Shawna Pandya
Dr. Shawna Pandya is a physician, scientist-astronaut candidate program graduate with the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences/Project PoSSUM, aquanaut, speaker, martial artist, advanced diver, skydiver, pilot-in-training, VP Immersive Medicine with Luxsonic Technologies, Director of Medical Research at Orbital Assembly Construction, and Fellow of the Explorers’ Club. She is also Director of the International Institute of Astronautical Sciences (IIAS)/PoSSUM Space Medicine Group, Chief Instructor of the IIAS/PoSSUM Operational Space Medicine course, a clinical lecturer at the University of Alberta, podcast host with the World Extreme Medicine’s WEMCast series, Primary Investigator (PI) for the Shad Canada-Blue Origin student microgravity competition, member of the ASCEND 2021 Guiding Coalition, and Life Sciences Team Lead for the Association of Spaceflight Professionals. She serves as a medical advisor to several space, medical and technology companies. Dr. Pandya was part of the first crew to test a commercial spacesuit in zero-gravity in 2015. She earned her aquanaut designation during the 2019 NEPTUNE (Nautical Experiments in Physiology, Technology and Underwater Exploration) mission. She previously served as Commander during a 2020 tour at the Mars Desert Research Station. In 2021, Dr. Pandya was granted an Honorary Fellowship in Extreme and Wilderness Medicine by the World Extreme Medicine organization and named one of the Women’s Executive Network’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada, as well as a Canadian Space Agency Space Ambassador. Her career and trajectory have been captured at the Ontario Science Center’s “Canadian Women in Space,” exhibit, alongside Dr. Roberta Bondar, the first Canadian woman in space (and Dr. Pandya’s idol growing up).
3 words to describe Nature?
Vast. Inspiring. Infinite
3 things Nature taught you?
To be in the moment
To be prepared
That everything else can wait
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The Canadian Rockies
Hapuna Beach, Kona, Hawaii
The sunset over the pond behind my parents' house
When you look at the OCEAN, it makes you feel...?
At peace, knowing that I am one tiny part of infinity.
When you see a FOREST, it makes you feel...?
Like I am at the start of an adventure.
When you see a VOLCANO, it makes you feel...?
Full of awe at nature's power.
When you see a SUNRISE or SUNSET, it makes you feel...?
Grateful and satisfied to be able to have that moment to appreciate.
When you hear THUNDER, it makes you feel...?
Excited for the subsequent storm.
When you hear the WIND HOWLING, it makes you feel...?
Like I am in a mystery or adventure novel!
Are you an OCEAN, MOUNTAIN, FOREST, or DESERT person?
All of the above
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
When I was 14, we went on a survival camp. My best friend and I were only 2 of a handful of girls in a class of over 35. We proudly built and slept in one of the best lean-tos, and managed to keep a fire going all night. We also went caving on that same trip!
Peter Simons
Peter Simons is the President and Chief Executive Officer of La Maison Simons. Established in 1840, La Maison Simons, commonly known as Simons, is a family-owned fashion retailer in Canada and is known for its outstanding corporate citizenship. Simons, and his brother Richard, took over the business in 1996, becoming the fifth generation of the Simons family to run the company.
Upon a visit to Paris, he discovered one of the seven existing Fontaine de Tourny pieces in an antique shop. The fountain was once located in the Allées de Tourny in Bordeaux. Simons had the fountain restored on Île d’Orléans and donated it to Quebec City as a gift for its 400th anniversary. It was installed in front of the National Assembly of Quebec in July 2007.
Peter Simons was recognized as a Knight of the National Order of Quebec in 2008, was awarded the Order of Canada in 2018, and received an Honorary Doctorate from Concordia University in 2019.
3 words to describe Nature?
Powerful. Wondrous. Inspiring
3 things Nature taught you?
Gratefulness
Resilience
Mindfulness
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Lake Lacon
Rivière aux Feuilles, Ungava Bay
My little vegetable garden
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
The power of nature
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
The harmony of life
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
The mystery of existence
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Hopeful or melancholic
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Like a child again.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Adventurous
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Forest
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
9
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Flyfishing with my grandfather in Northern Quebec
Kirstine Stewart
Kirstine Stewart is the Head of Shaping the Future of Media and a Member of the Executive Committee at the World Economic Forum where she leads a team working with the CEOs, Chairs and other CSuite execs from more than 40 major global media companies including Google, Facebook, Tencent, NBCU, Bytedance and more. The team works with these media leaders to keep the industry on the leading edge in a disrupted marketplace.
