Catherine Berka

Co-Founder

Member of Toronto Ravine Revitalization Science (TRRS) since 2015; advocate for environmental and ecological restoration in Toronto ravines; involved in developing a framework for stewardship on public and private land with Toronto Nature Stewards. Professional background in Health Economics and Policy, MBA McGill., BSCH, Queens.

Shane Crompton

Co-Founder

Former member for Parks & Trees; South Rosedale Residents Association Board of Directors; fundraiser/member of Board of Directors of child advocacy non-profit, Boost. Advocate for child safety and education. MA, Archaeology, University of Toronto.

Joan york

Co-Founder

Member of the Midtown Ravines Group and former board member of the Deer Park Residents group. With University of Toronto's Eric Davies, initiated a plan to educate children about the restoration and preservation of local ravine ecosystems.

Vivaldi cardinal

Chief Musicologist, Overseer of the four seasons. Loves Toronto very much - believes there is no better place on earth with its well treed neighbourhoods, generous seed-providing citizens and abundance of females. Likes to stay close to home and believes that migration is a waste of time. Loves to sing and take selfies. Omnivore.
Photo by Andrew Budziak

Pat Concessi

Retired engineer, active in establishing independent stewardship with Toronto Nature Stewards; Master Gardener; 
member of the Garden Club of Toronto. Grandmother with a keen interest in connecting 
children with nature.

Pat Merrilees

Retired longtime secondary school Biology, Environmental Science/Geography teacher. Former member of the Moore Park Ratepayers' Association Board. Early champion of environmental stewardship, running a 20-year ravine woodlot restoration school project by removing invasive species and planting native trees and herbaceous plants.

Greg Michalski

Recently retired, 30 year Intermediate/Senior Science teacher. Fervent believer in students taking a hands-on approach to sustaining their local ecosystems.

Aarav Buck

Chief Ravine Ranger and native plant specialist. Keen on biodiversity and connectivity. Not so keen on headlights. Likes to butt heads with climate change deniers. Previously with the TDSB as advocates for safe school crosswalks. Favourite song: Stayin’ Alive. Strict vegetarian.  
Photo by Andrew Budziak

Stuart Cumner

Retired Biology teacher with a lifetime passion for exploring the natural world. Member of Markham Council’s Environmental Advisory Committee, Richmond Hill’s Neighbours for the Planet and Drawdown Markham.

Dorte Windmuller

Founder of the Cliffcrest Butterflyway community project.
Passionate about creating community based, hands-on, education, reintroduction of native natural habitat for wildlife into gardens, cities and schools. Avid gardener. Economics graduate, Berufsakademie Mannheim.

Mustela MInk

Director of Waterfront. Likes solitude and is not a team player. Can be found roaming the waterfront and rivers throughout Toronto - often fishing and swimming during office hours.  “Give me a good fish, a quiet night and I’m happy”. Strict carnivore, good tree climber and not so fond of coyotes, owls and foxes. Mustela has been a strong anti fur-trade activist although he is definitely not vegan.  
Photo by Andrew Budziak

Val Masters

Environmental Communications and Social Media Manager for S2S and volunteer Director of Climate Communications for Ki Culture. Val majored in Geology at Oberlin College and recently completed their Master of Museum Studies and Master of Information at the University of Toronto. Val is obsessed with scicomm, dataviz, geospatial analysis, interpretive planning, accessibility, astronomy, geomorphology, ecology, scuba diving, and archaeology.  Valmasters.com

Advisory Team

Melanie Sifton

MELANIE SIFTON is a Ph.D. student investigating plant-soil interactions and soil remediation for urban forest conservation at the University of Toronto, John Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, department of Forestry. She is a former director of Humber Arboretum & Centre for Urban Ecology in Toronto and Vice-President, Horticulture and Facilities, Brooklyn Botanic Gardens.

Sean Thomas

SEAN THOMAS, a Professor at the University of Toronto’s John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, researches the functional ecology and ecophysiology of trees, forest ecology and its links to the ecosystem. His current focus is the study of charcoal as a soil amendment, “biochar”/ natural chars and the dynamics of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Professor Thomas is an NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Biochar and Ecosystem Restoration. He holds a B.A. from Swarthmore College and a Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Stephen Smith

STEPHEN SMITH is a Consulting Forester, ISA Certified Arborist, a Certified Seed Collector and qualified in Ecological Land Classification in Ontario. Over the last 40 years he has supervised hundreds of forestry restoration projects in Ontario, co-founded T.R.E.E.S and Root Action and in 1993 founded UFORA. Stephen is a director of the Society for Ecological Restoration (Ontario Chapter), a member of Ontario Urban Forest Council and the Ontario Invasive Plant Council and a current director of the Forest Gene Conservation Association of Ontario.

David Thompson

DAVID THOMPSON is the former Head of Montcrest School (a Seeds to Saplings pilot project),  David has a B.A. in history, a B.Ed. from Queens University and studied law before practising corporate and environmental law. David then returned to education and academia as the founding Head of School of Greenwood College School; he then became Head of School at Lakefield College before taking up the role of Head of School at Montcrest in 2010. David is the current Chair of the Board of CIS Ontario.