Michael Adamson

Regional Coordinator - Ontario and Atlantic Canada

Michael has worked on a variety of issues including fossil fuel divestment, digital rights, and participatory community development. He collaborates with CAPE’s regional committees in Ontario and the Atlantic provinces to increase capacity for physicians to advocate for climate action. A few of Michael’s favourite things are playing tennis, park BBQs, and the subtle pleasures of sitting in silence.

Michael can be reached at michael@cape.ca

Sameen Ashraf

Regional Coordinator - BC and the Prairies

Sameen can be reached at sameen@cape.ca

Erin Baird

“Fossil Fuel Ads Make Us Sick” Campaign Coordinator

Erin is a researcher, project coordinator, and aspiring graphic designer with over 5 years of environmental justice campaign experience. She has a particular interest in extractive industries and the ways that corporations strategically make themselves in/visible to the public. Erin has a passion for translating research into communications materials aimed at mobilizing for collective action. A few of Erin’s favourite things are cooking, road trips, live music, and slow weekend mornings.

Erin can be reached at erin@cape.ca 

Robb Barnes

Climate Program Director

Karina Cardona

Donor Relations Manager

Karina has been engaged with matters of environment and health for over 20 years. Her work experience includes research, donor relations, teaching, administration, strategic planning, and collaborative arts. She is establishing donor stewardship initiatives and fund development plans for CAPE. A few of Karina’s favourite things are playing outdoors, making memories with loved ones, and caring for her plants.

Karina can be reached at karina@cape.ca

Twitter @KarinaElisaCC

Dr. Patricia Clermont, PhD

Organizer for the Quebec Association of Physicians for the Environment (QAPE)

Patricia has been involved in the Quebec environmental community for 20 years, working most recently as an independent analyst and strategist in public policy and political communication. She coordinates the Association québécoise des médecins pour l’environnement (AQME). A few of Patricia’s favourite things are theatre, music, mangoes and figs, and spending time with her little tribe.

You can reach Patricia at patricia@cape.ca

Twitter @p_clermont

Natalie Ethier

Operations Director

Natalie has over 15 years of experience working with NGOs, philanthropic organizations, and independent consultants committed to accelerating the transition to a low carbon economy. She is instrumental in establishing and training CAPE staff in new operational systems to support the team in a virtual workplace. A few of Natalie’s favourite things are The Beatles, Britpop and horses, and matinées at the local independent cinema.

Natalie can be reached at natalie@cape.ca

Dr. Anjali Helferty, PhD

Executive Director

Anjali began her career in climate activism nearly 20 years ago with youth climate organising both in Canada and the United States. Her advanced education and environmental advocacy has focused on settler solidarity with Indigenous peoples and organisational management, knowledge which she now applies in leading CAPE. A few of Anjali’s favourite things are baking for friends and family, hosting singalong parties, and hanging out on the porch with her chatty baby.

Anjali can be reached at anjali@cape.ca

Dr. Jane E. McArthur, PhD

Toxics Program Director

Jane has 25 years of experience working in environmental and occupational health. Rooted in community-based communications, research and advocacy, Jane aims to see widespread action on justice and primary prevention. She leads our advocacy, collaborations, and research on toxics and equity. A few of Jane’s favourite things are motherhood, family, community and the great outdoors.

Jane can be reached at jane@cape.ca

Twitter @JANEMCARTHUR11

Catherine Poitras

Communications Coordinator

Catherine is a skilled communications analyst and content creator with a background in independent media and over 10 years of experience in the non-profit sector. As a non-binary person living with chronic illnesses, they aim to bring awareness about environmental health through a social justice lens. Some of Catherine’s favourite activities include reading and drawing comics and getting lost in the woods.

Catherine can be reached at catherine@cape.ca

Kiemia Rezagian

Advocacy Training Program Director

Kiemia has over 10 years of experience as a community organizer and facilitator, co-creating opportunities to disrupt marginalizing systems. She has developed and launched our advocacy training program for healthcare professionals with a focus on equity. A few of Kiemia’s favourite things are hugging her family and friends, being in water, and getting lost in happy daydreams.