Kirstine first worked at the intersection of tech and media when she led the Media and Content Teams as VP North America for Twitter, transitioning after she built the fastest-growing Twitter ad sales office in the world, located in Canada. As VP Media in New York, Kirstine led teams driving content creation and business partnerships in News and Government, Entertainment, Music, and Sports.
Before moving to Twitter, Kirstine was the Head of Canada’s national broadcaster the CBC. She is credited with reviving the public broadcaster by introducing such hit shows as Dragons’ Den, Murdoch Mysteries, Heartland, and more, expanding CBC’s reach across TV and Radio and taking the Corp through a major digital transformation marked by the 2014 Olympics.
Over her career, Kirstine held series of executive positions in Canada, and the US focused on the global expansion of US brands including leading Canada’s HGTV and Food network and management and programming 37 international channels for Hallmark with offices in Denver, Hong Kong, New York, and LA.
Prior to her work at the Forum, Kirstine held C-suite positions at two successful tech startups, the most recent being digital transformation company TribalScale working with John Hancock and Emirates among other international Fortune 1000 companies. She has served on a number of public, private, and nonprofit boards and advisories including TheScore, WOW (Creators of Castlevania) PSP Investments, and Ryerson University’s DMZ.
Kirstine is also the author of the bestselling leadership book published by Random House “Our Turn”.
3 words to describe Nature?
Overwhelming. Beautiful. Respect
3 things Nature taught you?
That there are literally things bigger than yourself.
That humans are not in control.
But that humans can do damage on a horrendous scale.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The pitons of St Lucia
The Niagara escarpment
The Colorado Rockies
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Calm
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Inquisitive
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Trembling
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Alive
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Guttural
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Displaced
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Lake & river
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Falling in the 16mile creek catching crawfish at school
Cory Trepanier
Cory Trépanier is a Canadian landscape painter and filmmaker best known for his detailed oil paintings of the Canadian wilderness. He is also the creator of five films documenting his extensive painting journeys: "A Painter’s Odyssey", "Into the Arctic", "Into the Arctic II”, "TrueWild: Kluane” and "Into the Arctic: Awakening"
Canadian Geographic named Trépanier one of Canada’s Top 100 Living Explorers. He is a fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, a National Champion of the Great Trail, and a member of The Explorers Club, where he received the Canadian Chapters highest award, the Stefansson Medal.
In 2019, Cory partnered with the Canadian Geographic Education to create the INTO THE ARCTIC Film Trilogy K-12 teachers guide where his films are being made available to educators and students nationwide and beyond for free. Seven modules educate and engage about geography, environmental and social sciences, humanities, Indigenous culture, history, survival, and the arts.
In the Fall of 2020, Trépanier is set to launch a coffee table book entitled "INTO THE ARCTIC: Paintings of Canada’s Changing North" with Rocky Mountain Books. The coffee table book will feature his Arctic paintings, sketches and stories and feature a foreward by HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco.
Trépanier has been featured in media around the globe, and his documentaries broadcast internationally, sharing his passion for the wild places that he explores and paints.
3 words to describe Nature?
Beautiful. Irreplaceable. Freedom
3 things Nature taught you?
Patience
Wonder
Humility
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The forest behind my home and studio in Caledon, Ontario
Lake Superior’s Canadian coastline
The Canadian Arctic. Can that 1.5 million square kilometres of archipelago be consider a “spot”?
