If Walt Disney can dream of Disneyland, then WE will dream of the restoration of our village sites, camps, reef-net locations and 13 Moon Food Sovereignty in the Salish Sea. WE will dream of an educational program that supports cultural preservation and environmental stewardship for 7th generation sustainability. WE dream of this for our past, present and future and mother earth. It is an honor to be partnering with so many wonderful people! Please read more at https://www.whiteswanenvironmental.org/co-founders.html

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A place I love in the Salish Sea: 'ALENENEC~our homeland that connects to place, spirit, and traditional language.'

I am passionate about the San Juan Islands. I care about the youth and the environment and our shared waters. I am passionate about the transboundary issues, and look forward to the day that our Coast Salish People have a space and place in their ancestral homelands to practice again. There is a lifetime in learning the old ways. I look forward to meeting you all. I enjoy socializing and building new friendships. You can learn more at https://www.whiteswanenvironmental.org/co-founders.html.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea: The entire archipelago of the Salish Sea, my homeland.

Hello, I am a student at Northwest Indian College and I am pursuing my passion of Indigenous Environmental Studies and Global Change. I am actively involved in many programs that prepare me to become a future leader who remembers a healthy future through the wisdom of the past. Through Whiteswan Environmental (WE) I am involved with the Coast Salish Youth Stewardship Corps and Whatcom Intergenerational High School (WIHS). Such programs help me learn more about who I am and where I come from and how to preserve heritage through academic curricula development of today. You can learn more at https://www.whiteswanenvironmental.org/co-founders.html.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea: The waters are the tear drop of the mountain and I love it all!

Natalie loves living in the Salish Sea region and learning on Coast Salish lands and waters. She grew up in Ohio and has lived on the west coast for a dozen years, first in Vancouver to complete her PhD at the University of British Columbia, then on Orcas Island while writing her dissertation, then Santa Cruz California for postdoctoral appointment in community-engaged research ethics, and now in Bellingham - hopefully her long-time home with her husband and their dog and parrot. Natalie is the Associate Director of Transboundary Initiatives at WWU – which includes the Center for Canadian-American Studies, the Border Policy Research Institute, and the Salish Sea Institute – and she enjoys facilitating connections across the border, across disciplines, and across different ways of living and working in the world.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: My friend Jonathan's woods and nettle patch on Orcas Island near Killebrew Lake.

Keith is a registered professional biologist and has worked for the Galiano Conservancy as their Conservation Coordinator and more recently as the Executive Director, since 1998. He has a broad range of experience focused around forest ecology, GIS mapping, and ecological restoration. Keith is inspired by his interactions with students participating in the Galiano Conservancy's education programs and internships.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: Pebble Beach, Galiano Island

Faculty/Advisor Tribal Governance and Business Management Program and CE Fellow. I work with diverse student populations as an advisor, writing instructor and mentor to create the stories that allow us to understand ourselves and our world. It is amazing for me to witness how students meet a variety of learning outcomes through projects, guided discussions and the act of writing. I truly believe anyone can learn anything through a properly designed, student-centered, active learning environment.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: Washington

Sara Jo Breslow is an environmental anthropologist broadly interested in the interdependencies of sustainability and social justice. She serves as the Social Science and Incubators Lead at EarthLab at the University of Washington (earthlab.uw.edu), where she catalyzes collaborative environmental problem-solving using transdisciplinary, participatory, and arts-based methods with researchers, practitioners, and students. In her own research, Sara uses ethnographic and mixed methods to study senses of place, environmental conflict, and human well-being with a focus on the Salish Sea region, and translates social science insights into tools for decision-making at local to global scales. She holds a BA in biology from Swarthmore College and a PhD in anthropology from the University of Washington.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: My childhood home and backyard garden near Lake Washington

Scott Colbourne is a writer and communications professional who is serving his first-term as Trustee for the Gabriola Local Trust Area on the Islands Trust. He co-sponsored the Trust's Climate Change Emergency Declaration in March of 2019.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: The island now called Gabriola

As an Assistant Professor of English at Whatcom Community College, I am deeply grateful for being able to help to students to see writing as a way to honestly express themselves, understand others, and to be radically open to their bold visions. I draw consistent inspiration from my students, wife, two grown sons, dog Walden, friends, colleagues and of course, the nonhuman world from the rusty diverse forests of northern Appalachia, to the rushing wildness of the Cascade foothills. My scholarship (environmental rhetoric, social justice and ecologic thought), teaching, and activism informs and sometimes messily entangles with one other, but I find that there is wisdom in the untangling.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: Clayton Beach

Michael is a librarian who believes in the power of stories to influence change and enjoy life. Through is work with the Whatcom County Library System, he is able to meet many amazing people and is constantly growing his list of good reads and amazing places to visit in our own big backyard. Current projects include building a new Bookmobile, designing new library buildings for Birch Bay and Blaine, and influencing policy decisions to improve access to library services.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: The community garden behind the Deming Library.