Kiemia can be reached at kiemia@cape.ca

Dr. Leah Temper, PhD

Fossil Fuel Ad-ban Campaign Director

Leah has 20 years of experience working as an environmental justice advocate, scholar and activist, including as founder of the Global Atlas of Environmental Justice. She leads our initiatives to address the health harms and greenwashing of fossil fuels. A few of Leah’s favourite things are bike rides, growing and cooking food, and problem solving!  

Leah can be reached at leah@cape.ca

Twitter @latemper

Mandalyn Unger

Program Coordinator, Advocacy and Mobilization Training Program

Mandalyn is a climate advocate and program coordinator, with nearly 10 years experience in community organizing on environmental and social justice issues. Their work has focused on food sovereignty, youth mentorship, and anticolonial climate justice. A few of Mandalyn’s favourite things are camping, travelling, dinner parties, and photographing their friends.

Mandalyn can be reached at mandalyn@cape.ca

Dr. Melissa Lem

CAPE Board President

Dr. Melissa Lem is a Vancouver family physician who also works in rural and northern communities. Director of PaRx, Canada’s national nature prescription program powered by the BC Parks Foundation, she is a long-time advocate for the nature-health connection. She has engaged in advocacy and policy work on a broad range of issues, from climate change and hydraulic fracturing to sustainable health care and nature-based solutions.

A senior writer for the CBC, she was the resident medical expert on CBC TV’s hit show Steven and Chris for four seasons and is a regular contributor to CBC Radio and CTV News.

Dr. Lem was the inaugural winner of University College’s Young Alumni of Influence Award (University of Toronto), a 2021 World Parks Week Ambassador, sits on the Advisory Committee of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas Health and Well-being Specialist Group, and is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia.

Twitter @Melissa_Lem

Dr. Samantha Green

CAPE President-Elect

Dr. Samantha Green is a family physician at St. Michael’s Hospital and at Inner City Health Associates in Toronto. She is a Board Member with the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, and Faculty Lead in Climate Change & Health at the University of Toronto’s Department of Family & Community Medicine. Her clinical work focuses on marginalized populations, especially those experiencing homelessness, those involved in the criminal justice system, and newcomers. She advocates for climate action with the aim of improving the health of her patients and community.

Twitter @SamanthaGreenTO

Dr. Joe Vipond

CAPE Past President

Joe Vipond has worked as an emergency physician for twenty years, currently at the Rockyview General Hospital.  He has been active on the climate crisis since learning of its dire repercussions nine years ago. His first advocacy campaign was as a spokesperson for the Alberta Coal Phase-Out movement, and more recently, the Canadian Coal Phase-Out network, and these have had an impact on approximately 66 MT of greenhouse gas emissions, or 9% of Canada’s total GHGs. He is the President of the national charity Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.  He is also the co-founder and co-chair of the local non-profit the Calgary Climate Hub.  In non-climate advocacy, he co-founded the COVID advocacy groups Masks4Canada and ProtectOurProvinceAlberta. Joe grew up in Calgary and continues to live there with his wife and two young daughters.

Felix Martineau

CAPE Board Treasurer

Felix holds a Bachelor in Business from the University of Sherbrooke and a Masters degree in Accounting from the University of Sherbrooke. 

Having grown up in a family of health workers, Felix is interested in the link between health and the environment. He is hopeful that his financial and managerial expertise combined with his knowledge of the medical sector will help CAPE in its pursuit of a greener and healthier Canada.

Dr. George Tjensvoll Kitching

CAPE Board Secretary

George is a Norwegian and Canadian of British ancestry. He is commencing training as a family physician at Queen’s University in Kingston. George graduated medical school at Western University in Windsor and holds an MSc. in Public Health from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. George was 2019-2020 co-chair of the Canadian Federation of Medical Students: Health and Environment Adaptive Response Taskforce which seeks to incorporate training around the health impacts of climate change into the medical curriculum.

Dr. Aimée Bouka

CAPE Board Member

Dr. Aimée Bouka is a rural family physician practicing in Gwich’in and Inuvialuit territories (Inuvik, Northwest Territories). Dr Bouka is a recent graduate of the University of Calgary Family Medicine Urban program. Prior to medicine, she spent over a decade as a member of the Canadian Forces Reserves. Dr. Bouka served as the Section of Residents Vice-chair for the College of Family Physicians of Canada and as Co-chair of the Alberta chapter of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. She sits on the board of directors of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) and is on the board of Advisors for the Black Physicians of Alberta Association. Her main interests are intersectional environmentalism as well as antiracist and anti-oppressive frameworks in medicine. When not busy with work and activism, you will find her lost in the wilderness somewhere.

