By Pegah Djamzad

SFU community members Tessa Ramburn, Nicholas Dulvy and Terri Evans have been recognized for their outstanding leadership in advancing the cause of sustainability within and beyond the University.

They join a growing number of sustainability champions at SFU who go above and beyond to improve awareness and understanding of sustainability, and who take action to promote ecological, social and economic sustainability.

Tessa Ramburn (Student Winner)

Tessa Ramburn is an undergraduate environmental science student with a passion for community engagement and strategic activism. She is president of SFU350, a board director at Embark Sustainability, and a co-founder of the Invisible Wall Collaborators, a group that is planning a monologue and dialogue event to showcase students who feel enabled and/or disempowered to act on climate change. Her work is truly innovative and exemplary of community-focused sustainability leadership.

In her academic work she makes important connections between human-led ecological destruction and sexual violence, and is engaged in University initiatives such as the drafting of SFU’s sexual violence policy. She is a yoga instructor at SFU Recreation and lives her values by biking to school, living a low-waste lifestyle, promoting healthy relationships, and championing her peers to shift their behaviour. Her work will continue to positively impact the SFU community long after she graduates in 2017.

Nicholas Dulvy (Faculty Winner)

Nicholas Dulvy is a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and holds the Canada Research Chair in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation. He co-chairs the Shark and Ray Specialist Group of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN SSG). He is a recognised expert in marine conservation science and the ecological, social and economic impacts of climate change, and has published extensively on these topics.

Dulvy has led some of the most influential ecological and socio-economic analyses of climate change impacts. His recent work has focused on understanding climate change effects on species distribution and the interactions of fishing and climate change on fisheries production. He inspires future generations of researchers through his lectures in ecology and conservation biology, and through supervising a number of graduate students and post-doctoral researchers. He exemplifies the qualities in leadership in sustainability by advancing scientific research and understanding of the sustainable use and conservation of marine resources.

Terri Evans (Staff Winner)

Terri Evans is the manager of academic and administrative services in the Urban Studies Program at SFU, a role she has held since the program’s inception in 2002. She exemplifies the qualities of leadership in sustainability through her outstanding work in local food systems, sustainable economic development, published research and course development. She is a significant contributor to the City Program’s new online professional development certificate in sustainable urban transportation, which extends SFU’s reach on these vital sustainability issues.

She is a truly engaged community member. She co-founded the Coquitlam Farmers’ Market in 1997, long before the local food movement and public recognition of the importance of food security. Evans’ contribution goes beyond environmental sustainability to include social sustainability—she promotes healthy food and economic sustainability by providing a venue for smaller, local producers and vendors to excel.

Ramburn, Dulvy and Evans were recognized at the annual President’s Awards Dinner at the Diamond Alumni Centre on March 8th. To learn more about the awards please visit www.sfu.ca/sustainability.html.