After falling in love with BC’s coast during her childhood summer vacations, Tessa packed her bags and moved from Calgary to Victoria where she earned a BSc in Biology and Psychology. She joins GSA with a background in project management and geographic information system (GIS), having worked as a research technician and coordinator of the Vancouver Aquarium’s BC Cetacean Sightings Network. When Tessa’s not involved in marine conservation, you can likely find her cooking, cycling or drumming up support for scavenger hunts. She lives in North Vancouver, with her partner and extremely cute rescue dog, Burger.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: Craig Bay and Madrona Point, Nanoose Bay

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Galiano Liaison for the Capital Regional District; Coordinator for the Galiano Community Food Program; Galiano resident; gardener and hobby farmer; kayaker.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: Galiano

Hi all,
I have lived in Blaine WA, where I love to be by the Salish Sea, for the last 25 years. I have led a very fortunate life getting to live in the Lower Mainland in BC, the West Coast of Vancouver Island, France, the Shuswap and Scotland.
I am most interested in how people learn, and enjoy a variety of content. My undergrad is in Communications Studies with a minor in Women Studies from Simon Fraser University, my PhD is in Adult and Continuing Education from the University of Glasgow, and my M.Ed is from WWU, in Adult and Higher Education, where I now teach.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: On a ferry going to an island

In 1999, my family moved to Washington for my faculty position at the University of Puget Sound. As a professor I taught classes at the intersection of organizational communication, technology, diversity and gender. In my teaching I often used technology to help bridge academic inquiry with new digital opportunities for expression. Now, I work with a creative and interdisciplinary team of staff and faculty to develop and implement meaningful opportunities for Puget Sound students to prepare them for successful and fulfilling personal, civic and professional lives.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: Lopez Island

I'm an avid naturalist and co-host of the podcast 'Future Ecologies' (www.futureecologies.net). I also practice ecological restoration and permaculture on Galiano Island as the Restoration Coordinator for the Galiano Conservancy Association.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: Chrystal Cove

Journalist and communicator working within the areas of environmental and Indigenous health. Worked to establish the First Nations Health governance structure in British Columbia including the First Nations Health Authority, First Nations Health Council and First Nations Health directors association. Currently working with partners in the Salish sea region to establish a rights of the Salish Sea framework. Interest in building rights of nature frameworks and other areas of ecological importance.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: Old growth forests. Stanley Park, Royal roads campus and Port Renfrew area.

I live part time in Bellingham, USA and part time in the Canadian Gulf Islands. I'm a lifelong educator focusing on nature, human relations, martial arts, spirituality, and global issues. With a few friends, I helped create, and for 20 years directed, an experiential high school preparing teenagers to be global citizens and change agents. My current life includes being self employed as an educational consultant and writer, along with being an activist, traveling, and playing. I love gardening, drawing, playing music, building things, and carving wood.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: North End of Galiano Island.

Avid supporter of the Salish Sea, and our new programming.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: Sinclair Island

Acting Education Coordinator at the Galiano Conservancy Association

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: British Columbia

Retired civil servant. PhD in ecology. Former high school science teacher and environmental education professor. Chair of Gulf Islands Centre for Ecological Learning (GICEL). Galiano Island representative on Southern Gulf Islands Community Economic Sustainability Commission. Board member of Salish Sea Renewable Energy Coop. Naturalist, birder, photographer, writer, gardener.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: The view from Mt. Galiano

I was born in Williams Lake, BC and spent my summers on the westcoast of Vancouver Island (Bamfield) during my childhood. Bellingham has been my home for 25 years and work at WCC in Community Engagement/Service-Learning. I like to walk, listen to audio books (nonfiction!), run in good weather, and adventure in and around the Salish Sea with my sweet and hilarious family.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea: Any island, especially if I'm riding a bike.

