty disruption, architecture and colonialism, and the challenges of post-industrial cities.
Beyond her professional life, Zahra is deeply committed to her community. She actively volunteers with the Nova Scotia Association of Architects (NSAA), is a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), and the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA). Passionate about fostering diversity within architecture and related fields, Zahra has developed a youth job shadow program to introduce African Nova Scotians and indigenous youth to architectural practice. She also hopes to establish a NOMA student chapter at Dalhousie University.

In her free time, Zahra enjoys spending time with her family, friends, and her beloved dog, Junie Jabarkus. Whether she's hiking, being near the water, listening to live music, making art or reading, Zahra is always looking for opportunities to be engaged and build community.