President

Jocelyn Orb | BSN, M.A.

Jocelyn is the Sustainability Coordinator for the Saskatoon Health Region and a former employee of both SES and SEN. Jocelyn has a BA in Environmental Studies from University of Victoria and recently completed her MA in Political Studies at the U of S. She has been a volunteer for SES since 2005, helping with events such as EarthQuest, the Sustainable Gourmet and the Hike and Bike Challenge. She is an avid composter, dog walker and baker of brownies.

Vice President

Bert Weichel | M.Sc.

Bert Weichel is a lecturer in environmental studies and physical geography at the University of Saskatchewan and also a principal in the environmental consulting partnership, Johnson and Weichel. A long time board member of SES, he is also currently chair of the Saskatchewan Waste Reduction Council and secretary of the Saskatchewan Association for Resource Recovery Corp.

Treasurer

Melissa Strom | B.Sc., MBA

Melissa is a former employee of the Saskatchewan Environmental Society. She was hired in October of 2007 to work as the Marketer for the Energy Conservation Programs. She left this role in 2009 to focus on her job as a Special Lecturer at the Edwards School of Business in the Department of Marketing and Management. Previously, she was a research technician at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in the area of bio-control (no pesticides!). From a business perspective, she is interested in social entrepreneurship; businesses that exist with community to give back or participate in a sustainable manner. In her spare time, when she is not training for her first marathon, she is training to become a certified Pilates instructor.

Board Members

Sheri Praski | FEC, P. Eng

Max Abraham | M.Ed.

Max Abraham is retired from the Saskatoon Public School Division where he served as an elementary school teacher and administrator for his entire career. He served the goals and objectives of Outdoor and Environmental Education throughout his career and was heavily involved in establishing new programs and supporting important environmental concepts across the curriculum.  For the three years following his retirement, Max served as manager of Partners for the Saskatchewan River Basin and helped develop that organization both in delivery of program and creating a State of the Basin Report.  During the last three years he has served on the SES Water Committee.  Max’s spouse, Dalice, has recently retired from her position at RUH as a lactation consultant.  They now live at Pike Lake..

Ann Coxworth | M.Sc.

Ann Coxworth has been an active policy and research volunteer with SES for many years. With a background in nuclear chemistry and adult education, she has participated in many government and industry task groups and environmental assessment review processes. She has been a member of the board of the Saskatchewan Energy Conservation and Development Authority and of the Canadian Climate Action Network, and is currently part of the Saskatchewan Environmental Code Development Committee. Ann coordinates SES’s volunteer Climate Change Action Group, helps edit the newsletter, and spends two days a week working in the SES office.

Murray Hidlebaugh | M.Sc.

Murray Hidlebaugh retired after thirty-five years working in the recreation field. Three years were spent as a field consultant working in rural and northern Saskatchewan. Thirty- two years were spent teaching in what is now the Recreation and Tourism Department at SIAST, Kelsey Campus. His background is in urban and regional planning from a recreation perspective. He was involved in dam studies at Wintego Falls, on the Churchill River, the Nipawin Dam and Codette Lake project, as well as a series of dams proposed for the Saskatchewan River. He is currently involved in working with groups who are interested in promoting land and water uses that are environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable. He is on the Board of Regents of the Saskatchewan Association of Recreation Professionals. He is also appointed to the Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Association’s Parks Land Use Committee, and to the Advocacy Sub-Committee. He is married and with his wife, Jeanette, operates a small tree farm just south of Saskatoon.

Margaret McKechney | M.A., M.Div

I was born and raised a Saskatchewan girl, I love this land and have a passion for the environment. Educated at the U of S and St Andrew’s College led to careers as a Clinical Psychologist and minister in the United Church of Canada. I have served on Boards and committees at the local, provincial and national level. Through petitions, writings, liturgies, activism, I have been an advocate for Earth justice for decades. In joining the Board of SES, I bring to it a deep concern about the development of a nuclear power plant; the extension of tar sands development in unsustainable ways; and the conservation of our water resources, precious wetlands and natural prairie. I desire an economy based on ecological sustainability as a first principle.

Judy Montgomery | B.Ed.

Judy Montgomery has been a member of SES for 16 years. She has worked on several SES projects including: Destination Conservation, Hike Bike and Bus Week, Green Saskatoon and is the coordinator of the Sustainable Gourmet. She has also volunteered as a speaker at various public events. Judy has also volunteered and worked for the Saskatchewan Waste Reduction Council (SWRC) mainly in the area of Master Composter education. She resides in her passive solar home south of Saskatoon, with her husband Jeff. They are looking forward to adding a wind generator to their energy mix in the near future.

Bill Wardell | Q.C.

Bill Wardell is a partner in the Saskatoon law firm Wardell Gillis. He is also an active cattle producer and grain farmer on land near Clavet, Sk. Before entering private practice, Bill spent fifteen years helping to establish the legal aid system in Saskatchewan, teaching law at the College of Law, as well as co-founding the Public Legal Education Association of Saskatchewan (PLEA). He gives his time to a number of organizations including serving as Riverbend Presbytery representative for the Clavet United Church. Bill served on the Board of Sasktel (05-08) as Chair of Environment and H.R. Committee and as a member of the Governance committee. Bill is President and Chair of the Board of the Saskatoon Co-op. Bill has a keen interest in environmental issues. His daughter Ellen graduates from the RUDD program, U o S, in May 09, and will begin a Masters Program in Architecture at UBC in September.  She has been a volunteer for SES.  His wife Florence and daughter Leslie are family doctors practicing together with City Centre Family Physicians. His son Stephan is a Resident in Internal Medicine in Saskatoon and he and his wife Megan have a two year old son, Bill’s first grandchild.