My background is in both public and private sector history, including twenty years of teaching community college students in Oakland, CA and Bellingham, WA. This past summer I attended a two-week NEH Summer Institute, titled Native American West: A Case Study of the Columbia Plateau, which changed my approach to teaching the US History survey. In keeping with this collaborative approach to place-based education, I am looking forward to working with four faculty at WCC to develop an interdisciplinary course examining the social and environmental history of the Salish Sea region.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: A place I love in the Salish Sea region: Guemes Island

My background is in higher education and experiential learning. Originally from Grand Junction, Colorado, I am currently a Program Specialist at the Center for Community Learning at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington. I lead the Western Washington University Community Connect program and I'm  a convener for the Community Engagement Fellows program.  This will be my first time to Galiano island and I am excited to camp under the stars. 

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: Mount Shuksan

I have a long history with Galiano Island as I made it home for my family and gardens decades ago.
Originally from Montreal, my care and understanding has grown from this island to Vancouver, where I have also lived and studied, from this Province all the way to Abya-Yala.
I studied printmaking, performance art, digital arts and book making at ECCUAD and received my BFA in 2002.
Lately, I have produced 2 Art-books collaboratively with Chilean poet publisher and activist Raimundo Nenen. I am now in the process of combining prints, maps and apps to promote restoration, regeneration and re-enchantment of local flora.

A place I love in the Salish Sea region: Galiano Island, BC

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Catriona (Cate) Sandilands teaches and writes in the environmental humanities (literature, history, philosophy, cultural studies). Her research, and her heart, are in the Salish Sea, especially on Galiano. She is completing a four-year, Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation funded project on storytelling and climate change, centred on the west coast; the resulting anthology of creative writing, Rising Tides: Reflections for Climate Changing Times, will be published by Caitlin Press in Fall, 2019. She is also slowly writing a book about Jane Rule, learning to forage for wild foods beyond nettles, and looking forward to being able to live full time on Galiano.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: South Cable Bay, Galiano Island

Community Health Worker (CHW), VISTA in Whatcom County who does community capacity building, teaches ACES and Resilience classes for minority and low income populations in Whatcom County. I am an African American Female who recently moved to Washington State from North Carolina two years ago.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: Whidbey Island

I am a member of the Lummi Nation and graduated from Ferndale High School in 2016. After high school, I worked with Bellingham Schools for two years as an AmeriCorps member. Ferndale School District recently hired me on as one of the four Native American Student Advisors, we each work to support students and families however they need. We also work to create a better sense of diversity by providing resources to create a better understanding and appreciation of our culture. I look forward to meeting new people and learning more ways that we can support students, families, teachers, administrators, communities, and each other.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: All of our beaches

I am a certified Environmental Professional (EP) and newly elected Trustee - Thetis, and as part of my portfolio as a Trustee, I was elected to the Board of the ITC (Islands Trust Conservancy). The focus of my professional work is environmental management & planning, shoreline restoration, erosion prevention etc. As an EP & a Trustee, I/we put First Nations engagement, TRC & UNDRIP as overarching consideration in all policy and decision-making. I would be attending as ITC representative and feel that my position on the ITC board would make this retreat a valuable learning/networking opportunity.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: Secretary Islands...

I live on Galiano and am excited to make connections with other organizations.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: The gulf islands

I am currently working on a new theme for my Humanities course: "Water, source of life and conflict," follow-up to our World Languages multilingual poetry event "Reading Water."

A place I love in the Salish Sea: Oysterville

I am Tlingit, Spokane and chiloquin Native. I work continuously with Native American youth up and down the Coast Salish region. At the Ferndale School District, I push to bring in the Native American culture such as art, foods and language for all students to learn and participate in.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: Portage Island which is just off the shore of the Lummi Nation and Deep Water Bay on Lummi Island.

Education, art and culture are my passions. My work at WCLS involves adult education and lots of community networking (and sometimes working with artists and craftspeople). i also have worked internationally as a teacher-trainer and consultant for many years-and still occasionally do this consultant work abroad.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: San Juan Islands

I am a kindergarten teacher at a school that is working at developing a place-based curriculum. I am not originally from this area and am excited to learn more about it!

