Our Team

Debbie brings over two decades of experience in the profit and nonprofit sectors. She leads the Finance and Human Resources team to support Oceans North in executing its mission while working with the Executive to achieve strategic objectives. Over those twenty years, she has held both a CPA and CGA designation and has certification in risk management. You’ll find her motorcycling, boating and snowmobiling in her spare time. She is based in Ottawa, Ontario.

An avid naturalist and wilderness explorer, Chris Debicki works with Inuit communities to secure greater protections for critical Arctic marine habitat in places like Lancaster Sound and the beluga estuaries of Western Hudson Bay. He supported the creation of the North Water Polynya Commission, a binational body that is collaborating with Inuit in Greenland and Nunavut to preserve this region. Before joining Oceans North, he worked with the Fridtjof Nansen Institute in Norway on oceanographic research in Greenland and sailed through the Northwest Passage to raise awareness about the impact of climate change on Inuit communities. He also served as the executive director of Maliiganik Tukisiiniakvik, the Nunavut legal aid organization that serves the eastern Arctic. He has a law degree from McGill University and is based in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Susanna’s commitment to marine conservation was born during her final year of high school when she spent six months on a tall ship during the same period when Northern cod stocks collapsed in Atlantic Canada. Her work now focuses on achieving tangible conservation outcomes in sustainable fisheries, spatial protections in Atlantic Canada and the Arctic, and initiatives to protect high-seas biodiversity. She completed her Ph.D. at Dalhousie University, including research on North Atlantic marine sponge populations. For the past two decades, she has worked on the science-policy interface in national and international fisheries and ocean conservation. Susanna lives in Halifax with her family and tries to spend time on the ocean whenever possible.

Drawing on nearly 15 years of experience working on Northern and Indigenous issues, Sheena provides strategic and operational support to the Oceans North team. She also serves as Secretary to the Oceans North Board of Directors. Before joining Oceans North, Sheena worked as an independent researcher and co-founded Northern Public Affairs, a publication aimed at mobilizing knowledge for better public policy. Sheena earned a PhD in Public Policy from Carleton University, where she examined education governance in Nunavut and its implications for institutional development in the context of modern treaties. Sheena lives in Dundas, Ontario with her husband and two nature-loving sons.

Hailing from the central Canadian Arctic, Hilu has extensive experience in community development and environmental review processes. She is a member of Nunavummiut Makitagunarngningit, an independent NGO that informs Nunavut residents about the impacts of uranium mining, and is on the board of MiningWatch Canada. Hilu has also represented Inuit nationally and internationally. She has presented at a United Nations seminar on the implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, helped craft the Native Women’s Association of Canada’s input on the Canadian Impact Assessment Act, and assisted Europe’s largest science agency with integrating local knowledge into Arctic research. Hilu is a mother of two young adults and has her B.A. from Carleton University.

With a decade of experience working in environmental policy, advocacy, and government affairs, Mollie is focused on helping Oceans North manage and deliver on key objectives across the organization. Most recently, Mollie served as regional and communications advisor to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada, where she developed a deep understanding of the perspectives that different communities have on conservation. In addition to her work as a ministerial advisor, she has worked on political campaigns and in the non-profit sector: Mollie was previously a director at Canadians for Clean Prosperity, a not-for-profit dedicated to building consensus around pricing carbon, as well as the national director for Put a Price On It—Canada. She is based in Ottawa.

Lauren is passionate about tackling significant societal challenges through social and environmental innovation. Previously, Lauren worked with the UK-based organization Challenge Works on social innovation grant programs across the international development, global health, and environment sectors. More recently, she has led programs targeting marine plastics across Sub-Saharan Africa. Lauren leverages her grant management expertise to oversee the life cycle of new and existing grants within Oceans North. Lauren earned her bachelor’s degree in International Development and Globalization at the University of Ottawa. After living in the UK for five years, she is now based in Ottawa, Ontario.

John has extensive experience working closely with both Indigenous and non-Indigenous fish harvesters. Besides working directly with groundfish and scallop fishermen, he was employed for over a decade with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in a variety of roles. Before joining Oceans North, John worked with the Unama’ki Institute of Natural Resources as the Commercial Fisheries Liaison Coordinator, where he worked to advance Mi’kmaw participation in commercial fisheries and attended fisheries management meetings at the national and international levels. John has been a life-long community activist and volunteer, holding high-level positions with organizations such as the Regional Hospital Foundation, the Cape Breton Horsemen’s Association, the C@P Society, and the Canadian Independent Fish Harvesters Federation. He lives in Cape Breton, where he grew up.

