The 2008-2009 Sierra Youth Coalition Executive Committee:

Sam Green
Samantha is a second-year medical student at the University of Ottawa. She has been involved in environmental activism since she was a keen elementary school student who frequently retrieved bottles and cans from the trash. She has worked as the coordinator of the environmental office at the McMaster Students Union, has attended several international environmental conferences, including the Commission for Sustainable Development as Canada's official youth delegate, and is the University of Ottawa's student rep for the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. She aims to use her growing medical expertise to advocate on behalf of the environment and sustainable development. Samantha enjoys bread-baking, books, and biking.



Joanna Dafoe
'Oh, hi! I didn't see you there. My name is Joanna Dafoe and I am twenty years of age. Currently, I attend the University of Toronto where I take Peace and Conflict Studies. My love of the natural world was cultivated as a young tyke playing outdoors late into the night. As the world became smaller with my growth in it, I became increasingly aware of the dwindling resources and green havens it holds. So the tyke became a young lady (a lovely one according to my Mom), and the young lady became an activist (but my Mom doesn't say much about that).'



Adam MacIsaac admacisaac@gmail.com

Adam MacIsaac has worked in various areas since graduating from high school in 2000 from Prince Edward Island, Canada. With his passion for youth engagement he was the Prince Edward Island Youth Engagement Coordinator for the Creating Local Connections Canada Project (CLC Canada) which is an initiative of Taking IT Global (TIG). With Adam's involvement with TakingITGlobal he was also a panelist of the 2007 MESH Conference which is Canada's premier technology conference where he spoke on the topic of "The Always-On Generation - What Do Youth Do with the Web?" and currently has a blog featured on ShowYourRealFace.com. Throughout his experience working on an organic farm in rural PEI, traveling to the Dominican Republic and working with Fair Trade Coffee and Cacao collectives he has developed a strong connection with food security and environmental issues and currently sits on the Executive Committee for the Sierra Youth Coalition. While working as an International Development Intern with Rescue Mission Canada, he has worked with youth on the international scale and just finished working in England on a United Nations Development Programme Youth Climate Change Project along with Peace Child International. Adam most recently joined with other young Canadians and the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition on their project with the Canadian Youth Delegation to Bali, Indonesia and attended the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and will be joining the Canadian Youth Delegation to Poznan where he used his interest in new media to engage other youth. In April 2008 Adam received training from Al Gore to present the Academy Award winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" and was a panelist during a round table discussion at The Royal Commonwealth Society along with Canadian environmentalist Dr. David Suzuki.



Laura Keating lmkeating@gmail.com

I graduated from Queen's University in Environmental Science and Biology in 2007, and am currently working as an environmental planner. I have been involved in the Sierra Youth Coalition for the past four years in varying capacities, both through Queen's Sustainability and, currently, the Excomm! I love the great outdoors and my family, and feel very lucky to live in one of the most beautiful countries in the world.




Lara Berliner

As a 16 year old high school student studying at Bialik High School in Quebec, I believe that high school is a very important time not only to educate teenagers about current environmental issues but also to get them to use that knowledge to change their daily choices. I am particularly interested in enhancing high school environmental programs as well as educating high school students to make environmental issues as real, tangible and important for others my age as they are for me. This is why I co-founded and am one of the leaders of the Green Initiative at my school. We are beginning to implement new recycling programs and are, for example, encouraging people to invest in one reusable water bottle instead of buying a plastic one everyday, as well as other educational, environmental activities in order to create a more sustainable campus. Each summer I go to camp in Ontario and most of my foundation and inspiration towards working on environmental issues comes from my time in the camp environment where I am either outdoors in the countryside or canoe camping through national parks such as Algonquin. The first hand experiences I have acquired on these trips are my motivation. When I am paddling across one of Ontario’s lakes or am surrounded by the tress on a path through the woods, I am often reminded of our need for better and smarter uses of resources. I also have strong organizational and academic skills and leadership experience which I have put to good use by participating in a number of student clubs, activities and sports including my high school’s student council, as well as my full high school curriculum.



Neegaan Aaswaakshin



Britney Allen



Greg Boyle














Meagan Wilson














Brendon Goodmurphy

Thanks to all of our past executive members

2007-2008

Jake Tory
Elizabeth Fraser
Justin Grenier
Nik Parent
Angharad Wylie

2006-2007
Paul Alderton
Barbara Hayes
Liz McDowell
Tim Murphy
Elissa Smith
Jonas Weselake-George

2005-2006
Dev Aujla
Catherine Boyd
Ed Keeble
Rosanna Nicol
Zani Showler
Amelia Warren