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: San Juan Islands

I am currently the Graduate Program Director at North Cascades Institute and NTT faculty at Huxley College. I have been teaching place-based education and natural history courses for M.Ed. environmental education students in the North Cascades and Salish Sea region for the past four years. I love being in the field and collaborating with community members to explore the complexities of place and dimensions of sustainability. I am passionate about experiential learning and I deeply appreciate opportunities to engage in communities of practice such as CE Fellows (2016-17) and Sustainability Fellows (2018-19).

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: The Skagit Delta, as the tide comes in~

My wife (Cathy) and I have been developing Seaquaria in Schools in Victoria since 1999 (now Seaquaria Ocean Education, and in 40 schools). We also launched the EcoLearning Hive (now mostly dormant), and have been active in NAME - North American Marine Educators. Cathy is the President elect for NAME, and I am a co-chair of the BC Chapter. For restoration/stewardship we focus on the Gorge Waterway and associated watersheds, and are moving into the harbours. We would like to connect all of these things with your initiative.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: Marine Southern Vancouver Island

Over 40 years as a historian, curator and director for provincial heritage organizations, much of my focus in retirement is on research, writing and involvement in heritage and culture projects on Mayne Island where I have had family property since childhood. Currently I am President of the successful Campbell Bay Music Festival; and am Curator for two new exhibits for the Mayne Island Museum – an Indigenous relationship building project with the Tsartlip to develop outdoor interpretive signage and a new display on the Japanese Canadian history of the Island.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: Mayne Island

Raised on the Salish Sea in Victoria and on Mayne Island, I have owned and operated a music house/ café in Victoria; been a touring musician; jeweler and woodworker. Five years ago, I restored and renovated a log house on Mayne Island which I now call home. I make my living working with trees as a faller’s assistant and on a wood mill and am Executive Director of the annual Campbell Bay Music Festival. My dog and I spend time roaming the land and waters of the Southern Gulf Islands.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: Campbell Bay fields and shoreline

Nick works as an assistant professor of environmental education at Huxley College of the Environment at Western Washington University. His research uses an educationalist lens and participatory techniques to understand environmental sociology, ecological identity, transformative places, and Indigenous responses to climate change. He pursues projects that utilize his unique background as an ecologist, conservationist, educator, and knowledge mobilizer, and look for ways to support participants and provide nuance and complexity to pressing issues. He aims to understand, mobilize, and help create space for Indigenous communities to tell their stories of resurgence, cultural adaptation, and sovereignty all while helping find pathways, protocol, and critical understandings amongst settler-colonial communities.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: Uplands Park

Working on climate change mitigation and adaptation, particular as it relates to protected areas and Canada's commitments to the Paris Climate Agreement.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: Galiano Island (and all Gulf Islands)

I am a easy going guy just looking to have a fun time and to learn some things.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: Goat Island

I teach in a place-based school. We are working to understand what that means and how we will use place-based learning to improve teaching and learning.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: Bellingham

I'm passionate about art and nature and I love using these areas as springboards to get kids excited and engaged in all curricular areas. I'm inspired by the endless creativity inherent in everyday teaching. When I'm not in the classroom I love to hike, run, travel, read, and grow things.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: Sucia Island

Passionate about forests, ecology, ecosystems, and people!

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: The county park on Shaw Island

The Islands Trust is an unusual governance model in the Gulf Islands. The mandate is to preserve and protect the islands' unique amenities and environment. I am an elected Trustee for Galiano. For 30+ years I worked for the B.C. Government in the Ministry of Children and Family Development. I have lived on Galiano since 1979 as a weekender and full time for the past 10 years. I am passionate about this island, community development and the environment.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: The Bluffs on Galiano Island

I'm excited to learn more about our area and how to help kids explore it virtually and through resources! I love to go for walks and hikes through the areas, to relax I love to sit by the bay and read.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region:  The hills and camping sites in Glacier, WA

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I was born and raised in California but have lived in Bellingham for the last 30 years. I am a second grade teacher. The things that make me happy are traveling to new places, spending time with my family, hiking and reading a good book.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: Orcas Island

I've been an environmentalist and activist for many years now, but am still learning about the Pacific Northwest. My wife and I came here in January 2017 from Cincinnati, so the ecology and politics of this area are new to us. We enjoy the beauty of the area, hiking and learning about the flora and fauna (especially birds).