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Very small, but free, and curious about what lies beyond
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Alive, surrounded by an endless living biodiversity, a nursery to so many forms of life
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
In awe at the power of nature, and wanting to reach of for my easel some day to try and paint this stunning display from life “en plein air”
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
At peace, and grateful for a new to come, another day lived, and a new world about to unfold in the night sky
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Excited for the show that is about to begin. And like a kid, reaching for a bar of soap and running outside into a rain storm for a quick shower, feeling the rain drops pelting down and stinging my skin as it washes me clean
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Awakened, as fresh air rushes into my lungs with each breath I get a sense of adventure tingling inside. I want to face into it with my eyes closed and feel it rush by.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Being an Ontario native, I grew up more of a Forest person. My painting expeditions however — to the Arctic and other places — have deepened my appreciation for Mountains and Oceans in the last couple of decades. And even the Desert, as in the Polar Desert. I long to bring my easel to a hot desert some day, to try and capture the stunning beauty of its sandy curves and desert sun. Maybe then I will become more of a desert person too :)
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
Ten. With so much negativity and challenges in the world — especially now in these unprecedented times of a pandemic and environmental degradation — time in nature, or even just contemplating nature, reminds me that there is so much to celebrate in this world. It feeds my sense of wonder and appreciation for each breath I take, and inspires me to share this experience with others, in hopes that they too may have their lives enriched by this gift that is available for free to all.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I was maybe 10 or 11, and my family had moved to a farm near North Bay, Ontario: 200 hundred acres that backed onto 2,000 acres of Crown land. There was a creek behind our place, and my older brother Carl I had a small leaky dingy that we barely fit in. We got up early, dragged it through the field, and began meandering down the creek into the unexplored frontiers of our “backyard”. Chasing frogs, seeing waterfowl of all kinds, we were drawn onward by the lure of the unknown that lay beyond each bend. We carried on our quest until the sun lowered in the sky, eventually making our way back home. It was 30 years later, when my brother joined me in the Arctic for a month-long expedition to Ellesmere Island, that I realized how deeply that day from our youth, and many others like, embedded a desire for me to be in nature. A desire that would grow into a life long pursuit.
Karen Elliott
Karen Elliott was elected as Mayor of the District of Squamish, British Columbia in October 2018 after serving as a member of Squamish Council from 2014-2018. She moved to Squamish in 2012 after spending six years abroad in Melbourne, Australia. Karen decided to run for elected office because she quickly realized the significant opportunities and challenges that lay ahead for Squamish as it experienced significant growth and big city pressures, despite its small town feel. During her time on Council, Karen chaired the Community Development Committee, Finance and Audit Committee and was the Council representative on the Food Policy Council, the Library Board, and the Community Advisory Community for the Official Community Plan review.
In addition to her Council duties, from 2016 - 2018, Karen served as the first Ombudsperson for Quest University Canada, working with students, staff and faculty to ensure policies and practices were fair and followed the principles of natural justice. In addition, Karen has 15 years of consulting experience as a specialist in organizational effectiveness and leadership development. She supports her clients with strategic planning, team and leadership development, change management and large group facilitation. When she is not at work, Karen is a literacy tutor and enjoys spending time with her family and friends exploring the beautiful environment around Squamish.
3 words to describe Nature?
Inspiring. Evolving. Home
3 things Nature taught you?
Patience
Courage
Systems thinking - about how everything is connected.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The middle of a prairie
The top of a mountain
Around the campfire
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
I am not an ocean person to be honest. Although I appreciate the ocean’s beauty and vitality, there is something a little unsettling when I look at this vast mass of water. It reminds me that there is a whole world I cannot see.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Like taking a deep breathe and walking quietly.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
It makes me think about the creative power of the earth, about creation and not so much about destruction.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
When I see a sunrise, I am grateful for the day ahead. When I see a sunset, I am grateful for the day I just experienced. Sometimes, I will admit, I am just grateful that the day is over!
