Megan is from Ottawa, but has been living in British Columbia since 2011. After obtaining her MA in Natural Resource Management from the University of British Columbia in 2014, she moved to Invermere in August 2014 to pursue work in the field of community-based watershed stewardship.
As Program Coordinator of Lake Windermere Ambassadors, Megan develops projects to protect Lake Windermere and the watershed that drains into it. She gathers Directors, volunteers and partners with diverse backgrounds and expertise who share a passion for the watershed and community vitality in the region.
Wanting to develop her skills for facilitating group initiatives and actions, Megan recently attended ‘The Art of Hosting Water Dialogues’ in Bowen Island, BC,with support from the KCP Professional Development Bursary Program. “The workshop allowed me to practice creative leadership skills, like how to consciously build spaces for meaningful conversations. We also practiced strategies for harvesting key messages about emergent water issues in our region. Our small group developed trust and teamwork by working on real projects, including the new BC Water Sustainability Act regulations, re-establishing relationships between people and water in urban cities, and efforts to build greater integration and recognition of First Nations rights and values into watershed management. All of our projects shared in this challenge of engaging diverse opinions, knowing that a multi-stakeholder approach is critical to future planning simply because water concerns everyone. Through our conversations, I realized that good dialogue is often chaotic at junctures, and that when we over-structure brainstorming (or meetings generally) we risk missing out on the opportunity to build trust through problem-solving, as well as the innovative thinking we are searching for to meet BC’s water challenges.”
Click here to learn more about Megan’s work with the Lake Windermere Ambassadors.