Drawing on nearly 15 years of experience working on energy, environmental, and Indigenous issues, Brent is focused on advancing marine-based climate solutions. Before joining Oceans North, Brent served as Chief of Staff for the Minister of Environment, Parks, and Climate Change in Alberta, where he helped to develop and implement the province’s Climate Leadership Plan, as well as to advance an ambitious agenda to create new parks and protected areas. In his spare time, he can be found wandering the mountains on his skis or exploring Canada’s rivers and lakes. His passion to explore nature and his dedication to public service motivate him to help accelerate the transition to a net-zero emissions world.

Brynn Devine has studied fish and fisheries across a variety of marine ecosystems, from shallow coral reefs in Australia to deep-sea frontiers off eastern Canada. Her work focuses on sustainable fisheries management and conservation of Arctic marine ecosystems. Before joining Oceans North, Brynn worked extensively on species caught as bycatch in northern deep-water fisheries, with an emphasis on Greenland sharks. She earned her PhD from Memorial University of Newfoundland, where her research explored the environmental drivers of deep-sea fish distributions in Atlantic Canada and the Eastern Arctic. She is based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

With a background in integrated environmental and biodiversity management, Maude is dedicated to advancing approaches to Arctic marine conservation driven by Indigenous knowledge, scientific understanding and community-based research, monitoring, and management efforts. She earned a master’s degree from Université de Sherbrooke, where her work focused on the contribution of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) in Inuit Nunangat. Maude supports effective partnerships between rightsholders, communities, researchers, and governments to create areas where people and nature can thrive. She is based in Montreal, Quebec.

Matt Dykstra is a communications professional with more than a decade of experience working in journalism and media relations, as well as on political campaigns and provincial policies. Before joining Oceans North, Matt was a senior strategist and press secretary for former Alberta premier Rachel Notley. He also held senior roles in the Ministry of Environment and Parks and the Ministry Responsible for Climate Change in the government of Alberta, where he supported efforts to reduce emissions under the Climate Leadership Plan and to establish new parks in the province. Matt is based in Edmonton.

Heather Grant uses her skills as a communications specialist and a policy campaigner to create impactful visuals and engaging digital experiences that support ocean education, advocacy and policy change. Before joining Oceans North, Heather worked as an independent contractor supporting Canadian and international ocean conservation coalitions. She holds a bachelor’s degree in marine biology from Dalhousie University and is based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Lisa has spent her career working in the not-for-profit world, first in program development and then switching to human resources almost 15 years ago.  In her work, Lisa has been responsible for a full range of HR initiatives, with performance management, health and safety, recruitment and systems development focus areas. Lisa has been part of dynamic and diverse management teams during her career and has learned the value of true collaboration through those experiences. She believes creating respectful and reciprocal relationships is the cornerstone of effective HR support. Lisa loves to travel in her spare time, host family dinners at her Ottawa Valley home and daily walks with her dog Bailey.

Taylor Hamm is committed to ensuring seamless operations and providing exceptional support to the Oceans North team. She has a breadth of expertise and experience in administration, as well as a passion for efficiency and implementing systems that create a simpler and more productive work environment. Taylor works to streamline processes and help campaigners achieve their goals. She is currently based in Victoria, British Columbia.

With significant experience leading research projects and outreach activities, Amy brings a multidisciplinary approach to ocean conservation. After completing her B.Sc. at the University of Manitoba, Amy attained her master’s degree from Dalhousie University, exploring how climate change will influence protected marine ecosystems in Atlantic Canada. She is now scaling up her work to include protected areas in the high seas, with a particular emphasis on integrating climate change into international marine policy, North Atlantic protected areas, and fisheries management. She is based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Aaron is a passionate birder, wildlife photographer and naturalist. Before joining Oceans North, he co-founded a research and consulting firm to support Indigenous and local communities in collaboratively building wildfire resilience and developing land relationship management plans. He also has experience facilitating the development of planning, monitoring, and evaluation tools for implementing community development and disaster response programs in South Africa, Eswatini (Swaziland), Lesotho, and Lebanon. Aaron has a master’s of Natural Resource Management from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, where he currently resides.

With expertise in environmental impact assessment and arctic ecosystems, Amanda Joynt works with Inuit communities and governments to implement sustainable ocean management initiatives. Her experience as a biologist in the private sector and the federal public service, as a manager in the non-profit sector, and 15 years working in Canada’s Arctic shapes an interdisciplinary approach to her work. She earned a master’s degree in global development practice and a PhD in food security and governance at the University of Waterloo. She is based in Ottawa, ON.

