Posted:
January 22, 2021
Faces & Places: Chad Hughes
Kootenay Conservation Program
A transplant from Australia, Chad Hughes is the new executive director for the Elk River Alliance and is keen to apply his diverse background as an ecologist and mining consultant to working collaboratively across sectors in the Elk Valley to preserve the watershed.
“The Elk River Alliance is not against industry,” he said. “Without resource extraction the Elk Valley and the economy would be very different, but at the same time we need to be aware that we do live in an environment that needs to be taken care of.”
Originally from Perth, Australia, Chad earned his Bachelor in Environmental Sciences from the University in Western Australia, majoring in land and water management and botany, then proceeded to work for a number of years as an environmental scientist and botanist throughout the Australian outback.
Posted:
December 19, 2020
Faces & Places: Kendal Benesh
Kootenay Conservation Program
An appreciation and love for the natural world is what led Kendal Benesh into the field of biology, but throughout her career she’s discovered a new, yet complementary, passion: bringing people together to solve problems and find efficiencies.
“My role with East Kootenay Invasive Species Council (EKISC) is hitting that straight on the head,” said Kendal, who stepped into the role of program manager for EKISC in March 2019. “Invasive species are going to be here forever. We’re always going to be dealing with new introductions and they will continue to impact people in a variety of ways, so there’s an endless amount of strategy and innovation that needs to be in place with invasive species management.”