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: I enjoy Lummi Island; it's easy to get to on the bus and ferry and fun to ride with a bike!

In the Spring I will be graduating with a BA from Fairhaven College with an interdisciplinary concentration focusing on ecological restoration, social justice, and the effects of settler colonialism on the environment and social structures with a minor in American Indian Studies. Currently I am the Student Learning and Engagement Coordinator at the Salish Sea Institute and am TA for the class Introduction to the Salish Sea which is soon to be a part of the Salish Sea Minor at Western Washington University. I was born and raised in Olympia, WA (Squaxin and Nisqually traditional territories) and have lived within the Salish Sea watershed most of my life. I am excited to work with others from the community and try to respectfully bridge some of the gaps that separate us.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: North Fork of the Nooksack River

I grew up in the Midwest and fell in love with the Salish Sea and I'd like to be as immersed as possible in it!

A place I love in the Salish Sea region: Port Townsend

I am a student pursuing the Salish Sea Minor, and am very interested in travelling. I love gaining perspectives on other cultures and differing ways of living.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: Clark's Point on Chuckanut!

I am a Member of Tsawout First Nation.
I work closely with John Borrows,founder UVIC Indigenous Law Program.
Working in coordination with B.C.Premiere Horgan on Trans-bounday governance which includes Salmon - Orca and Shipping.
I work in collaboration with SeaChange Marine Environmental Society.
Have been engaged with the Ocean Protection Plan since its inception.
Most recently I was involved with an Indigenous Technical Working Group to structure a Feasibility Study format for Traffic Separation Scheme in the Straits of Juan de Fuca.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: Saturna Island

I work on ecological restoration in all forms and at many scales, including teaching an intensive field course on "advanced principles and practices" at the Millard Learning Centre on Galiano Island. I work closely with the Galiano Conservancy Association in building capacity for innovative ecological and environmental learning and research. I am Past Director of UVic's School of Environmental Studies, and Past Chair of the Society for Ecological Restoration. I am author of "Nature by Design (MIT Press, 2003), co-editor of "Novel Ecosystems" (Wiley, 2013), and writing "Changing Nature," a book about the future of ecological restoration.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: Galiano Island

Recently completed PhD in Public Administration in the area of ocean policy and governance. Working as a consultant with Fisheries and Oceans Canada on Salish Sea Governance

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: BC

I am super excited to see Galiano. I have never been out to the Gulf Islands and can't wait!

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: Lake Cushman

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For the last 20 years SeaChange staff and volunteers has been in, around or under the Salish Sea. Our passions are focused on having young people fall in love with the sea and lands surrounding her, and habitat restoration on the marine nearshore involving coastal communities. Indigenous knowledge forms the base for all our work.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea region: Gulf Islands

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I am a geographer and community educator, and part of the Community Engagement Fellows convening team. I'm delighted that CE Fellows is building more active connections in the islands and other parts of the Salish Sea Region beyond Whatcom County, and I hope this retreat will help that trend continue!

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A place I love in the Salish Sea: On the ferry

I am passionate about leadership development for sustainability, and am particularly interested in sustainable food systems as an avenue for this work. Although from Minnesota originally, the North Cascades mountains and surrounding communities now feel like home. I coordinate Sustainable Communities Partnership at Western Washington University. This program connects community sustainability needs and desires to WWU faculty expertise and student energy. I also teach sustainability courses on campus.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea: The mountains around Cascade Pass

I am a pan-Salish Sea resident who loves teaching, paddling, exploring and strategizing across the border! I am an alumni of Huxley College and Fairhaven College at WWU and teach Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria. I've been directing the Redfish School of Change since 2012

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A place I love in the Salish Sea: Brooks Point on S. Pender Islands

It is a privilege to call Galiano Island home for over 30 years. Currently I do tree work and operate a bandsaw mill (who knew)? I'm an EA at our local community school and have previously created outdoor eco- therapy activities for young women with eating disorders. I hold degrees in Geography and youth/ family development and care deeply about the health and welfare of our natural and human communities. I'm proud to have recently worked with AMES to help strengthen connections and efforts towards reconciliation with local First Nation elders. I'm inspired by the work of Joanna Macy and am very excited to participate in helping to build, strengthen and grow our Salish Sea connections.

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A place I love in the Salish Sea: Dionisio Point. Immense beauty and tranquility at the northern tip of Galiano.