Who We Are

Ian Barnett

Chair of the Board

Ian has been involved in land and water conservation across Canada for 40 years. He has been a member of numerous national and international boards and committees concerned with the conservation and wise stewardship of waterfowl, wetlands and other important natural habitats. He brings to the WHC board over 17 years of experience on the executive management teams of Ducks Unlimited Canada and Nature Conservancy Canada.

After retiring from the Nature Conservancy of Canada in 2017 as Vice President of Regional Operations, Ian has served on NCC’s BC Board of Directors as well as a board member for the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef whose goal is to enhance sustainability in the beef industry from the land to the consumer. Ian was also a member of an expert committee for the Canadian Land Trust Alliance to revise standards and practices for use by over 75 conservation organizations across Canada.

He retired from Ducks Unlimited Canada in 2011 after 31 years with his last position as Director of Regional Operations for BC and the Western Boreal Forest and Director of International Partnerships.

Ian presently serves on the board of the Grasslands Conservation Council of British Columbia and sits on the Science Advisory Network for NCC in BC.

Over the years he has pursued many diverse outdoor recreational activities such as skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, biking, birding, canoeing and kayaking as well as bird hunting and fresh and salt water fishing. He and his wife Judy have 4 daughters and 8 grandchildren who are all beginning to enjoy the great outdoors.

Dean Smith

Vice Chair of the Board

Dean is an ardent conservationist and advocate for engaging people in natural resource management decisions. Working in the areas of wetland and waterfowl conservation, agriculture, and natural resource policy and program development throughout North America has been a privilege and a passion for more than 30 years.

As the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP) Director and Wildlife Liaison for Canada at the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) in Washington, DC and President of WoodWater Consulting Inc. (Regina, SK), he is a facilitator of partnerships, collaborative initiatives, and communication between governments, conservation organizations, and academia.

He enjoys traveling and has had the pleasure of experiencing the beauty and the natural benefits of all provinces and territories of Canada, all 50 states in the U.S., and a few other countries. Spending time fishing and wildlife and nature watching are favorite pursuits for Dean and his wife Brenda.

Christie-Lee Hazzard

Chair of the Nominating Committee

Lyle Saigeon

Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee

Lyle has a diverse and rewarding career history dating back to 1978 which has involved working at an executive level within both government and non-government agencies. The highlight of Lyle’s career has been his involvement with the North American Waterfowl Management Plan during his tenures with Ducks Unlimited Canada, Nature Conservancy of Canada, the Province of Saskatchewan and the Province of British Columbia.

Over the years Lyle has served on a number of national and international boards including the NAWMP Plan Committee and the Prairie Habitat Joint Venture. He now enjoys working with First Nations councils and serving on the Board of the Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area. Lyle has always held Wildlife
Habitat Canada in high regard and feels privileged to serve on their Board.

Lyle’s passion is the great outdoors and in his free time enjoys many outdoor pursuits, most notably fly fishing. Much of this time is spent roaming the west Kootenay mountains and streams along with his wife Juliet. He is most proud of his three children and his stepdaughter that are scattered about Alberta, Quebec and Montana.

Blake Schmirler

Director

Growing up in a hunting family Blake was always surrounded by ducks and duck hunters. This naturally led to a love and passion for waterfowl. Growing up along the shores of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie opportunities were always plentiful for waterfowl hunting and observing.

When it came time to turn his passion into a career, Blake started working in the outfitting industry as a guide in prairie Canada. It was here that relationships were made and foundations were laid for a greater role in the waterfowl world. Years of volunteer experience led to Blake joining Delta Waterfowl as a Regional Director in Ontario. Blake’s ultimate goal through his volunteering and work experience is to grow waterfowl population numbers and share his love of waterfowl with others.

Brad Potter

Director

Brad Potter, Manager of Fish and Wildlife, Province of Prince Edward Island.

Brad is a familiar face at Wildlife Habitat Canada, having previously served on the Board from 2015 to 2020 as the representative of the Eastern Canadian Wildlife Directors and is pleased to resume that roll.

His education includes a BSc from St. Francis Xavier University, an Advanced Diploma in Geographic Information Systems from the Nova Scotia College of Geographic Sciences, and a MSc from the University of Prince Edward Island.

