CPAWS Southern Alberta Staff


Gord James, Chair		 Gord James recently retired after working at Suncor Energy for 25 years, with the last ten years as the corporate controller. He has used his skills as an accountant to help in the CPAWS office and later was asked to join the Board. Over the years, Gord has volunteered for a variety of organizations and has always had a love of wilderness. His job at Suncor took him and his family from Toronto to Calgary in 1995. Gord spent much of his time in the parks of Ontario, and here he has enjoyed living near the mountains and getting to experience a different landscape. He is passionate about hiking, cycling, and running.

Carey Booth, Director		 Carey Booth is the Senior Manager, for Corporate Programs with Climate Change Central. In previous careers, Carey was a teacher in the international baccaleaurate program both in Canada and abroad as well as working 13 years throughout Alberta Parks in education, operations and planning. His volunteer experience includes two terms with the Parks Canada Advisory Development Board, the Ranche Restoration Society, the Alberta Teachers Association, and community soccer coaching. His passion for wild places has spanned trans-ocean sailing adventures, the himilayas, Australian deserts, kayaking european rivers and nearly 20 years as a ACMG hiking guide throughout the Selkirk’s, Purcells, and Rockies. A born and raised Albertan, Carey and his family can often be found enjoying wild places skiing, paddling, fishing or cycling.

Susan Eaton, Director, Member of Conservation Committee		 Equipped with degrees in biology, geology, geophysics, and journalism, Susan reports on natural resources, renewable energy, the environment, eco-tourism, and science and technology. As a geologist and geophysicist, Susan has had a successful career in the Canadian energy sector, attaining the position of Vice President of Exploration in several junior companies. Active in the grassroots conservation sector since 1990, Susan's not-for-profit volunteer experience includes the Canadian Environmental Network’s Forest Caucus, the Grizzly Bear Alliance, and San Francisco-based Rainforest Action Network. Susan has been a director of the Calgary Rainforest Action Group, and Suncor Energy's representative on the Alberta Ecotrust Foundation's Board of Directors. She is passionate about protecting Canada’s wild spaces and the animals who call them home. Susan has travelled to remote locales, photographing grizzly bears, spirit bears, and polar bears. She's snorkelled with migrating salmon in Haida Gwaii, beluga whales in Hudson Bay, and leopard seals in Antarctica.

Liana McCreadie, Treasurer		 Liana McCreadie is a Chartered Accountant with a specialization in taxation. Liana’s professional career has been spent predominantly in public practice and is now focused on contract and non-profit work. Liana, a native of Saskatchewan, has a deep and passionate love and concern for wildlife and wilderness. Liana and her husband, Michael, have lived in Calgary for 21 years. They enjoy camping and hiking throughout Alberta and Western Canada with their three children.

David McIntyre, Director, Member of Conservation Committee		 David writes and photographs the land that he loves, working from his home on Rock Creek, in the shadow of the Livingstone Range in southwestern Alberta. For more than three decades, he has led educationally-focused hiking tours throughout the Canadian Rockies, along the Pacific coastline and across the storied mountains of Alberta, British Columbia, Montana, Oregon and Washington. David has also led whitewater rafting trips down Idaho's celebrated Salmon River (the "River of No Return"), and the Colorado River (through Grand Canyon). During this same time, he has managed public interpretive programming at the Frank Slide Interpretive Centre, Writing-On-Stone National Historic Site and two World Heritage Sites (Dinosaur Provincial Park and Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump). Today, David's work-and-play environment revolves around the enjoyment and protection of heritage landscapes.

Phil Nykyforuk, Director, Member of Conservation Committee		 Phil is a partner in the Advocacy Department of the law firm Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP in Calgary. He has practiced law for 20 years and has resided in Calgary since 1993. Phil was an active volunteer with CPAWS in its campaigns to protect the Whaleback and Spray Valley in Kananaskis. He regards CPAWS Southern Alberta as an important and effective voice for the many Albertans who wish to protect and preserve our wild landscapes and the species that inhabit them. Phil welcomes the opportunity to serve on the Board of Directors and working to ensure that his children and grandchildren have the same opportunity to experience the wonders of nature in our province. Phil enjoys hiking, cycling, jogging, bird watching and nature photography. He and his family are frequent visitors to Alberta’s National and Provincial Parks.

David Sauchyn, Director, Member of Conservation Committee		 Dave is a Professor of Geography at the University of Regina and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Lethbridge. His area of teaching and research is climate change. Dave and his students collect old wood, mostly from the eastern slopes of the Rockies, to extract information about the climate of the past millennium. He has been asked to share his perspective on climate change and its impacts on western Canada, with standing committees of the Canadian Senate and House of Commons and with provincial premiers and environment ministers. Dave and his wife Mary have three children, and 52 acres of pasture and a sheltered farm house west of Pincher Creek, where Dave likes to read, hike, ski and fish.

Daryl Beatty, Director		 Daryl is an economic development strategist who challenges the status quo to help build vibrant, dynamic communities. With over 20 years of community building, strategic consulting and project leadership experience, he has worked with a wide variety of organizations including Alberta Information and Communications Technology Council, The Banff Centre, COPD and Asthma Network of Alberta, Red Deer College Support Staff Association, The Leadership Centre of Central Alberta, Western Economic Diversification Canada and Assiniboia Institute for Professional Development. His work also includes an array of post-secondary and adult education roles where he has delivered programs in leadership, management, marketing, economics, mathematics, information technology, emergency preparedness and fire fighting. An active member of the community, he has served on over 25 boards and committees across all sectors of the community. Daryl enjoys an active lifestyle involving personal fitness and outdoor adventure, with cycling, skiing and hiking among his more popular pursuits.