Environmental Advisory Committee
EAC Biographies
Judith Murray
Judith Murray was appointed Vice-President, Open Learning in September 2006. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Dalhousie University and a Master of Arts degree from Mount Saint Vincent University, and has more than 20 years of education management experience, including 13 years of experience in the public post-secondary sector. For a more complete review of Ms. Murray’s background, see her brief biography.
Dr. Thomas E. (Tom) Dickinson
After obtaining degrees from Queen's University, University of Calgary, and University of Pennsylvania, Tom Dickinson came to TRU in 1989 to teach in Biological Sciences, where he remained, except for a three year secondment to act as TRU's AVP Research, until he was appointed Dean of Science in 2009. He has been awarded all three of TRU's staff awards: Excellence in Service (1994), Research Excellence (1999), and Teaching Excellence (2009).
A co-founder of TRU's Wells Gray Education and Research Centre, he has been active on many committees both on and off campus, as well as being one of the drafters of the region's land use management plan. An avid natural historian and birdwatcher, Tom remains active with the Kamloops Naturalist Club and the Interior Science and Innovation Council, and these same interests prompted his desire to join the EAC to find ways to keep our campus environmental healthy.
Robin Reid
Robin is a full-time instructor in the Tourism Management Department at TRU. She has Masters Degree from the University of Calgary in Resources and the Environment and continues to work with faculty at the Uof C on joint publications and case studies that focus on environmental topics. Robin has travelled extensively and has developed a further interest in documenting cultural and community changes associated with tourism in a global environment.
Dr. Jonathan (Jon) Van Hamme
Jonathan has worked at TRU's Biological Sciences Department since 2003. His research is mainly focused on biocatalyst development for biodegradation of environmental pollutants. He was awarded the TRU Award for Excellence in Scholarship in 2010, and he is currently the Managing Editor for the journal 'Biodegradation.' He has many active outdoor pursuits, including rock climbing, skiing, canoeing, and glacier travel.
Dale Parkes
Dr. Penny Powers (Vice-Chair)
Recipient of TRU's inaugural Environmental Achievement Award in 2010, Dr. Penny Powers, Professor of Nursing, was a strong advocate and a pioneer in ensuring that TRU's strategic plan incorporated environmental sustainability. She played a leading role in establishing the Environmental Advisory Committee, was a member of the Canadian Nurses Association Environmental Issues Group, and was key to hiring a Director of Environment & Sustainability at TRU. Her off-campus environmental activities include advocacy for worm composting and membership in the BC Sustainable Energy Association. Her goal is to help make TRU truly carbon neutral, obtaining all of its energy from alternative sources, to ban bottled water, to educate students in organic food production, and to produce environmentally literate students doing cutting edge research on sustainability.
Dr. Peter Tsigaris (Chair)
Dr. Peter Tsigaris is an Associate Professor of Economics with diverse research interests spanning environmental economics, taxation policy and issues, decisions under risk, and education of economics. In 2007, Dr. Tsigaris became the first to win both the TRU Scholarly Merit and the TRU Teaching Excellency Award in the same year. He teaches introductory economics, statistics, public finance, cost benefit analysis, and environmental economics.
Dorys Crespin-Mueller
Kevin Bronnimann
After graduating from Merritt Secondary School in 2007, Kevin came to TRU and is currently studying for a Major in General Biology in the BSc program. Kevin is involved in the Biology Undergraduate Society, which has undertaken restoration work in local habitats, and he is also concerned with green living in the student residence as a resident advisor at On-Campus Housing. He has served as the vice-president of the TRU-Eco club and is the current president of the club, which is one way for students to contribute to discussions and take action on environmental issues at TRU. Kevin joined the EAC to learn more about how environmental policy at the university comes about and to represent the interests of the student body and the TRU-Eco club on the committee.
Bonnie Klohn
B.Ed. student Bonnie Klohn was born and raised in Kamloops, graduating from Westsyde Secondary in 2005, and living in France for two years before enrolling at TRU. Her European experiences led her to found Kamloops' Urban Hen Movement, aimed at helping city dwellers to produce some of their own food, and to join the Kamloops Food Policy Council.
Always active, Bonnie was chair of TRU ECO in 2008/09, and is project development facilitator for Innovative Changes, a local community development business. In the summer of 2010, as well as working as a research assistant with the Small Cities CURA, Bonnie started an outdoor dining business with a partner called the Cultivated Kitchen, where six-course, organic meals are served outside on the farms where the produce was grown. She joined the EAC in order to have an opportunity to have a say in the environmental policies of our university, and she supports a university garden and a better campus compost system.
Susan Purdy
Susan Purdy came to TRU in 1989 to teach in the Biological Sciences Department. Susan's love of the environment is reflected by her chosen field, environmental biology, her love of kayaking and wilderness camping, and by her volunteer work on committees like the TRU Environmental Health & Safety Committee, of which she was a founding member.
This committee, which 'morphed' into the current EAC with a mandate from the Senate and the Board of Governors, improved the recycling facilities on campus, promoted a scent reduced workplace, and created smoke-free zones on campus. As an EAC member, she promotes an environmentally friendly campus that can be used as an example to other businesses and home-owners in Kamloops.
Gerard Hayes
Dr. Tom Owen
Les Tabata
John Sparks
John Sparks, TRU's General Counsel and Secretariat, came to TRU in 2004 and, in addition to his regular duties, sits on the Senate Steering Committee, Senate International Affairs Committee, Parking Appeals and Advisory Committee, and the Information Security Committee. He is also a TRU Foundation volunteer, where he sits on its board as secretary.
An avid skier, John grew up in North Vancouver, gaining a Bachelor of Arts degree from UBC in 1980, and following up with a law degree in 1983. He then went on to complete a Master's degree in law at the London School of Economics, graduating in 1984. He sits on the EAC as an ex-officio member of the committee as many of the matters it considers have legal aspects.