Ryan van der Marel

BA (Honours) Global Development Studies and Geography, Masters Resource and Environmental Management

Ryan’s passion for freshwater systems has taken him from the Okavango’s “Every River has its People” project in sub-Saharan Africa to guiding canoe trips across Canada. After moving back to the West Kootenays, Ryan began consulting on species-at-risk projects and lake management planning for Kootenay Lake. Using the template set by the East Kootenay Integrated Lake Management Partnership, he chairs the multi-agency Kootenay Lake Partnership to develop sound science on which to base shoreline guidance documents. Ryan is also an active steering committee member of the Friends of Kootenay Lake and a youth outdoor leadership and experiential education instructor. Ryan received an Honours Bachelor of Global Development Studies and Geography from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and a Masters of Resource and Environmental Management from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.