Healthy Watersheds – From Glaciers to the Sea

Name: Healthy Watersheds – From Glaciers to the Sea
Start: 2025-04-17T17:30:00-07:00
End: 2025-04-17T20:00:00-07:00
Location: Maury Young Arts Centre

Schedule

Thu Apr 17 2025 at 05:30 pm to 08:00 pm

UTC-07:00

Location

Maury Young Arts Centre | Whistler, BC

Doors & Cash Bar at 5.30pm | Talk at 6pm | Audience Q&A 7pm | Speaker Mix & Mingle 7.30pm – 8pm
About This Event:
Panelists Dr. Bob Sandford, Dr. Peter Ross, and Michael Blackstock will explore the state of Coastal British Columbia’s aquatic environment. Exploring the health of our glaciers, watersheds, waterways and oceans, each panelist will lend their expertise to this vital conversation. Tying in the inevitable dichotomy of fire, panelists will also touch on forest fires and how that is impacting our waterways – both qualitatively and quantitatively.

About The Speakers:
Dr. Robert (Bob) Sandford has 45 years of experience interpreting natural and human history for general audiences. In the last two decades, his focus has been on translating scientific research outcomes into language the average person can understand and that decision-makers at all levels can use to craft timely and durable public and private sector policies. To this end, Bob is also a senior advisor on water issues for the Interaction Council, a global public policy forum composed of more than thirty former Heads of State including Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, U.S. President Bill Clinton and the former Prime Minister of Norway, Gro Brundtland.
Bob is a Fellow of the Centre for Hydrology at the University of Saskatchewan and a Fellow of the Biogeoscience Institute at the University of Calgary. He is a senior policy advisor for the Adaptation to Climate Change team at Simon Fraser University and is also a member of the Forum for Leadership on Water (FLOW), a national water policy research group centred in Toronto. In 2011, Bob was honoured with the Premier’s award for his collaboration on the Northwest Territories water stewardship strategy. In 2013, Alberta Ventures magazine recognized Bob as one of the year’s 50 most influential Albertans. He is currently the Senior Government Relations Liaison, Global Climate Emergency Response for the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health.

Dr. Peter S. Ross is an internationally recognized ocean pollution expert, having published over 160 scientific articles and book chapters on pollutants of concern in water, air, sediments, fish and marine mammals. He is Senior Scientist at Raincoast Conservation Foundation, where he oversees its Healthy Waters program, a community-oriented water pollution monitoring program. In his previous role as a Research Scientist at DFO, he discovered the region’s killer whales to be the most contaminated marine mammals in the world in a groundbreaking 2000 study. While serving as Vice President (Research) at the Vancouver Aquarium / Ocean Wise Conservation Association, he and his team launched Pollution Tracker, the first comprehensive monitoring program for pollutants of concern in coastal British Columbia; and the Plastics Lab, a dedicated high-resolution facility that documented microplastic pollution in the Pacific and Arctic oceans. Dr. Ross is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Victoria School for Environmental Studies. Dr. Ross’s work has been profiled in international media, including CBC’s the Fifth Estate, the National, Radio Canada, NBC Nightly News, BBC, the Washington Post, New York Times and the Guardian.

During times of crisis, a few leaders always step into the spotlight with a new vision bridging conflicting world-views. Michael Blackstock (RPF (Retired), C. MEd., BScF, MA) is one of these visionaries. As an Independent Indigenous Scholar and founder of the Blue Ecology™ theory, Blackstock offers a unique First Nations perspective on the climate crisis, inserting water into the difficult debates about carbon emissions. He has published over two dozen peer reviewed papers, bridging Science and centuries old Indigenous ways of honouring nature. His ability to mediate grew out of a uniquely diverse background as a writer, a thought leader, and registered Forester. Michael recently coined the phrase “Natural Intelligence (NI), to seek balance over the current frenzy over Artificial Intelligence (AI). For the past 20 years, Blackstock has held senior positions in the BC Public Service and as the Senior Negotiator and Manager of Indigenous Employment and Training at BC Hydro.
Speaker accommodation for this event is being generously provided by Nita Lake Lodge.
This event is also generously supported by Whistler Blackcomb’s Epic Promise.
About the Global Perspectives Speaker Series
The Global Perspectives Speaker Series (GPSS) is produced by one of the Whistler Institute’s working committees. Topics are selected based on a blend of community input, contemporary global conversations, and access to speakers. These evening events focus on the world’s greatest challenges, elevating leading experts and game changers to share bold ideas, new perspectives, and disruptive concepts that have the potential to create positive change in the world today and into the future.
About the Whistler Institute
The Whistler Institute is a registered charity funded through private donors, foundations, government grants, and fees for service. We facilitate and promote place-based learning opportunities, and our mission is to influence change and inspire minds through education and thought leadership. The Whistler Institute gratefully and respectfully acknowledges that we operate on the land now known as Whistler, located on the shared, unceded territories of the Sk̲wx̲wú7mesh Nation and Líl̓wat Nation.