An expert on community-based scientific research, Jennie Knopp works on projects related to harvesting, conservation and monitoring in the Inuvialuit, Kitikmeot and Nunavik regions. She has over 10 years of experience working in the Canadian Arctic in collaboration with communities, local experts, co-management boards, researchers, land claim organizations and federal government departments. She earned her PhD from Trent University, where she did research focused on integrating Inuit and western scientific knowledge to better understand community-based monitoring of local food resources. She lives outside Ottawa, Ontario.

Melissa comes from the Mi’kma’ki district of Kespukwitk, with maternal connections to the district of Siknikt. Immersed in traditional ecological knowledge, skills and values from a young age, Melissa has worked as an Indigenous Guardian alongside others to bring awareness about climate change and the effects it is having on cultural practices and the overall identity of her people. She is known for her artistic skills as well as her knowledge of traditional Mi’kmaq medicine and birch bark canoe building. Melissa also worked towards the creation of the Katewe’katik and Pu’tlaqne’katik Wilderness areas, which were designated in 2020. She is a member of the Acadia First Nation and continues to live in Kespukwitk, where she was born and raised, with her twins.

With expertise in outreach and program development, Paul Labun conducts government and community outreach in Ottawa, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories. Before joining Oceans North, he served as a strategic advisor to the Manitoba government and Manitoba Hydro for over a decade. He also directed development projects in post-conflict Bosnia. He grew up in Winnipeg and spent many summers of his youth guiding wilderness canoe trips on Lake of the Woods in northern Ontario. He earned a master’s degree in Canadian history from Queen’s University. He is based in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Michelle’s career has always focused majorly on numbers. With more than 25 years of experience in finance, she has worked in diverse organizations, but Oceans North and ocean conservation has become a perfect fit. She is working toward her CPA designation and is also a certified Veterinary Assistant. She is based in Thornhill, Ontario.

An active harvester from Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, John Noksana Jr. advises Oceans North on conservation projects in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR) and across the North. For the past 14 years, John served in leadership roles in the wildlife co-management system established by the land claim of the ISR. He served for six years as an Inuvialuit member of the Fisheries Joint Management Committee, including a term as Acting Chairperson.  John was in leadership roles in the locally administered Beluga Harvest Monitoring Program and the Imaryuk Monitoring Program for the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway and Husky Lakes, among numerous other projects.  He has represented Inuvialuit across Canada and Alaska, including serving as a member of the Inuvialuit Inupiat Beluga Whaling Commission.  John also holds the position of Property Manager for the Inuvialuit Development Corporation.  John lives in Tuktoyaktuk with his wife and children and makes time throughout the year for hunting, fishing and camping. He especially enjoys spending time at the nearby Imaryuk (Husky Lakes) area in the spring with family and friends.

Amy’s professional career has straddled the worlds of politics, industrial and climate policy development, federal-provincial relations, and protected-area creation, with a focus on parks co-managed by Indigenous peoples. Amy was most recently the Campaign Policy Director and Director of Policy and Legislative Services for Rachel Notley and the Alberta New Democratic Party. Before this, she was the Executive Director of Parks Operations at the Government of Alberta. Amy is based in Edmonton and grew up wearing an Oilers toque on the city’s Northside.

Alex Ootoowak is the lead technician for our acoustic monitoring program in Milne Inlet. He has assisted with numerous Oceans North projects over the years, from setting up time-lapse cameras that capture sea-ice conditions to following Arctic whale migrations. Alex was also a community delegate at the North Water Polynya workshop, where community members from northern Nunavut and Greenland established a mandate for marine protection in the area. An experienced hunter and diesel mechanic, Alex is widely respected for his survival skills and ingenuity; he once repaired the front suspension of a snow machine by lashing in a caribou fibula to replace the broken steel rod. He lives in Pond Inlet, Nunavut.

Sid Pain brings a unique set of skills to his work as Arctic projects director in Nunatsiavut. His background includes outpost nursing, search and rescue, firefighting, diving and business management. Originally from Australia, Sid moved to Nunatsiavut in the early 1990s. Because of his passion for the ocean, he formed his own company, providing commercial and environmental diving services to Northern Labrador clients. He most recently worked at Voisey’s Bay Mine, where he was the emergency preparedness and health services supervisor. Sid is based in Nain, Nunatsiavut.

Gemma Rayner is a marine biologist with expertise in sustainable fisheries management. Her work focuses on rebuilding Atlantic fish populations and advising on marine conservation. Before joining Oceans North, Gemma worked in environmental consulting, commercial fishing, aquaculture, and academic research. Gemma holds a master’s degree in aquaculture from Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador and a bachelor’s degree in applied marine biology from Bangor University. Originally from the United Kingdom, she is now based in St. John’s, Newfoundland.

