Meet the HAT Team

Based on Vancouver Island, on the traditional and unceded territories of the W̱SÁNEĆ, SC’IȺNEW, and T'Sou-ke Nations, lək̓ʷəŋən peoples (Songhees and Xwsepsum Nations) and the many other Coast Salish peoples who have lived in relationship with and stewarded these lands since time immemorial and continue to live in relationship with the Land today. We are a driven team of individuals who are passionate about protecting, preserving, and restoring the incredible ecosystems in our region.

Previously, he spent nearly 18 years at Ducks Unlimited Canada, where he managed the National Boreal Program, focusing on Indigenous-led conservation. His tenure previously included roles as Senior Remote Sensing Analyst. Kevin holds a Master of Environmental Management from Duke University and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Cornell University. His career is marked by significant contributions to conservation, sustainable development, and environmental management.

Neal is a settler of Irish and French descent, who grew up in K'ómoks territory. Neal is currently completing his fourth year in a Bachelor of Science double majoring in Geography and Environmental Studies, at the University of Victoria. His past summer employment on the HAT field crew helped develop his passion for restoration and plant identification. In his spare time, he is an avid skateboarder and enjoys backpacking in the outdoors. Neal is excited about his new position and looks forward to visiting the many beautiful HAT covenants.

Paige is of Icelandic and Irish descent raised near Showe’luqun (Shawnigan Lake) in Quw’utsun territory. In 2011, Paige first became involved with HAT through a turtle. Since then she was hooked, joining HAT as the Conservation Intern in 2012. After holding various roles at HAT, Paige settled into the Stewardship Coordinator role in 2015. Now Paige manages HAT’s growing Stewardship programs. In her spare time, Paige can be found in her garden or coordinating talks as co-chair of the Native Plant Study Group.

Julianna is of Hungarian, German and Polish descent and is currently living in the unceded territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən W̱SÁNEĆ Nations. She is a recent University of Victoria graduate with a BSc. in Biology and a minor in Environmental Studies and has recently joined HAT as the Office Administrator. In her free time, Julianna loves spending her time outdoors hiking with her dog, exploring beaches and forests, and practicing yoga.

Gavin is of Scottish, Irish, and Songhees First Nations heritage, and was born and raised in the Comox Valley on the traditional territory of the K’omoks First Nation. In 2022, Gavin relocated to Victoria to embark on his academic journey, and he is currently pursuing a degree in Geography with a minor in Geographic Information Technology at the University of Victoria. Gavin's aspiration is to work closely with the Songhees Nation, deepening his understanding of his culture and the traditional ways of life. Through working with HAT, Gavin aims to contribute to the restoration and preservation of the vital ecosystems on the traditional land and waters of the Songhees Nations. In his spare time, he enjoys surfing at Sombrio and Jordan River, finding new places to hike on the Island, and biking around Oak Bay.

Max was born and raised on traditional Mi’kmaq territory in area known as the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia; famous for its apple blossoms and high tides. After many years spent crisscrossing the country to plant trees during the summers in the remote corners of northern British Columbia, Max finally made the full-time move to the West Coast in 2019. He has a BA Honours degree in Development Studies and Political Science from St. Francis Xavier University, having written his undergraduate thesis on the role of Participatory Community Radio in natural resource-based social movements in rural Ghana. Max’s first became involved with HAT as a member of the Restoration Crew in 2021, working in the field to restore Garry Oak habitat throughout the region. He is now the coordinator of the Habitat Restoration Program.

Emily is of Italian and Scottish descent and was born and raised on Mississaugas of the Credit territory near Toronto, Ontario. She has an honours BA in English from Laurier University and a diploma in Ecosystem Management from Fleming College. She has gained experience in environmental education and community stewardship working with the High Park Nature Centre, helping to restore rare Black Oak Savannah Ecosystem in an urban space. She is passionate about helping people connect with nature, and enthusiastic about continuing stewardship work as a part of the HAT team!

Nina is of Polish Jewish and Danish descent, and grew up on the territories of the Patwin and Miwok peoples in California. She has worked in conservation, restoration, and community education for the past five years after studying biology and environmental engineering. When not working, you can find her spending time with her animals, camping, or canoeing.

Vanessa is of German and Irish descent and grew up on Sḵwx̱wú7mesh and Tsleil-Waututh territory. She moved to Lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ territory in 2015 to pursue a BA in Environmental Studies and Sociology from the University of Victoria. She then moved on to complete a Diploma in Restoration of Natural Systems. Vanessa became involved with HAT working on the restoration crew in 2022 and is now the Office Administrator. When she isn't working, Vanessa enjoys gardening on her apartment deck.

HAT Field Crew

Lauren is of Scottish, French, and Italian descent and grew-up on the traditional unceded territories of the Anishinaabe Algonquin People. She has an Outdoor Adventure Naturalist diploma from Algonquin College and is a recent University of Victoria graduate with a BSc double major in Geography and Environmental Studies. Lauren has excitedly returned for her second season as part of the Habitat Restoration Technician crew, fueled by a passion to further her knowledge of ecosystem stewardship. In her free time, you can find her in her garden, racing sail boats, on her bike, adventuring around the island, and nerding out on plants!

With Philippino and mixed-European ancestry, Chelsea was born and raised on K'ómoks territory and moved to lək̓ʷəŋən territory to attend UVic. After completing a degree in geography and political science, focusing on ecology and environmental justice, Chelsea worked various farm/nursery/parks jobs on the island and in Australia before landing on the HAT restoration field crew in 2023. She finds a lot of joy in working outdoors and loves applying her skills to meaningful stewardship and restoration work. In her spare time, Chelsea might be found hiking, reading, or coercing knowledgeable friends into teaching her about birds, bugs, and native plants.

