Raissa Marks

Interim Executive Director

Raissa is a collaborative leader with over 20 years of experience in the non-profit sector and a passion for healthy communities and the people within them. She has been guiding our team through this stage of rapid change and improving our systems with positivity and determination. A few of Raissa’s favourite things are gardening, hiking, and enjoying good, local food.

Raissa can be reached at raissa@cape.ca

Dr. Jane E. McArthur

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

Pamela Daoust, P.R.P.

National Communications Director

Pamela combines 15 years of experience in communications and public relations, and is skilled in raising awareness regarding environmental protection, public health, and social inequalities. She oversees our national and bilingual communications strategies. A few of Pamela’s favourite things are spending time in nature, travelling, and surfing.

Pamela can be reached at pamela@cape.ca

Twitter @PamelaDaoust

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

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. Leah Temper

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

Dr. Patricia Clermont

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

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

Emma Buchanan

Communications Coordinator

Dr. Anjali Helferty

Executive Director (on leave)

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. Joe Vipond

CAPE Board 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.

Dr. Melissa Lem

President-Elect

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. Courtney Howard

CAPE Past President

Dr. Howard is an emergency physician in Chief Drygeese Territory. A globally recognized leader on the impacts of climate change on human and planetary health, she has advanced policy and advocacy on active transport, ecoanxiety, movement-building, plant-rich diets, fossil fuel divestment, carbon pricing, coal phase-out, hydraulic fracturing, vaccine equity, and health impact assessments. She led the 2017-2019 Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change Briefings for Canadian Policymakers, was the 2018 international policy director for the Lancet Countdown, and has researched the health effects of wildfires and the effectiveness of menstrual cups.

Dr. Howard sits on the boards of the CMA and the Global Climate and Health Alliance, the steering committee of the Planetary Health Alliance, and the editorial advisory boards of the Lancet Planetary Health and the Journal of Climate Change and Health. She is co-chair of the WHO Civil Society Working Group on Climate Change and Health. She and her two daughters love to dance.

Dr. Larry Barzelai

CAPE Board Member

Dr. Larry Barzelai is a long-time Vancouver family physician. He has a special interest in geriatrics, and has been extensively involved in educating the next generation of family medicine residents in nursing home medicine.

He initiated CAPE BC, which was the first of many CAPE regional committees.

Two main themes have motivated his work with CAPE. The first is a love of nature, and the awareness of the integral part that nature plays in our well-being. The second is working to ensure that his grandchildren will grow up in a healthier world.

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

Dr. Samantha Green

CAPE Board Member

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. 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.

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. Claudel Pétrin-Desrosiers

CAPE Board Member

Twitter @c_pdesrosiers

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. 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.