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Anticipation. In fact, during a thunderstorm, every time I see the flash of a lightning, I start counting the seconds until I hear the big bang so that I can calculate how far away the impact was. I have been doing this since I was a child and it is habit now.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Like wanting my loved ones to be close, like coming together. It creates in me the desire or instinct to protect.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
I would say mountain and forest because of where I live now but really, I am a prairie person. I love these endless landscapes and the big skies. It is home for me. I am a long term, big picture thinker and the prairie gives you that perspective. You see things from far away, you see them approaching, passing by and leaving, providing you with different perspectives with which to take it all in.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10 because of where we are today. We often say that we don’t appreciate something until it is gone. With the current state of our planet, nature and our relationship to it at risk, we must find our way back to nature and reconnect. The planet can exist without us. But we can’t exist without a healthy planet. It is the only support system we have.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Paddling with a friend, on a lake in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario late one night and watching the moon rise. Suddenly the trees up on the hills started to turn orange, like they were on fire. For a few minutes we couldn’t understand what was happening. And then this massive moon started to rise. It was like a sunrise! I was speechless and humbled by the incredible beauty of what I was seeing. I was a teenager at the time, and this moment really affected me. It broke through my self-centred teenage attitude and made me realize that I didn’t know it all, and hadn’t seen it all. It shifted my perspective and made me start appreciating many things that I took for granted, or hadn’t taken the time to really see.
Jean-Charles Boisset
Jean-Charles Boisset is a leading producer of luxury wines in France, California and Canada. His parents, Jean-Claude and Claudine, founded the family winery in 1961 with an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit in one of the most traditional winegrowing regions in the world. Today, the family collection includes wineries that share more than 20 centuries of combined winemaking heritage and tradition in some of the world’s most prestigious terroirs, from Burgundy to the South of France, to California’s Napa Valley and Russian River Valley, including Domaine de la Vougeraie, Jean-Claude Boisset, Raymond Vineyards, Buena Vista Winery, DeLoach Vineyards, and many more.
Jean-Charles has expanded from the world of wine and spirits to include a lifestyle vision; he has created namesake collections for jewelry, perfume and the JCB Passion Collection by Baccarat — the first glassware line the historic French crystal company has ever done with a vintner. In addition, the JCB offerings include home accessories that exemplify the JCB world of hospitality and entertaining. As a natural extension of his growing influence in the lifestyle realm, in June 2019 Senses by JCB, a fashion and fragrance boutique and medi-spa debuted in the JCB Village in Yountville. Senses showcases high-profile luxury fashion, accessories and skincare products from around the world, with highlights including a selection of vintage handbags as well as an osmologue machine that enables guests to blend custom scents.
Jean-Charles’ sets forth a vision of the wine and luxury worlds centered on family, passion, history, innovation and a commitment to sustainability. Decanter magazine has included him on its “Power List” of the 50 most important people in the wine world each year of its publication since 2007; in March 2008, he received the Meininger’s International Wine Entrepreneur of the Year; and in December 2008, he was named “Innovator of the Year” by Wine Enthusiast. The French-American Foundation awarded him their first-ever French-American Partnership Award in 2013, bestowed upon an extraordinary individual or organization that has contributed to creating a strong and enduring French-American partnership in business, government or academia. Haute Living named him to the Haute List San Francisco, recognizing the 100 most influential people in the San Francisco Bay Area. He was honored with the 2014 Jefferson Award by the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, which celebrates the museum’s historical connection to wine. Also in 2014, JFK University in Concord named Jean-Charles and his wife Gina Gallo its “Entrepreneurs of the Year.” In 2015 Jean-Charles was named an Honorary Co-Chair of that year’s Sonoma Harvest Wine Auction, which broke all records by raising a staggering $4.5 million. In March 2017, Jean-Charles and Gina received the Mondavi Food & Wine award Robert Mondavi Wine & Food award by The Collins College of Hospitality Management in honor of their vision and leadership to advance the wine industry. In May 2019 Jean-Charles accepted the Wine Country Business of the Year French American Business Award from the French American Chamber of Commerce of San Francisco.
3 words to describe Nature?
Inspirational. Generous. Beautiful
3 things Nature taught you?
Respect
Authenticity
Truth
3 most treasured Nature spots?
In the vineyard
On the ocean
In the air
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Energized
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Oxygenated
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
On fire
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Reflective
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Excited
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Inspired
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Ocean
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
11
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I have this vivid memory when I was 7 years old. Growing up in France, roaming the vineyard, we were always connected to the land, to nature, and the rhythm of the seasons. I felt the pendulum of life, being in touch with all the forces and the vibrations of the universe. I felt this energy pulling me in, it was magnetic. Winemaking, creating from the earth and nourishing our spirit, is for me a celebration of this memory I felt as a boy.