He brings experience from Government, as well as several conservation organizations as he currently sits as a board member of the Eastern Habitat Joint Venture and is the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Atlantic Canada Conservation Data Centre.

In addition to a career in conservation, Brad is also an active recreational angler, hunter and community sport volunteer, coaching a variety of youth sports and volunteering on Association and Provincial level sport governing bodies.

Fred Campbell

Director

Entrepreneur, videographer, and avid outdoorsman, Fred Campbell is also the founder of Hooké a Canadian brand of durable and sustainable outdoor clothing which has brought him to travel around the world to meet with inspiring people who share a common passion for fly fishing and hunting. Whether he is in a business meeting for one of his companies, collaborating with a conservation organization or fighting a big Atlantic Salmon in the Gaspé Peninsula one thing remains he has always followed his passion for adventure and conservation. His story is one of a constant desire to push oneself to the limit. It’s a string of shared knowledge drawn from so many encounters. It’s a thirst, from an early age, to learn more and more, to take on the biggest challenges, to accomplish the most tenacious ideas. Considering the consequences of climate change on biodiversity, Fred questions his role. He wonders if it’s time for him to go even further in his mission, to get involved in a different way to better walk with nature, to make people aware of what’s coming so we can keep nature as wild as possible.

“If I can get people to change their view of hunting and fly fishing and, above all, encourage them to explore, to protect and better understand nature and its fragility, I say: mission accomplished. Today, I still carry within me the desire to go as far as I can, but above all to share my passion. I see my children, June and Jack, discovering, questioning, walking in symbiosis with nature, and I know that the eternal quest is not about to end. And so much the better!”

Karla Guyn

Director

Karla Guyn is the former CEO of Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC), having retired in the fall of 2021. Prior to assuming the role of CEO in 2016, she held several senior leadership positions with DUC over her 24-year career with the organization. This included serving as the national director of conservation and director of conservation planning. Karla has served on international committees including the North American Waterfowl Management Plan and recently chaired the Sustainable Forestry Initiative board. Karla also served as board chair of Project Learning Tree Canada and was a member of the Manitoba Expert Advisory Council. Karla currently sits on Environment Climate Change Canada’s Nature Advisory Committee and is a board member of American Friends of Canadian Conservation. Karla holds a master of science and a PhD from the University of Saskatchewan. She is dedicated to conservation issues and her accomplishments were recognized by The Wildlife Society in 2016 with its Fellows Award and in 2018 received a University of Saskatchewan Alumni of Influence Award. Karla recently relocated to southern Alberta with her husband and yellow Labrador retriever. She spends her free time hiking, skiing, kayaking, biking and learning the art of fly fishing.

Marc Cattet

Director

Marc Cattet is the Director of the Fish and Wildlife Branch with the Government of Yukon and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Veterinary Pathology at the University of Saskatchewan. His formal university education includes a BSc in wildlife biology from the University of Guelph, a MSc in zoology from the University of Alberta, a DVM from the University of Guelph, and a PhD in veterinary pathology from the University of Saskatchewan.

Marc has spent much of the past four decades engaged in wildlife research as a biologist and veterinarian with various employers, including government, academia, and environmental non-governmental organizations. His research interests include chemical immobilization, the effects of human activity on wildlife health, and the assessment of wildlife health by non-invasive techniques.

As the newest addition to the Board, Marc looks forward to extending Wildlife Habitat Canada’s reach into the Yukon.

Sarah Nathan

Director

Sarah’s earliest childhood memory is of visiting the neighborhood duck pond with her parents as a toddler. Today, she continues to be a nature and outdoor enthusiast with a life-long passion for wildlife and habitat conservation. In her career, Sarah has worked on a variety of environmental issues, ranging from greenhouse gas emissions accounting to banding migratory songbirds and implementing a variety of amphibian survey programs. In her current role as the Operations Manager of Ducks Unlimited Canada’s British Columbia conservation program, she enjoys learning about and then leveraging the ecosystem services provided by wildlife habitat to mobilize more collaborators to help achieve conservation goals.

In her spare time, Sarah loves to play outside on skis, bikes, foot, and in a variety of self-propelled boats. She is proud to be the go-to for bird identification questions from the members of her various outdoor sports communities.