Each year, Nature Canada celebrates the dedicated nature lovers who inspire us all through their example. Congratulations to this year's award winners!

Douglas H. Pimlott Award

Jackie Waddell

Jackie has made significant contributions to nature conservation in Prince Edward Island (PEI) and throughout the region over the past 23 years.

Through her work with Island Nature Trust, Jackie has reached hundreds of landowners on PEI with information about the importance of private stewardship, helped thousands of school children appreciate the local wildlife and habitat, contributed to endangered species protection in Atlantic Canada, and assisted land trust across the country. Jackie's tireless contributions have helped make Island Nature Trust the leading conservation group on PEI and she continues to have a significant impact on land protection in the province.

Volunteer Award

Tony Dean

Tony Dean is a retired federal public servant with over 30 years of management experience in both human resources and financial planning. Tony and his wife enjoy life in Prince Edward County, Ontario where Tony is a member of the board of directors of the recently established Prince Edward County Community Foundation.

In the past year, Tony has generously donated his time and expertise in helping strengthen Nature Canada's structures and policies regarding employee classification, allowing us to effectively restructure our organization and streamline our work.

Affiliate Award

BC Nature

The staff and volunteers of BC Nature are passionate, tireless advocates for nature. Their long term dedication to protect British Columbia's Important Bird Areas (IBA) has made a difference in some of Canada's greatest biodiversity hotspots.

BC Nature was the first to launch the IBA Caretaker Network Program, a program which works to identify, monitor and protect all sites of global significance for birds. They are pioneers in this field and their work has served as a model for national expansion of the program.

The Charles Labatiuk Scholarship Award

Jeff Howard

Jeff Howard was born in Big Bay Point and grew up on Lake Simcoe. Jeff's interest in the natural world and conservation emerged at an early age. Jeff was involved in conservation projects in his area since the age of eight. He compiled several hundred hours of community service, was actively involved in various naturalist groups and programs, including Kids for Turtles, Innisdale's Outbound, Bird Studies Canada, Canadian Wildlife Federation, Six Mile Lake Conservationist Club, Ontario Nature. As a member of the Brereton Field Naturalist clubs Jeff started the "Get the Lead Out Program" to educate anglers about using lead free tackle. Other projects spearheaded by Jeff include erecting signs for loon conservation and turtle crossings.

At the ripe age of 18 Jeff has already won numerous awards. He was a recipient of the Watershed Hero Award from the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority for the past three years. He received the Junior Citizen of the year award (2008), the Youth Conservation Award from the Canadian Wildlife Federation (2007) and was nominated for "The Top 20 Under 20 Award" (finished top 75 in 2007). Jeff recently completed his first year at Sir Sandford Fleming College in Ecosystem Management.