SPEAKERS
Marke Driesschen – CTV Morning Live
Marke Driesschen is a weather specialist for CTV Morning Live and CTV News in Vancouver.
A graduate of Seneca College in Toronto from Radio-TV Arts, Driesschen started his broadcasting career in radio with CFYN in Sault Ste. Marie before moving to Saskatoon shortly after. He spent the next eight years as morning host for CFMC-FM, as well as performing on stage with several of the city’s theatre and improvisational comedy groups.
Marke started his television debut as a Weathercaster and Host for STV in Saskatoon and then moved to Winnipeg as a Weathercaster and Entertainment Reporter for CKND-TV.
In the early 1990’s he moved out west to Vancouver where he was the host for Your Town on CKVU-TV as well as their weather specialist. He also continued to perform stand-up and improvisational comedy, performing at many of the city’s comedy venues and opening shows of Steven Wright, Louis Anderson and Dennis Miller.
In 2009, Marke went back to the radio air waves and co-hosted a show on Talk 1410 (CFUN-AM) with Nikki Renshaw called The Nik and Marke Show, a daily talk show about the day’s news and hot topics.
When Marke isn’t telling us about the weather, you may also see him up on the big screens and other TV series, as he has appeared in Final Destination 2, Smallville, Mr. Magoo, Elektra and The Dead Zone.
He also continues to help host and emcee events for many charitable organizations, such as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Marke is delighted to be working alongside JDRF with their annual Rockin’ for Research and the Ride for Diabetes Research.Away from the stage and television, Marke likes to spend time with his family. He also enjoys getting out on the North Shore trails with his dog Brodie, biking, going to BC Lions games (he’s a long time season ticket holder) and travelling.
Salimah Ebrahim – Journalist & Co Founder of Artery
Launching her foreign journalism career in the alleyways of Cairo, Egypt, her assignments, for print and broadcast outlets – including Reuters, CBC Television, The Globe and Mail, The Cairo Times and A & E’s Biography Channel – covering global politics, arts and culture in the Middle East, the White House, the war in Iraq and most recently environmental security challenges in Africa – have afforded Salimah a unique view of international affairs since the age of 17.
Combining her journalism and diverse background, Ebrahim is also an accomplished environmentalist having co-founded Spirit Bear Youth Coalition – the largest youth-led environmental network with 6 million members in 64 countries.
She has been awarded and recognized for her work as both journalist and environmentalist, having been chosen and profiled by CBC Television as one of 25 Canadians who are changing the world; declared by Chatelaine magazine one of its 80 amazing Canadian women to watch; and honoured by the World Economic Forum in 2009 as a Young Global Leader.
Her latest adventure is co-founding Artery (artery.is) – a new platform that is changing the way creative experiences are accessed, shared and supported all over the world.
Landon Mackenzie – Artist
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Landon Mackenzie is an acclaimed visual artist with paintings in many outstanding collections including multiple works at the National Gallery of Canada, Vancouver Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Ontario, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and Musee d’art contemporain. Her large format works are in several Canadian Embassies and have been shown in over 100 exhibitions in Canada and internationally since 1980 including most recently a solo survey at the ESKER Foundation in Calgary “Landon Mackenzie: Nervous Centres”, “Tracing Mobility: Cartography in Networked Space” in Berlin and this year “Emily Carr and Landon Mackenzie: Woodchopper and the Monkey” at the VAG showing 50 works between the two artists.
Mackenzie has been teaching Visual Arts for 35 years beginning at Concordia University and now 28 years at Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver where she also was appointed the first full Professor. She received the Inaugural Ian Wallace Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2007 and both the Golden and Diamond Jubilee Queen Elizabeth II Medals for her outstanding contribution to culture in Canada.
She holds a BFA from NSCAD and an MFA from Concordia University and has influenced students from across many disciplines through critiques and seminars as a Visiting Artist at many Universities and Art Schools in Canada, US, Europe and China. As a former Trustee of the Vancouver Art Gallery, Mackenzie was on their governance restructuring committee after a troubled period from 1999-2002. She as served on many juries including the Canada Council, BMO 1st, RCB Prize and NGC Prize for Youth Artists. She has served on Governing Council of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and Chair of their Scholarship Committee. Currently she is Trustee and Awards Coordinator of the Joseph Plaskett Foundation. At Emily Carr University she has served as Head of Painting (back in the day), a member of Governing Council, Assistant Dean of Research for Visual Arts and Academic Liaison for International Initiatives.