Dr. Claudel Pétrin-Desrosiers

CAPE Board Member

Twitter @c_pdesrosiers

Helen Boyd, RN

CAPE Board Member

Helen is a registered nurse who hails from Quebec and lives on the unceded territories of the K’ómoks First Nation, Vancouver Island. Her work in critical care and emergency room care has taken her to Alberta, the Yukon, Switzerland and New Zealand, and she has mentored students as a clinical assistant at UBC. She is also the BC Representative for the Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment (CANE).

Helen holds a Bachelor of Science in nursing from UBC and a Masters in Counselling from the States. She is pursuing studies at Royal Roads University in Science and Policy of Climate Change.

Firmly dedicated to social justice, Helen founded the Care-A-Van, a mobile clinic delivering healthcare to homeless populations, a population that is disproportionately affected by the climate crisis. In 2012, the College of Registered Nurses of BC recognized her efforts with the Award of Advocacy, and she was the recipient of the 2013 BC Community Achievement Award.

Twitter @HBoydrn

Jacqueline Wilson

CAPE Board Member

Jacqueline Wilson is counsel at the Canadian Environmental Law Association. She has represented clients before various provincial and federal administrative tribunals, and has appeared at all levels of Ontario and federal Courts. She specializes in climate change, energy, and land use planning, and is CELA’s student program coordinator. She received her JD from the University of Toronto in 2010. Jacqueline has previously been a board member of Willowdale Community Legal Services and the Industrial Accident Victims Group of Ontario.

Julia Sawatzky

CAPE Board Member

Julia Sawatzky is a fourth-year medical student at the University of Alberta. She is also a Co-Chair of the Canadian Federation of Medical Students Health and Environment Adaptive Response Task Force for the 2022-2023 academic year, and has been working as part of this group for several years to advance planetary health education and advocacy within Canadian medical schools. She holds an MSc in Global Health and Epidemiology and a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Oxford, and hopes to weave together her interests in population health, clinical medicine, and public policy in the future to contribute whole-heartedly to efforts for a healthy, sustainable, and justice-oriented future

Dr. Laurette Geldenhuys

CAPE Board Member

Dr. Laurette Geldenhuys was trained as a physician and a pathologist in South Africa, and has masters degrees in Anatomical Pathology and Medical Education. She is a Professor at Dalhousie University and specializes in her medical practice in the pathology of medical diseases of the kidney, including transplantation. She also has interests in Medical Education, the Medical Humanities, including Medical History, and most recently and most passionately, Planetary Health. She served as Division Head and Service Chief of Anatomical Pathology at the QEII Health Sciences Centre for 10 years; and is a Past President of the Canadian Association of Pathologists (CAP-ACP); Vice Chair of the CAP- ACP Section on the Humanities and International Health; Chair of the CAP- ACP National Specialty Network on the Environment; Chair of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment’s Nova Scotian Regional Committee (CAPE NS); and member of the Board of Directors of the Ecology Action Centre, the Department of Pathology Green Team, and St. Matthew’s United Church Earth Spirit Action Team. She is particularly interested in the greening of health care; the health effects of the climate emergency; and the beneficial health effects of spending time in nature. Her three lovely daughters, her two adorable grandsons, and her love of nature inspire her in her planetary health advocacy.

Dr. Ojistoh Horn

CAPE Board Member

Ojistoh Kahnawahere Horn is a Mohawk / Haudenosaunee woman whose mother is from Kahnawake and father is from Akwesasne. She is Bear Clan, has many children, and is traditionally minded.  Working as a family physician she helps her people through all stages of the life cycle.  Presently, she focuses her time in the outpatient clinics, homes, and long-term care facilities of Akwesasne.  She teaches medical students and residents the complexities of providing primary care to Indigenous peoples and their communities.  Drawing on both Western and Traditional paradigms, working with like-minded Indigenous and non-Indigenous physicians across the country, and with a clear eye on the effects of the environment and pollution on health, she promotes the inclusion and support of traditional knowledge and ‘ways of being’ into a framework for providing holistic and primary care to her people.