A dynamic team of core instructors and facilitators lead the program and bring in a range of guest speakers who are leaders in their field of expertise.
Nadine Raynolds
Nadine is the
Program Director of the Redfish School of Change at GreenLearning Canada.
Nadine is an organizer, facilitator, educator and community
activist based in the West Kootenays of British Columbia. She has
designed and delivered education programs for a variety of youth and
community-based organizations. The Redfish School
of Change is a dream come true for Nadine: her Masters research in
Environmental Education and Communication focused on the
design of education from a youth perspective, which led to the
development of
this unique field school. Nadine has hope in the revolution of
consciousness that
she believes young people are leading.
Brenda Beckwith
Brenda is the Senior Laboratory Instructor
for the School of Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria. Since completing her PhD on the ethnoecological reconstruction and
restoration of the edible root food, camas (Camassia spp.), in Garry oak
ecosystems in 2004, she has worked as a Sessional Instructor in Environmental
Studies, as an ethnobotanist for Parks Canada, and as Land Stewardship Manager for
the Salt Spring Island Conservancy. Brenda consults with
conservation organizations that are actively managing and restoring Garry oak
ecosystems as well as with private homeowners who are interested in ecological
gardening and environmental sustainability. During her time off, Brenda works on her small
organic farm in North Saanich just north of Victoria.
Ryan Hilperts
Ryan is a sessional lecturer at the School of Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria. She researches the ways in which ecological restoration transforms both human and ecological communities. Her graduate work involved community engagement with the removal of two dams on the Elwha River in Washington State, focusing on the importance of fostering community conversations about ecological change. Ryan has been a workshop facilitator, sea kayak guide and marine naturalist, a long distance hiker, a mountaineering instructor, a repeat photographer, an english teacher, and a field ecology educator in Washington State, British Columbia, Alberta, Thailand, and Central America. She believes one key to transformative education is developing the ability to ask constructive critical questions not only of others, but of ourselves.
James Rowe
James is a Senior Instructor in the
School of Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria. He recently completed his PhD in Politics at the University
of California, Santa Cruz. James does research in the fields of
international political economy, social movement histories and futures,
and contemporary philosophy. His publications include the book — co-authored with Ronnie Lipschutz — Regulation for the Rest of Us:
Globalization, Governmentality, and Global Politics (Routledge,
2005). James is passionate about positive social change and has been
involved in environmental and social justice advocacy efforts at
local and global scales (from small grassroots organizations to the
United Nations and back again).