People of the Transportation Issues Committee
Staff (alphabetically by first name)
- Janet Barlow, Active and Safe Routes to School Coordinator
- Jennifer McGowan, Community Advisor, Active and Safe Routes to School
- Jen Powley, TRAX Coordinator
- Laena Garrison, TRAX Coordinator
- Lisa Kretz, Goods Miles Coordinator
- Margot Metcalfe, Pace Car Coordinator
- Stephanie Johnstone-Laurette, Travel Plan Facilitator for Cape Breton
Janet Barlow
Active & Safe Routes to School Coordinator
902-442-5055
Janet joined EAC as Coordinator of Active & Safe Routes to School in 2002. An environmental educator at heart, Janet has worked for 15 years with a variety of Nova Scotian non-profit and governmental organizations. She is co-author of a trail activity book called Earth Adventures in the Halifax Region: 25 Nature Trails for Fun and Discovery, and runs Sense of Wonder Environmental Education. Janet has an honours degree in Biology as well as certificates in Adult Education and Community Economic Development & Fundraising.
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Jennifer McGowan
Community Advisor, Active and Safe Routes to School
902-442-5055
Jennifer holds an undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies, Geography from the University of Waterloo and a Masters in Development Studies from Dalhousie University. She has worked with both the Ontario Ministries of Culture and Environment, and the Ontario Clean Water Agency, as a researcher, communications assistant and operator in training respectively. Her love of teaching and outdoor education has also motivated her work as a supply teacher and YMCA outdoor sports camp organizer while in Ontario, and experiential learning program coordinator and teaching assistant for five different undergraduate courses, both in Canada and East Africa, during her time at Dalhousie. In her role as Community Advisor for the Active and Safe Routes to School program at the Ecology Action Centre, Jennifer facilitates the delivery of the School Travel Planning and Making Tracks programs, which encourages more children, youth and their families to use active transportation – such as walking and cycling – for the betterment of the environment, and increased physical activity and traffic safety benefits. In her spare time, she also loves Irish Dancing, eating blueberries and potatoes, and finding new places to hike around the province!
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Jen Powley
Sustainable Transportation Coordinator
902-429-0924
Jen Powley started work as one of the two Sustainable Transportation Coordinators in April 2008. She has worked on inclusive transportation issues for the past five years, first in her role as coordinator of the Nova Scotia League for Equal Opportunities and then in a volunteer capacity. Jen sees her work at the EAC as expanding the reach of her efforts to make transportation available and affordable for all persons. She recognizes that an ability to get around the community is vital for all persons. Doing this in a manner that is sustainable is vital for the planet. Jen is currently completing her Masters of land use planning at Dalhousie.
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Laena Garrison
TRAX Coordinator
902-429-0924
Laena’s desire to contribute to a healthy, happy and equitable environment for all life has grown throughout her years. Catching frogs and climbing trees; sleeping to the sound of crickets at her great-grandparents’ farm; gardening with her mom; and wandering her grandparents’ forest acreage with her pet dog Snoopy are among Laena’s early experiences which inspire her work today. Laena has been working with the Ecology Action Centre’s to promote sustainable transportation since September 2005. She does “walk the talk” — her two feet and her 17–year–old bicycle are her “vehicles”.
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Lisa Kretz
Goods Miles Coordinator
902-429-0924
Lisa joined the EAC in 2009 as the Goods Miles Project Coordinator. She has a PH.D in Environmental Ethics, an MA in Environmental Aesthetics, and a B.Ed. As an avid researcher and a passionate teacher Lisa loves figuring out problems and their solutions, and then providing environmental outreach about what she has learned. Environmental concerns are central to all elements of Lisa’s life: food choices, transportation choices, clothing choices, decisions about consumer goods, right down to the kind of work she finds rewarding. In keeping with the insights of Aldo Leopold, she believes “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.”
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Margot Metcalfe
Pace Car Coordinator
442-5055
Margot’s friends and family were thrilled when she was hired to work with EAC. They hope that this will curb her tendency to rant to them about environmental issues and to go through their garbage to ensure it has been properly sorted. Margot has over forty years experience in adult education and community development. In her work as a contemplative photographer, she celebrates awe and beauty in the world around her. Margot dreams of leaving the planet a better place for her grandson - and for all children. Photo of Margot by Gordon Williams.
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Stephanie Johnstone-Laurette
Travel Plan Facilitator for Cape Breton
Stephanie has been involved in the Nova Scotia Active Transportation scene since 2007 working with local NGOs and committees, as well as various research projects. She has now jumped on the EAC wagon as our School Travel Plan Facilitator for Cape Breton. She’s intent on helping create communities that support safe, healthy, walkable & wheel-able environments for both younger and older generations (and the in-between ones too!) Stephanie has a BA in Philosophy and is nearing the end of her Masters in Environmental Management from the University of London. Her not-so-secret passions are leatherback sea turtles, digging dirt, and her super daughter, Oona.
Transportation Issues Committee
Phone:
ASRTS: (902) 442-5055
TRAX: (902) 429-0924
For Bike Again inquiries, please call our main line at 429-2202.
Fax: (902) 405-3716
The Transportation Issues Committee meets on the first Monday of every month at 5:30pm. We welcome new members. Get involved today!
*please note: there will be no TIC meeting in August, and the September meeting will be postponed until the second Monday of the month (September 13)