Hannah has lived their life on the territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples and is of Romanian, Italian, and British descent. She has a degree in Biology from UVic, where she performed research on leafhopper ecology and genetics. She has spent her post-graduation years restoring Oak and Eucalypt savannah habitats and surveying the avifauna of Vancouver Island. This is their second season working on the HAT Field Crew, applying their passion for biodiversity conservation to removing invasives and making space for human and nonhuman inhabitants to thrive. You can probably find Hannah crouched over a bug, reading pulp sci-fi, biking to the beach, or birdwatching.

Danika (she/her) is a settler of primarily Belgian, Scottish, Czech and Italian descent. She was born and raised on dxʷdəwʔabš (Duwamish), dxʷsəq̓ʷəbš (Suquamish), and sduhubš (Snohomish) territories in what is colloquially known as Seattle, Washington. She began her decolonial journey after volunteering/participating in the annual 2018 Tribal Canoe Journey, paddling and celebrating Indigenous culture alongside Straits and Coast Salish communities. This pivotal experience inspired her to come to the unceded territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ Nations in 2022, pursuing a BA in Indigenous and Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria.
Putting her love for the outdoors and community engagement into action, she became a regular volunteer with HAT, and eventually was hired as a seasonal field crew technician in 2024. When she’s not nerding out about plants she loves going to/in the ocean, cooking, and doing anything musical/creative. Fun facts: she has an affinity for snails and can do a mean loon call.

Dana is Gitxsan on their mom's side, and mixed settler ancestry on their dads. They were born and raised on Syilx Okanagan territory and has been living on W̱SÁNEĆ territory for almost a decade. In 2021 Dana completed their degree in Geography and Environmental studies (BSc) focusing on biogeography and political ecology. Dana then worked in the Soil Science lab at the Summerland research center as a research assistant, while co-designing and establishing an Indigenous food plant garden. Most recently, she enjoyed being the Education Assistant and Garden coordinator at Artemis Place Society. Dana is grateful to be the newest member of the HAT field crew, where they can apply their love of restoration and supporting Indigenous land management systems. In their free time, Dana loves gardening, painting, reading, and biking around town being a silly goose.

More of the Team

Peter Ord (he/him), Sc'ianew Tribal Park Project Manager

As a Project & Program Manager in International Development, Peter has over 30 years of experience in strategic leadership, project development, and business advancement roles within the culture, heritage and conservation sectors. Peter has 6 years of Executive Director experience with the Bateman Foundation, and joined HAT in 2022 as the Sc’ianew Tribal Park (formerly Mary Hill) Project Manager.
Dominique James (she/her), W̱SÁNEĆ Land Steward and SENĆOŦEN Language Specialist

ÍY SȻÁĆEL HÁLE
ÍY ȻENS ENÁ TÁĆELṈONET SIÁM HÁLE
ĆOȻES SEN SE ṮEṮUṮE OL NE SḰÁL SENĆOŦEN SḰÁL ÁȽE
SNEMIŦIYE ŦE NE SNÁ ĆSE LÁ,E SEN EṮ W̱SÁNEĆ I ȽIW̱ I,ÍYMET NENIṈENE LOṮ ṈENE SXELIȾIYE OPEN IȻS DX̱EN SĆELÁṈEN I TEŦTÁŦESTEN LIW̱ SĆELÁṈEN I Kenneth ĆESE SĆELÁṈEN. ȻENTOL NE STOLES QUANTUM ĆSE LÁ,E E TŦE ÁLEṈENS SȾÁUTW̱. NE TÁN HÍELWET Karen Sampson ĆSE LÁ,E ET W̱JOȽEȽP I NE MÁN Darren James ĆSE LÁ,E EṮ BOḰEĆEN. ĆÁĆI OL SEN ȻENTOL NE XEUES SĆÁ E TIÁ SĆELÁṈEN ȻENTOL NE XEUES SĆÁLEĆES ET METULIYE H.A.T (Habitat Acquisition Trust) ÁȽE E ȽÁ,E W̱SÁNEĆ I LEKWUNGEN ĆÁĆI SX̱ENÁNS ET KȽO,ELENEȻ I SJISEṈs I TELETOŦELṈEW̱... DADÁSET SEN TŦE SḰÁL I OṈESTOW̱ TŦE SNÁ E TŦE SPÁKENS I ÍY SDÁLṈEW̱ E TŦE ŚIŚEJ MEQ EX̱IN E TŦE XAXE TEṈEW̱ I OṈEST TŦE SĆÁ ȻENTOL NE SĆÁLEĆEs.
Hello Good Day Everyone
My ancestral name is SNEMIŦIYE and I am from Saanich residing on Tsartlip, I am a mother of 3 beautiful children, my oldest is Kaiea, middle child Joshua Thaddeus and my youngest is Kenneth with my partner Joshua Wilson Sr who is from Tsawout. My Maternal side is Karen Sampson from Tsartlip and my Paternal side is Darren James from Pauquachin First Nation. Part of my knowledge is Language Revitalization education at the University of Victoria. I also work at Satinflower Nurseries.
What I wish to bring to HAT is plant knowledge and plant uses while working on the lands of WSÁNEĆ and Songhees territory to willingly create some resources with Indigenous talks and walks throughout local parks, utilizing my SENĆOŦEN abilities and skills in specializing and giving the Indigenous prospectives with working on Garry oak, Cedar and Douglas-fir ecosystems within the Vancouver lower-island region.