Andrea Paquette – Stigma Stomper
Andrea Paquette, AKA Bipolar Babe is the Founder & President of the Stigma-Free Society She is also the Stigma-Free Zone Movement Co-Founder.
Andrea is passionate about educating today’s youth in schools and all people in the community about various stigmas, with a focus on mental health, that negatively affect people’s perceptions of themselves and others. She is an award winning mental health activist, educator, facilitator, speaker and published author. Andrea is the 2015 Courage To Come Back Award Recipient in the category of Mental Health given by Coast Mental Health, Vancouver Island’s 2015 Top 20 Under 40 Recipient, and the Winner of the 2013 Award for Youth Mentorship from the National Council for Behavioral Health, Washington, D.C. She is also one of four Canadians named as an ambassador for the 2016 Faces of Mental Illness Campaign sponsored by Bell Let’s Talk.
Caroline MacGillivray – Beauty Night
A yoga teacher, dance instructor, writer, and speaker are select roles Caroline is known for. She is best known as the founder of Beauty Night Society, an award-winning registered Canadian charity. In 16 years, Beauty Night has given more than 60,000 life-makeovers to women who live in poverty. Her efforts have not gone unnoticed: she is honoured to be a 2002 Flare Volunteer Award (national) recipient, Shakti Public Service 2012 recipient, 2010 Spirit of the Crane Gold Community Award recipient, MetoWe Finalist (National), 2 time Woman of Worth finalist and a five-time YWCA Woman of Distinction Nominee.
Katheryn Petersen & Ben Meti – Accordion Noir
Katheryn and her red accordion have been inseparable for years. If you see her on the street she will no doubt be hefting a distinctive piece of luggage that is regularly mistaken as an electronic typewriter case. Indeed, the tapping of her keys makes a joyful sound but hers are attached to bellows and not ink ribbons and have accompanied her on tours through Europe, the United States, and all over BC and Alberta with long term projects including: Vaudeville Vagabonds, Blackberry Wood, Joanna Chapman Smith, Something About Reptiles, The Andy Tabb Welcome Band, Lindy and the Crow’s Nest, Los Portenos del Norte, Melissa Bandura, and Moth Orbit Object Theatre. Katheryn also teaches accordion privately, is the Artistic Director of the Accordion Noir Society, and the Vice-chairperson of the Jam Camp Society.
Pieter Romer – TV Producer & Documentarian
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Romer is Nisga’a from the wolf clan in northern British Columbia and Frisian from Northern Holland. For 18 years he has lived on a 42 foot commercial fishing boat on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Today he is an award-winning Documentary Produce, Director and Writer with 16 years in television productions.
He is the former Senior Producer for APTN’s News and Current Affairs in Western Canada. He has produced over a hundred hours of long form broadcast on major networks.
Some of his highlights are documenting the indigenous people of Japan, the Ainu, Haida repatriation in New York, and keeping up with the traditional caribou hunters 30 miles above the arctic circle in the Northwest Territories. He was recently an assistant director on the APTN series Tribal Police Files as well as Associate producer for the biography series All Our Relations. Pieter’s education is in motion pictures. He is also the proud co-owner of www.firststorymedia.ca
Philippe Tortell – Oceanographer
Dr. Philippe Tortell was appointed the Director of the Peter Wall Institute in May 2016, and was a Wall Scholar from 2014-2016. He is also a Professor in the Departments of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences and Botany at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Tortell received his BSc in Biology at McGill University (1994), and an MA (1997) and PhD (2001) in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University. He is a sea-going oceanographer with broad interests in marine biogeochemical cycles and ocean-climate interactions. His research is focused on understanding the potential climate effects on Arctic and Antarctic marine systems.
Through his interactions at the Institute, he has fostered wide ranging and inter-disciplinary discussions on Arctic-related issues, with a primary focus on climate change research, and explored innovative and novel approaches to represent microbial and environmental data.
GALLERY