Our next Forum for Dialogue and Learning looks at wildfires and how they have become more frequent and intense. How ready is our community to face the challenge?

Join us for an insightful discussion with experts on wildfire risks, prevention strategies, and emergency preparedness. Learn what steps we can take individually and collectively to protect our homes, our environment, and each other.

Don’t miss this opportunity to stay informed and be prepared!

The forum is free, but you must register:

Location

Seniors Activity Centre (SAC), Activity Room
695 21st Street, West Vancouver, BC
Next to the West Vancouver Community Centre

Time

Tuesday, April 29 at 6 PM (doors open at 5:45pm)

Panelists

• Dr Emily Dicken, Director, North Shore Emergency Management
• Dr Lori Daniels, Koerner Chair in Wildfire Coexistence, UBC-Vancouver
• Gord Howard, Fire Chief District of West Vancouver
• Jeremy Barry, Vice President of Business Development, Conair Aerial Firefighting

Event Moderator

• Pamela Martin, Former television news anchor & reporter

Event Sponsors

Speaker Biographies

Dr. Emily Dicken, Director North Shore Emergency Management (NSEM)

Dr. Emily Dicken has worked as a practitioner in the field of emergency management since 2006 and has held various positions with the province of BC working in health emergency management and then for Emergency Management BC as well as with First Nations Health Authority. Now in the role of Director with North Shore Emergency Management (NSEM), Emily works directly for the communities of West Vancouver and North Vancouver to support disaster preparedness, response and recovery  as well as resilience building initiatives. Emily holds a PhD in Indigenous Governance from the University of Victoria and a MSC from Oxford University where she studied Environmental Change and Management.

Dr. Lori Daniels, Koerner Chair in Wildfire Coexistence, UBC – Vancouver

Dr. Lori Daniels is the inaugural Koerner Chair of the Centre for Wildfire Coexistence in the Faculty of Forestry at UBC-Vancouver. She also directs the Tree-Ring Lab at UBC. Lori investigates the impacts of natural and human disturbances and climate change on forests. With her research team, she has on-going projects on wildfires, forest dynamics, and social-ecological resilience to climate change across British Columbia. Her enduring partnerships with First Nations, government and environmental organizations, and community forest managers ensure her scientific advances are translated to active conservation, restoration and management.

Gord Howard, District of West Vancouver Fire Chief

Fire Chief Gord Howard joined West Vancouver Fire & Rescue in 1990.  Over the course of his career, he has worked as a suppression fire fighter and peer instructor in a number of disciplines. He was promoted to the Training Division in 2013, where he continued to teach and co-develop updates to a number of disciplines, including: Fire Behaviour, Fire Attack, Rapid Intervention, Self Contained Breathing Apparatus, Technical Rescue, Swiftwater Rescue, Confined Space Rescue, and Wildfire response.  He was promoted to Deputy Chief in 2019 and Fire Chief in 2023.

Gord grew up in West Vancouver and attended Hillside Secondary School and later studied at UBC and Capilano University, where he received a Diploma in Business Administration.  Gord lives in North Vancouver with his wife and occasionally one or both of his two adult children.

Jeff Berry, Vice President of Business Development, Conair Aerial Firefighting

Jeff joined Conair in the spring of 2013 after a 36-year career with the British Columbia Wildfire Service, all in the forest fire domain, with 26 years specifically in airtanker operations. He was the head of British Columbia’s Airtanker Program from 1996 to 2013 and led a team of fire professionals in developing what is now considered a benchmark centralized airtanker program, a state-of-the-art computer-aided dispatch system that enables the measurable, strategic and fleet level tactical operations of an airtanker fleet. As a result of his work, and on behalf of his team, Jeff accepted the Aviation Space Technology Laurel Award for operations in 2004. Jeff considers himself fortunate to have worked with numerous firefighting agencies around the world and to have fought fires across Canada as well as in the US in Washington and California.

Pamela Martin, former Television and Anchor & Reporter

Pamela Martin is a trail-blazing and renowned veteran for women in news broadcasting in British Columbia, Canada.  She is an award-winning news anchor and journalist who brought critical issues into the homes of British Columbians for over 30 years. For over two decades at BCTV and CTV, Pamela was an integral member of a team that created and produced the highest-rated and most-watched local newscast in Canada.

She subsequently parlayed her public profile to become a catalyst for change in BC, helping to elect the first woman Premier of British Columbia.  As Director of Outreach in the Office of the Premier, Pamela engaged with stakeholders around the province and helped to advance issues in the BC economy for families. 

Pamela currently serves on the boards of the Coast Mental Health Foundation, the Pacific Autism Family Network Foundation, the Plunge for the Cure Foundation, the International Women’s Forum, and is an adviser for the Canadian Health and Fitness Institute.