CPAWS Manitoba Staff

Ron recognized the need for a more collaborative approach to conservation in the province and convinced the Western Canada Wilderness Committee to launch a chapter in Manitoba. As Manitoba campaign director, Ron built relationships with First Nations, provincial government staff and political leadership, and representatives from industry and other stakeholders in order to find collaborative solutions. One such instance is when Ron worked successfully with Tembec Forestry Company to identify critical caribou habitat and negotiated a 50-year harvesting deferral in those areas. The relationships he built with Hollow Water First Nation and the community of Manigotagan led to the establishment of Manigotagan River Provincial Park. He also worked with many Indigenous Nations and the provincial government in expanding protection for many areas as provincial park reserves.

Ron was recruited by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society to lead its Manitoba Chapter in 2006. His consensus-seeking approach made CPAWS a vital player in multi-stakeholder negotiations. Ron has been a trusted advisor to ministers from many political parties, who rely upon his balanced approach and deep knowledge of the province. Ron’s campaign skills resulted in more than 20,000 letters sent to the provincial government urging action on woodland caribou. Ron played a significant role in supporting the Indigenous Nations on Pimachiowin Aki initiative, which resulted in large protected areas and eventually, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Ron also helped drum up public support for the project to help soften a backlash aimed at the provincial government.

Ron is noted for his patience and commitment to projects others may abandon. He spent more than 6 years fighting for the establishment of Fisher Bay Provincial Park in partnership with Fisher River Cree Nation. CPAWS generated more than 25,000 letters of support from Manitobans: the largest outpouring of support for a protected area in provincial history.

Mira provides strategic direction for our campaigns with a focus on how communications tools can target specific audiences to achieve broader objectives. She developed the Nature Club and provides oversight and strategic direction for our community engagement efforts.  Mira is responsible for media relations and all public-facing communications, including the website, newsletter and our social media.  She is also a key member of the chapter's donor stewardship and development team.

Prior to joining CPAWS, Mira served as a senior communications manager for the International Institute for Sustainable Development. Among her many responsibilities, Mira was charged with developing and implementing a communications strategy for the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF). Mira significantly expanded audience and engagement metrics after redesigning the IGF website in just seven weeks.

Mira’s journalism career spanned eight newsrooms in Canada, the United States and France. As a Chicago-based correspondent for Agence-France Presse, Mira was responsible for managing news out of 16 states. She covered pretty much anything interesting which happened in the central time zone, including the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, the BP oil spill, Hurricane Katrina and the collapse and revitalization of the US auto industry.

David obtained his PhD in Biology from Western University, where he studied the behaviour and ecology of the brood parasitic brown-headed cowbird. These clever birds lay their eggs in the nests of other host species, which then raise the cowbird young as their own. While they remain a potential conservation threat, cowbirds seem to have astounding memory and problem solving abilities that allow them to live this unconventional lifestyle.

David received his undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Manitoba, where he studied the complex communication of ground squirrels and the kin recognition systems of slave-making ants. That’s right — there are ant species that get other ants to do all their work for them! You can read about David’s research in his published articles, or he is always willing to talk science if you meet him in person.

While he has lived all over Western Canada and Ontario, David is a Prairie boy through and through. Whenever possible, he likes to lose himself, his dogs and occasionally his wife and daughter in Whiteshell Provincial Park on a long hike or canoe or kayak trip. David’s other interests include gardening, swimming and whitewater kayaking — though this often becomes whitewater swimming.

During his time in Halifax, Neil helped develop the Dalhousie University student leadership program and coordinated a Nova Scotia-wide litter cleanup as part of the global Let’s Do It! World Cleanup initiative. Neil also co-founded the Halifax Tool Library in 2014 to help put underused tools in the hands of people who need them. 

Most recently, Neil spent four years with the City of Winnipeg’s Office of Public Engagement, coordinating public engagement activities for diverse projects and audiences, including the Winnipeg Transit Master Plan and low income transit pass (WINNpass).

At CPAWS, Neil is focused on leading the Manitoba chapter of the Canadian Wilderness Stewardship Program and supporting the Fisher River Cree Nation Conservation Area Initiative, which aims to expand protections of wild areas and land-based conservation practices in the Fisher Bay area.

Neil views environmental issues as social issues with environmental impacts and believes that lasting solutions to environmental problems require collaborative, land-based and community-driven approaches.

In his free time, you'll likely find him around a fire pit with friends and family, canoeing Manitoba’s rivers and lakes or playing music. 

Avery grew up outside of Winnipeg surrounded by the natural world. As a young child, she would spend her summers outside with her grandfather in the garden and watch in amazement as the seeds sprouted and the flowers bloomed. 

Her passion for nature inspired her to study biology and environmental chemistry then education at the University of Winnipeg. She spent over five years as a classroom teacher, inviting her students to collect and test water samples, critter dip for invertebrates and explore soil science. Avery previously developed an after-school science program involving over 80 students from grades 4 to 12.

Avery nurtures her connection to the environment by living an eco-friendly lifestyle, including growing her own food in her 1,000-square-foot backyard garden and sharing her love of nature and the importance of protecting it with others. In her spare time, you can find Avery exploring Manitoba (usually with a camera around her neck and her bulldog by her side). She loves camping, canoeing, reading and writing. Avery is also a yoga and mindfulness teacher.

Get to know Avery better and learn more about the Outdoor Learning Program.

Riley grew up just outside of Spruce Woods Provincial Park on 80 acres of land that he spent nearly every waking minute exploring. A deep seated love for our country’s wild places, and the animals who call those places home, was ignited during this time and has been consistently stoked ever since.

After graduating from Red River College’s Creative Communications Program with a focus in media production, Riley worked for Global News Winnipeg before joining the team at the not-for-profit program, Recycle Everywhere. Soon after, Riley utilized his passion for videography, photography, and digital design and created a small company to work with local clients. Something he continues to do when he isn’t working with the passionate and incredible team at CPAWS Manitoba.

Riley can regularly be found exploring a backwoods trail with a camera in hand, or drinking coffee while petting an animal. He also enjoys reading obsessively, canoeing/kayaking, and exploring anywhere he hasn’t been.