Benoit’s role as field technician draws from years of project management, technical training, and Arctic logistics. He is a Red Seal heavy-duty equipment technician with years as manager for Toromont CAT and works with Oceans North to partner with communities and scientists in finding science-based solutions to mitigate changes in the Arctic’s waters. Ben supports Arctic science projects across Ocean North’s Circumpolar coverage, including the Eclipse Sound project, where he first wet his feet with the hydrophone mission in 2014. He enjoys hiking, skiing, and camping with his family and is based in Iqaluit, Nunavut.

With expertise in fisheries management and policy, Katie Schleit focuses on rebuilding fish populations while considering the needs of people and the ecosystem. Katie has worked in the NGO and public sector for over a decade, collaborating with government, fishermen, scientists and the public on ocean conservation and sustainable management. Before joining Oceans North, she led marine campaigns at the Ecology Action Centre and previously worked at the Pew Charitable Trusts and U.S. Peace Corps. She holds a master’s degree in marine affairs from the University of Washington, where her research included working with a community in the Philippines to develop a marine protected area network management plan. She is based in the Halifax office.

Alex Tesar uses his training in journalism and marine policy to support and communicate the work of Oceans North. He loves to research and create compelling, science-based narratives about the ocean and the people who rely on it. Before joining Oceans North, Alex worked as a writer and editor. His work has been published in The Walrus, Nautilus and the Canadian Encyclopedia, among others. He earned a master’s degree in marine management from Dalhousie University, where he studied the relationship between scientists and the public, and a master’s of fine arts in creative non-fiction from the University of King’s College. He is based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Focusing on marine protected areas in the Atlantic and Arctic regions, Colleen Turlo works to ensure communities and stakeholders are involved throughout the entire process. She also brings extensive knowledge and experience in sustainable seafood market initiatives. Colleen has dedicated her career to marine conservation, including working on federal policies related to seafood marketing and fisheries management, teaching post-secondary courses, researching marine spatial planning and facilitating community-based co-management. She earned a master’s degree in marine management from Dalhousie University. Colleen is based in the Halifax office.

As a marine geographer, Melissa Turner works to conduct geospatial analysis and creates mapping products for Oceans North’s campaigns in the Arctic and beyond. She draws on a decade of experience providing GIS services to First Nations in Northern Manitoba and Western Ontario. She has worked as the GIS Lead on many traditional knowledge, land use, and occupancy studies, climate change risk assessment studies and environmental impact assessments. She earned her bachelor’s degree in geography from the University of Manitoba, where she focused on the geography of environmental changes and the application of geographic information systems. She is based in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

With a marine biology and international development background, Sara brings an interdisciplinary approach to her role in supporting Oceans North’s conservation projects. Sara previously worked as an environmental consultant, collaborating with Indigenous and coastal communities, government, academia, and industry groups. She holds a master’s degree in marine management from Dalhousie University, where her research explored the value-chain dynamics of seal marketing in the Qikiqtani Region of Nunavut. Sara is also a passionate scuba diver and provides field support to Oceans North’s campaigns. She is based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Kristin is a marine mammal expert with unique Arctic experience and scientific knowledge. She has extensively researched belugas, narwhals, and killer whales in Canada’s Eastern Arctic and earned her Ph.D. from the University of Manitoba while researching the ecology of belugas in Western Hudson Bay. She holds a master’s in Environmental Science, documenting Northern Hudson Bay narwhals’ movement and diving patterns in wintering grounds off the Northern tip of Nunatsiavut. She’s a TEDx speaker and has been featured on BBC Our Frozen Planet, CBC Quirks and Quarks, Discovery Channel Daily Planet, National Geographic Kids Magazine, Sky News Arctic Peril, and more. Nicknamed the “Beluga Queen,” she was the first ecotourism owner/operator of a beluga-watching kayak company in Churchill, Manitoba. Kristin is happiest spending time with her family in North Vancouver, B.C., exploring the wilderness, skiing, and sailing.

Sean Young loves using his journalism and communications background to clarify complicated concepts. His previous employment with Parks Canada made him passionate about conservation through a social lens, and his marketing experience helps him craft compelling messaging. He holds a master’s degree in journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University, and before joining Oceans North, he worked with The Walrus, CBC and Xtra Magazine. Originally from Prince Edward Island, he is based in Toronto, Ontario.

Driven by a love of nature and a keen interest in policy, Nicole works on international treaty negotiations and policy campaigns for Oceans North. She pulls from experience working at the confluence of education, policy, and environmental science, with a specific interest in the polar regions. Previously, Nicole conducted research in South Africa and Antarctica focused on sustainable development, conservation, and international environmental politics. Nicole earned her master’s degree in International Relations from The London School of Economics. Originally from Calgary, Alberta, she is now in Halifax, Nova Scotia.