Barrie Mowatt
Barrie Mowatt, a pioneer of visual arts, has a long and accomplished history as an educator, philanthropist, and entrepreneur opening the Buschlen Mowatt Fine Art gallery in 1979. Barrie is the visionary behind the Vancouver Biennale Open Air Museum, where he combines his passion for art, education and community service in exhibitions that bring great art to public spaces where people live, work, play and transit, free for all to enjoy, explore and be inspired by. Barrie is also the founder of the Celebration of Hope Foundation, co-founder of Taste the Nation, and the Buschlen Mowatt Scholarship Program at Arts Umbrella. Barrie received the Vancouver Business in Arts Award from the Vancouver Board of Trade, and the Ethics in Action Award, presented by Vancouver City Savings and the BC Work Ministry. He has twice been nominated for Western Canada’s Entrepreneur of the Year in the category of socially responsible businesses.
3 words to describe Nature?
INCREDIBLE. AWE INSPIRING. MAGICAL
3 things Nature taught you?
PATIENCE
GRATITUDE
FRAGILITY OF LIFE
3 most treasured Nature spots?
JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL FOREST
YOSEMITE
HAIDA GWAII
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
DWARFED AND INSIGNIFICANT
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
ALIVE AND REFRESHED
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
EXCITED, CURIOUS AND IN AWE
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
GRATEFUL TO BE ALIVE IN THAT MOMENT
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
ALIVE AND CURIOUS ABOUT WHAT WILL FOLLOW
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
ALIVE AND EXCITED
Are you an Ocean, Mountain,Forest, or Desert person?
I’M ALL 4 OF THESE.
I LUV LOOKING AT, CLIMBING & BEING ON TOP OF MTNS; AS WELL I LUV BEING DEEP IN FORESTS, AND IN THE OPEN DESOLATE DESERT AND WATCHING AND LISTENING TO THE POWER OF THE SURF...EACH ARE INSPIRATIONAL RETREATS WHERE I CAN BE AT ONE ONE WITH MYSELF AND IN AWE OF THEIR GRANDEUR AND IMMENSITY.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
BEING ALONE IN THE MTNS PICKING HUCKLEBERRIES, DISCOVERING LADY SLIPPERS AND RUNNING NAKED AMONG THE TREES AND TALL GRASSES!
Ross Beaty
ROSS BEATY is a geologist and entrepreneur in the international minerals and renewable energy industries. He currently Chairs Pan American Silver Corp. and Equinox Gold Corp. and has founded and divested many other resource companies. He is also an environmental philanthropist, primarily through The Sitka Foundation. He serves on the Advisory Board of the Nature Trust of BC, is a Director of The Pacific Salmon Foundation and Panthera, and is patron of the Beaty Biodiversity Center at the University of BC. Mr. Beaty was appointed to The Order of Canada in 2017 and the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame in 2018.
3 words to describe Nature?
Spiritual. Wondrous. Sustainable
3 things Nature taught you?
What beauty really is.
What sustainable systems look like.
The ability to enjoy simple things without all the junk in urban systems.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Patagonia
BC coast
Galapagos
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Small
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Fulfilled
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
If it’s an active volcano it’s always awesome. If it’s an extinct volcano I always think of the power of plate tectonics.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Beauty
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Appreciative of the power of nature
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Ditto
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Mountain
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Hiking and camping with my family.
Brian MacKay-Lyons
BRIAN MACKAY-LYONS received his Bachelor of Architecture from the Technical University of Nova Scotia in 1978 where he was awarded the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Medal. He received his Master of Architecture and Urban Design at U.C.L.A., and was awarded the Dean’s Award for Design. In 1985, he founded the firm Brian MacKay-Lyons Architecture Urban Design in Halifax. Twenty years later, Brian partnered with Talbot Sweetapple to form MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects Limited.
The firm has built an international reputation for design excellence confirmed by over 125+ awards, including the Royal Institute of British Architects International Fellowship in 2016, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Gold Medal in 2015 and Firm Award in 2014, six Governor General Medals, two American Institute of Architects National Honor Awards for Architecture, thirteen Lieutenant Governor’s Medals of Excellence, eight Canadian Architect Awards, four Architectural Record Houses Awards, eight North American Wood Design Awards and in 2017 the firm received the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture. Also in 2017, the firm has been shortlisted for the prestigious Moriyama Award (result pending). A fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (FRAIC), and the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA), Brian was named Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (Hon FAIA) in 2001 and International Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (Int. FRIBA) in 2016.
