Changemaker protects local ecosystems through public engagement and outreach

Last spring, resource and environmental management student Emma Kingsland received a 2023 Changemaker Award for her extensive public engagement work and contributions to the Year of the Salish Sea initiative.

The Year of the Salish Sea initiative, developed and put forward to the City of Vancouver (COV) by the Fall 2021 Semester in Dialogue cohort, aims to support a healthy Salish Sea ecosystem by amplifying existing ocean stewardship efforts, increasing opportunity for public education, and advocating for meaningful policy change. As a final project, students convinced the COV to join and formally proclaim June 6, 2022, through June 7, 2023 the Year of the Salish Sea. 

Even though the semester was over, an entire year of the initiative remained and Emma and two of her dedicated classmates continued their work on the project. They went on to present to nine more municipalities on the coast of B.C. and Washington — all of which joined in making the proclamation.

“It was really exciting that 10 municipalities all recognized the significance of supporting coastal stewardship and collaboration,” says Emma. 

Emma started out at SFU studying education, but switched her major after finding a passion for conservation and environmental work at the BC Wildlife Federation (BCWF).  

She has worked with the BCWF in various roles and departments since 2018, doing outreach and engagement as programs intern and then as a programs and projects assistant. She also spent a summer working in their Fish Habitat Restoration and Education program and another in marketing and development. Currently, she is doing wetland restoration work as a field technician.

“Environmental education always finds a way into what I’m working on,” Emma says, sharing a recent experience engaging with schools with the BCWF to teach kids about nearby wetlands. “It was a really nice full-circle moment to be working with schools again, seeing the excitement of the students and showing them the bugs in their wetland.”

This summer, Emma used her Changemaker Award prize money to attend and promote the Year of the Salish Sea at Coastal Zone Canada, a conference in Victoria. She says it was a great opportunity to reconnect with people their team met throughout the year and through the Semester in Dialogue. “And to make new connections as well,” she adds.

She has also recently been appointed to a community advisory group for the City of Vancouver’s new Ecological Inventory and Network project, which will help inform the city’s 30-year sustainability plan by providing a sense of community interests and concerns in addressing ecology, ecological restoration, policy, and stewardship.

Though the Year of the Salish Sea is over, Emma says she and her partners are reflecting on next steps. “It’s a really big passion project for us and we’re really excited to see how it moves forward. It’s not going to just abruptly end; we’re going to keep working on it in a new way.”