past members and advisors

---

On March 25, 2023 we lost our good friend, colleague, and director, David Nathaniel Webster, who passed away with family at his side and listening to Gordon Lightfoot tunes. Dave worked for many years as a hydrogeologist for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and previously in the private sector, including running his own business for several years. He did exploration work in El Salvador and Labrador, work that fit well with his love of travel.

David Webster graduated from Carleton University with a Bachelor of Science in Geology in 1986 and acquired his Professional Geoscientist designation in 2002. He initially worked as a hydrogeologist in southern Ontario performing water well development, landfill and septic bed design and contaminated groundwater work. 

Later, David worked in exploration and spent numerous years during the late 1990’s and early 2000’s in Central America exploring for silver with repeated visits to Labrador exploring for nickel and in Ontario developing industrial mineral properties. 

Up until 2020 David spent 18 years working for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources as a hydrogeologist and with Ontario Parks as the Province’s Senior Conservation Geologist in charge of assessing and describing the geology of Ontario’s Provincial Parks, Conservation Reserves and Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI).   

An interest in teaching led him to Fleming College in the fall of 2020 where he used his geological, hydrological and hydrogeological expertise by teaching in the Environmental Technical Program.

 Jordan Tishler graduated from Fleming College in 2019 receiving a diploma in the Forestry Technician program. He then transitioned to the University of New Brunswick graduating in 2021 to receive a Bachelor of Science in Forestry. He graduated from Fleming College's post-grad program in 2023 with a GIS - Applications Specialist graduate certificate. He is an avid baker and hiker originating from Caledon East.

Jordan was the project lead in 2023 of Phase Two of the production of the Baxter Creek Watershed Hub to further expand our community connections to create community connection materials to make the public aware of watershed values in the area and how to protect them.

Brooke Ceci graduated in the spring of 2023 with her undergraduate degree from Trent University with an Honours Bachelor of Science in Environmental and Resource Science. She is now pursing a Master of Bioenvironmental Monitoring and Assessment at Trent. From January to March 2023 she was a Research Assistant with Baxter Creek Watershed Alliance completing a temporal water quality study on Baxter Creek using data from the Provincial (Stream) Water Quality Monitoring Network of the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks. 

Her studies encompass a range of environmental topics including soil genesis, water quality, land use and land cover, remediation and restoration, adaptation and management, and climate change. Her future aspirations involve doing her part in protecting and conserving what remains of our natural Earth and spreading hope and optimism about the future during these unprecedented times.

She hopes to land a government position in the environmental sector either in environmental engineering or climate change adaptation and mitigation. 

She is currently a project coordinator and research assistant for the EaRTH Project located in the Bay of Quinte, which is a collaborative project investigating the health of the Bay’s watershed and identifying sources of impacts through varying parameters and measurements. The data collected through this project is being used for her honours thesis, supervised by Dr. Catherine Eimers, investigating in-depth how varying intensities of agricultural activity (i.e., cropland, livestock) impact ambient stream nutrient concentrations.

Brooke’s interests include travel, spending time at home with family, and reading. She credits the environment for her work ethic as her passion for protecting the environment fuels her drive in doing her part as an individual to save the planet.

 Regan MacLean is a Fleming College alumnus of the Cartographic Specialist program. She previously graduated from the University of Guelph with a Bachelors of Science in Zoology.

Her placement with Baxter Creek Watershed Alliance and her work on the Baxter Creek Watershed Hub 2022 GeoCommunity project stood out to her the most due to the amazing opportunity to learn more about Ontario watersheds and their effect on communities.

She is now working at De Beers Exploration Canada as their GIS and Data Support Scientist, undoubtedly from the experience she gained with BCWA. 

 Annie Robertson is a Trent University undergraduate student in a joint-major honours program for Biology and Environmental & Resource Science; and is aiming to graduate Spring 2024. 

Her placement work with the Baxter Creek Watershed Alliance included assessing the implementation of Tree-Cutting and Conservation By-Laws across Ontario Municipalities, with special focus on Cavan-Monaghan and Peterborough County. This opportunity to work alongside environmental advocates allowed her to expand on her knowledge and apply her skillset to a real world problem in her municipality. 

Annie is excited to see where her future in the environmental sector will take her, and is grateful for this placement experience with BCWA for allowing her to learn more about how individuals can work together to make a meaningful impact on their local community.