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A BIT ABOUT OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS!

Robert Buckley, Vice Chair

Marilyn Cogdon

Alex MacDonald, Treasurer

Janet Peace, Chair

Cameron Pulsifer

Gillian Trueman

Laura Barkhouse

Laura was employed as the Trails and Open Space Coordinator for the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg for 22 years.  She has been involved in land conservation projects, trail and park development at the local and provincial level, building and supporting community trail and park development as well as project managing several municipal park and outdoor space projects.

Sarah Crnec

Sarah was born and raised in the South Shore and has always had a deep love and respect for nature and all living things. She attended the Natural Resources Environmental Technology course offered through the Nova Scotia Community College and then obtained a Bachelors Degree in Environmental Engineering Technology from Cape Breton University. Over the years Sarah bounced back and forth from Nova Scotia to BC and back again, never straying too far from one ocean or another. Her environmental career has been spent working for non-profit organizations and government in parks and protected areas, on projects that conserve and protect species and their habitat, while engaging the public to foster a stewardship attitude by getting outside and hands on with the natural world. She now lives in Lower Rose Bay with her husband and is the proud mom of 2 dogs and 2 cats. Since putting down roots, it has become very important for her to become part of a community to work together and make a positive impact where possible. She is delighted to now be part of the KCC team so she can do just that!

Scott Jermey

Manager, Acadia First Nation Ecology Program and coordinator for Kespukwitk AFN Earth Keepers.

Scott was born and grew up in/around the Wildcat Community of the Wabanaki forest and on the many waterways that make up the Kespukwitk district of Mi’ma’ki.
He currently works closely with many ecology & environmental organizations including:
 Parks Canada
 Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute (MTRI)
 Confederacy of mainland Mi’kmaq (CMM)
 Clean Annapolis River Project (CARP)
 John F Kearny’s Listening Together Project
 Southwest Nova Biosphere
 National Tree Seed Centre
 Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC)

Current/ongoing projects include Eastern Ribbon Snakes monitoring, Blanding’s Turtle nesting/hatching, Bat monitoring, Wisqoq (black ash) research, seed collections, Hemlock Woody Adelgid (HWA), Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), First nation community outreach/education and consultation.

He currently is a member of the following:
 Kespukwitk Conservation Collaborative (KCC)
 North Queens Community School’s Land Based Learning Project, Elaptoq
 Mersey Corridor Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA)
 Indigenous Habitat Participation Program
 Indigenous Seed Collection Program

Janet Peace

Janet grew up in the English countryside, witnessing daily that all living things are interconnected and thrive through mutual cooperation. Shaped by this belief, her life’s goals and activities took her across Europe, the US and Canada, working mostly in the non-profit arenas, and mostly in the major cities. In the early 90’s, she and her partner discovered Nova Scotia  and have lived in Rose Bay almost continually for the past 20 years. She is immensely grateful to have now come full circle and to be contributing her experience to KCC’s mission.  When not working for nature conservancy, she can be found cooking up a storm in the kitchen, or hiking our precious trails with her partner and three canine pack members.

James Stephens

James is a consultant who has worked in land appraisal and conservation since 2012. He has been fortunate to visit many of Nova Scotia’s wild places and looks forward to spending as much time as possible on the beautiful lands and islands of the South Shore.

Veronica Watts

Originally from British Columbia, Veronica grew up with a keen interest in nature and was fortunate to visit BC’s many beautiful, wild places. During her university years she studied sciences and ecology before switching into a Bachelor of Psychology program. She was a crew member for the Coast Guard auxiliary as well as a volunteer at the Vancouver Aquarium in the marine mammal rescue centre and with their ecology restoration group that worked within Greater Vancouver. Since 2010, she has worked as a real estate agent and property manager in BC and now here in Nova Scotia. 

Veronika’s interest in conservation is a significant consideration in the many land transactions that she has been involved in here in Nova Scotia. They have helped her gain a broad knowledge of, and experience with, the organizations, departments and councils involved with land development and conservation. She is excited to have been introduced to KCC and looks forward to contributing to something so meaningful right here in her own community!