He is a Professor of Architecture at Dalhousie University where he has taught for over thirty years and has held seventeen endowed academic chairs and given 200+ lectures internationally. In 2004 he was visiting professor for the Ruth and Norman Moore Professorship at Washington University in St. Louis.
Ghost (1994-2011) was a series of international Architectural Research Laboratories that took place on the MacKay-Lyons farm. Ghost was founded by Brian as a meeting place for an international ‘school’ of architects who shared a commitment to: landscape, making, and community. The final installment of Ghost took the form of a three-day historic gathering where the twenty-five invited guests and speakers commiserated over these shared values and their ‘resistance’ to the globalization of Architecture.
The work of the firm has been recognized in 330+ publications including six monographs: Seven Stories from a Village Architect (1996); Brian MacKay-Lyons: Selected Works 1986-1997 (1998); Plain Modern: The Architecture of Brian MacKay-Lyons by Malcolm Quantrill (2005); Ghost: Building an Architectural Vision (2008); Local Architecture: Building Place, Craft, and Community (2014); and Economy as Ethic: The Work of MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects, authored by Historian Robert McCarter, published April 2017. In addition to these monographs, the work of the firm has been featured in 100+ exhibitions internationally.
3 words to describe Nature?
As a fellow Canadian, Nature is IMMENSE. But, as a Nova Scotian, all Nature is a mixture of both CULTURAL and natural landscapes. As an architect, Nature is the ultimate design MODEL.
3 things Nature taught you?
NATURE WINS. Any attempt to beat nature loses.
ELEGANCE = economy of means.
RYTHM of the seasons.
We learn our manners at home, then take them out into the world. As a child, I have been imprinted by the landscape where my ancestors have dwelled for thousands of years.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
EDGE, where the land meets the sea.
ACADIE, the local Micmac word for the ecologically rich tidal estuaries around the Bay of Fundy, where I hunted and fished as a youth.
DRUMLIN, a hill that points in the direction of the retreating glaciers in the last ice age.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
I feel connected to the INFINITE. (Prospect)
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
I am ALONE. (Refuge)
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
I see a PORTAL to the center of the earth.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
A sunrise or sunset is a seasonal CLOCK.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Thunder, universally inspires TERROR.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
The wind is the weather FORECAST.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Clearly an OCEAN person.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
Nature connection is essential to my/our well-being, or GROUNDING, so it is a 10.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Dip netting spawning gaspereaux at dusk on spring evenings with friends, in the rapids, where the fresh water from the forest drops into the salt tidal estuary water. This is only one of the seasonal RITUALS that marked my PLACE in the world.
Julie Pointer Adams
JULIE POINTER ADAMS is an artist, floral designer, and most recently, author and photographer of a book on hospitality called Wabi-Sabi Welcome: Learning to embrace the imperfect and entertain with thoughtfulness and ease. She lived in Portland, Oregon for a number of years where she developed and directed the international community events for Kinfolk magazine alongside Editor Nathan Williams. Julie currently resides in Santa Barbara, California with her husband, Ryan.
3 words to describe Nature?
Healing, calming, worshipful
3 things Nature taught you?
To let go of worry; to be still and listening; to find beauty in unsuspecting places.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Sauvie Island, Oregon; St. John River, New Brunswick, Canada; beaches along the Santa Barbara, California coastline
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Powerless and grateful
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Quiet
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Small and temporal
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Happy-sad and hopeful
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Grounded
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Alive and reflective, as if a change is coming.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Ocean
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10!
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Most summers as a child were spent visiting my mother’s extended family in New Brunswick, Canada along the St. John River. I remember long days spent outside swimming, canoeing and exploring, but I particularly recall one day sitting hidden in the midst of tall grasses on a sloping hillside, shaded by birch trees. I felt in that moment that nature would always be a safe hiding place—a place to retreat to and be cradled by.