Volunteer Contributors

Header photo credit: Marg O’Reilly

We’re all volunteers … The original aim of Climate Momentum when we launched in April 2019 was to encourage conversation about climate change and climate solutions. We started with a blog that highlighted positive climate action news and climate champions in Stratford and Perth County. Our coordinators and blog writers were our original volunteers.

But soon more was happening! We coordinated an intergenerational team of volunteers to collaboratively organize a Fridays For Future parade, rally, and eco info fair in Stratford on September 20th 2019, plus we started a workshop series with the Stratford Public Library. We’ve hosted many “mixer” gatherings to get eco-minded folks together and we now have working groups for learning and action on a variety of climate topics and issues for a just and equitable recovery from the pandemic.

All this activity is initiated and implemented thanks to energized and committed volunteers who raise their voices, share their skills, and try new things. THANK YOU!

Some of our volunteers are listed below. And new local volunteers are always welcome. Email us to get involved!

Emily Adam

Emily graduated high school from St. Michaels in 2019, and will be pursuing a bachelor of applied science degree at the University of British Columbia. Emily hopes to educate herself and others through Climate Momentum, and strives to better the environmental conditions of our planet!

Dariel Bateman

The future of the planet and a healthy future for our three granddaughters got me involved in the issues and calls to action about climate control. I’m learning a lot having moved recently to Stratford. Being involved in local action impacting a global issue is fascinating, challenging, fun, and a great way to make new friends (who generously offer their trade secrets and wisdom!).  No plastic straws at our house and we are making our own yogurt. Well, it’s a start!!

Christy Bertrand

Christy Bertrand moved to Stratford in 2009 and has been the chair of Perth County Greenworks, a member of the city’s Energy & Environment Committee, and is now the President of Festival City Rotary. Having spent most of her career in print media and theatre, she migrated across Canada, wherever opportunity presented itself. Having experienced life in the city, in the forest, by the ocean, and on the farm, Christy enjoys learning about all the ecosystems wherever she goes, and finds it interesting how these systems affect the life that lives within them. Climate Momentum for survival.

Anne Carbert

Anne has a long history of volunteering for social justice and environmental causes. She grew up not far from Perth County and has lived in Stratford since 2013. She is self-employed and volunteers with many community organizations. Climate momentum for the love of nature, community, and the future!

Emily Chandler

Emily was born and raised in Stratford and happily moved back here after receiving her Master’s in Environment from the University of Waterloo. She worked in the food tourism sector for several years before returning to school once again in 2017 and receiving her Environmental Management and Assessment certificate from Niagara College. She is currently employed at the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority and is Chair of the City of Stratford’s Energy and Environment Committee.

Laura Cudworth

Laura Cudworth has a master’s degree in journalism from Western University and worked as a reporter at The Stratford Beacon Herald for close to 15 years. She now teaches writing at Conestoga College to a diverse group of students. She is currently pursuing certification in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL). This spring she will embrace the dandelions on her lawn as a food source for bees. Climate Momentum for all things wild and wonderful.

Hélène Fortin Crabb

Hélène started her career as a  field naturalist with Parks Canada. She moved to Energy, Mines and Resources (now Natural Resources Canada) as a French scientific editor during the energy crisis of the mid-70s. After the birth of her second child, Hélène continued work as a freelance translator and science editor in the fields of environmental science and agriculture. She remembers fondly the frantic months of work on the Kyoto Protocol and Industry Canada’s Sustainable Cities project. She moved to Stratford in 2013, shortly after retirement, and has since enjoyed being an advocate, rather than a messenger, on environmental issues.

Bill James-Abra

I’m incredibly fortunate to have lived and worked in Stratford for the past 25 years.  More than anything I want to be part of a community that’s committed to the well-being of our world. Now that I’ve been blessed with grandchildren, I’m deeply concerned for them and the world they’re inheriting.  It’s for the love of them and the planet that I’m part of Climate Momentum.

Don Landry

Don is an experienced broadcaster and writer who spent the bulk of his career working in Toronto radio before moving to Stratford in 2013. He is Past President of the Perth County Alzheimer Society Board and believes positive climate momentum begins in one’s own community.

Natasha McCormick

Having a deep admiration and gratitude for nature, Mother Earth, all elements and forms, I thought I was respecting The Universe by being an avid recycler and reuser, until watching “A Plastic Ocean.” This documentary has changed life forever. I now realize that we need to turn Reduce, Reuse, Recycle to Eliminate, Extend, Evolve! Let’s Experiment, be financially Efficient and Excited! Raising awareness, providing resources and giving examples is key in leading the way in what may feel like an overwhelming time. Spreading gratitude, unconditional love, hope, and forgiveness is life changing. We are All One, so when one person transforms, we all transform. Bring it ONTario!!

Jenn Mezei

I think the systems working to capture our desires and focus with a need to consume have lead us to a disconnection from our environment and we must reclaim a wild, and more respectful relationship to nature. As a high school arts educator/ artist some of my recent work has come to exist as large scale paintings that occupy a space within the natural landscape in which I place them. I love to go camping and spend hours outdoors with my family. I also love the opportunity to collaborate with others who share a passion for creating things that can help engage others in the preservation of nature. I am eager to create more environmentally focused work, with emphasis on food security as well as with messages that amplify the voices of Indigenous people who have long lead the preservation of our earth.

Marg (Mary Margaret) O’Reilly

Marg has enjoyed Stratford as her home for a number of years. Photography has become one of her “empty nest” hobbies. A favourite subject has been the beauty of nature in and around Stratford, so preserving our environment is a priority for her. Climate momentum for the love of all life!

Sammie Orr

Sammie Orr is grade 10 student in Stratford, Ontario. She began her interest of the environment and climate change in grade 7 and the next year was appointed the youth representative on the municipal Energy and Environment committee. She believes giving back to her community is important, and wants to work to protect the beauty of our planet.

Annemarie Reimer

One of the gifts of retirement is time. Time, as precious as money, can be donated to a cause and, for me, there is no greater cause than climate momentum and no better avenue than writing. Climate momentum for the love of this once pristine paradise and the young people who inherit it.

Nic Sibanda

I’m a long time gardener, and I’m particularly concerned about habitat and biodiversity loss. With so many climate change-related issues, I’ve struggled to find a way to make a difference when everything seems so urgent. After moving to Stratford in 2015, we started converting our lawn into native plant gardens to provide habitat for local species. It’s amazing what a difference it’s made, and our garden is really alive now. By adding back local habitat, we’ve provided immediate support to our local ecosystem. I strongly believe that important change can happen at an individual and community level, and Climate Momentum is the perfect place to bring this about.

Larke Turnbull

Larke spent 30 years as a reporter and editor for The Stratford Beacon Herald. Also an avid gardener, she’s deeply concerned about our environment and wants to do all she can to protect it. Climate momentum for the love of our planet.

Christy Winegarden

As a lover of native plants and the wild life that inhabits them, I am happy to be a volunteer on the focus group for Biodiversity Stratford. I am a social worker and photographer, who exhibits work at the Art District Gallery of Kitchener Waterloo. I make art to express what is on my heart, much of it relating to environmental themes.