My connection to the environment dates to back to my childhood as part of a large family growing up on a farm in Eastern Ontario.  A love of nature grew out of a deep connection to being outdoors.  For me, economy, environment and society have always been intertwined.  Environmental stewardship on the farm always seemed connected with the frugality and pragmatism of Dutch parents.  Addressing these three aspects of sustainability both personally and through research and teaching is not easy.  And yet, exploring the space between polarized views, while challenging, has the potential to lead to real actionable solutions.

My academic career began with a degree in Economics from the University of Waterloo.  After graduation, I lived and worked in the Netherlands before moving to Calgary.  There I began work with TransCanada Pipelines and completed a part time MBA at the Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary. My time working in the energy sector in Calgary led to a fascination with the oil and gas industry and an appreciation of both its value and associated challenges.  A recognition of challenges in sustainability led me to purse a PhD in Energy Management and Sustainable Development in the area of Corporate Strategy under the supervision of Dr. Harrie Vredenburg.

Now, I am fortunate to be a faculty member in the Bissett School of Business here at Mount Royal University and to be the Academic Director of the Institute for Environmental Sustainability.  I am proud of the work we support at the Institute and see its value to our faculty, the students and to the broader internal and external communities.  My own current research continues to examine that interconnection of economy, environment and society.  I have research under review or nearing completion in the areas of:  collaboration for improved environmental performance; corporate reconfiguration in response to environmental failure; oil and gas industry risk – both financial and non-financial; hydraulic fracturing and water best practices and policy; case studies in sustainability; and carbon tax implications.  I also teach and develop courses in sustainability from the business perspective. 

In my spare time, I enjoy being with family and friends and actively pursuing sports and fitness, preferably in the outdoors – close to nature.

Barb acts as Assistant Director of IES and is a Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and a past Chair of Earth Sciences. Her research and teaching interests are in socio-environmental geography with a focus on behavioral aspects of geography such as decision-making and the evaluation of sustainable human actions. Barb also serves as Director of the Parks and Protected Areas Research Group (PPARG); a research group in partnership with the IES.

As a post-doctoral fellow with the IES, Don's work focuses on managing the Canadian Parks Collective for Innovation and Leadership (CPCIL). Funded by the Canadian Parks Council, led by IES, and in collaboration with several other institutions, the CPCIL comprises programming and research that will support parks and protected areas leadership and communities of practice across Canada. Don combines 26 years of leadership in Provincial Parks interpretation, inclusion, and management with research focused on the mental health and well-being benefits of inclusive nature experiences, interdisciplinary research in parks and protected areas, transformative learning and leadership in parks, and the role of protected areas and sacred places in the Anthropocene.