Biographies

2000 E-Team Members...

	Charlie Edmonds Before VOLWS Charlie graduated from Mt. Douglas high school while working as a carpenters assistant and would someday like to become a college professor with a big white beard. One of the things that Charlie has learned is how he can make the world a better place for generations after him so they don’t have to go through the same hardships of trying to patch all of the holes left behind by yesterdays leaders. Some of his more memorable moments at VOLWS are always pushing the limits of punctuality with Graham and Irene and turning most of David’s crew and even Quentin off chocolate milk and KFC. If you only knew what was in that stuff, you might think twice about eating it. Being the youngest member of David’s crew charlie has enjoyed talking with his fellow employees about their experiences and learning some tips that will help him in his quest for truth in life. “I have found that one of the best ways to find truth is to let truth find you, that way you don’t have to second guess yourself.” He doesn’t think of this job as work so much as a chance to give something back to the world and says he does realize how sappy that sounds. “Time goes by really fast when your doing something that you enjoy.” As a closing comment Charlie would like to add that he could live a thousand lives, never see another piece of Gorse and still die a happy man.
	Irene Lee Irene entered the University of Victoria in September of 1995, where she spent 4 years completing her Bachelor of Science, with a Major in Biology and a Minor in Environmental Studies. Upon graduating in the spring of 1999, she left to spend a year abroad in Japan, where she taught English for 2 months in a small town in Kyoto-fu, before adventuring off to teach in the bigger city of Osaka. Besides teaching English, Irene has also gained work experience through other part-time jobs such as working in a cafe and in a grocery store. On returning from Japan, she spent her summer volunteering in the native plant garden at the Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary, before obtaining her position as a crew member at VOLWS. Through this job, Irene has gained skills in stream restoration and salmon habitat management. Projects that she has undertaken include: building a Newburry fish weir at Millstream Creek, removing gorse at the Gorge Park, website development, and storm drain marking in the Sidney and North Saanich areas. Although Irene has decided to pursue a career in Medical Genetics and not in the environmental field, the knowledge and skills gained through this job will be something she can utilize throughout her lifetime. Her most memorable moments at VOLWS include: working with an interesting and diverse group of people, learning about people’s different views, and stressing in the mornings on the days that Charlie drives. Outside of work, Irene enjoys traveling, dragon boating, kayaking, and hiking.
	Crystal Campbell Crystal’s educational history prior to her current job as a Stream Team Work Crew at VOLWS includes graduating high school at Wellington Secondary School in Nanaimo. After high school, she moved to Victoria and went to the University of Victoria for a year in the B.Sc. program. Next, she went to Camosun College and graduated from the Environmental Technology program in June 2000. Crystal’s program included two work-term positions. Her first was in Vegetation Management for BC Hydro and the second was with the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks in Colwood as a Water Allocation Assistant. Crystal does plan to go back to school eventually when finances are more accommodating and when she finally decides exactly what it is that she would like to do. Crystal moved back to Nanaimo for a second job with MELP as a Water Technician, but found that she missed Victoria (and was sick of Nanaimo) and so moved back and was fortunate enough to get a job at VOLWS. The Stream Team job has helped Crystal to decide that her future is in environmental field work. She is considering a career in oil spill response. Crystal appreciates the chance to work in a team of her peers to do meaningful environmental work for an organization that encourages personal growth and is involved in a wide variety of projects with a broad focus. The conversations with co-workers have been valuable for future career goals and also for ideas on what to do on the weekend. Some of Crystal’s most memorable moments at VOLWS include fighting with blackberry bushes that tend to fight back and watching the mayhem of boats crashing and flipping at the Gorge Rowing Regatta. Crystal’s future plans include travel (if she ever gets organized enough to take on the world) and continued work in the environmental field.
	Graham Fedorak Graham has completed three years so far at the University of Victoria. After spending his first and second years working towards Commerce and Biology degrees, respectively, he decided that an English degree would be the most enjoyable (ie. least boring) way to obtain his enonormously overvalued piece of paper. In the future he plans to study medicine. However, until then he plans to travel as much as he possibly can and continue to waste as much of his time as he can reading. Initially, he looked upon “The Veins of Life” as just another job. Relatively unexperienced and unschooled in environmental issues he was unsure of what to expect on his first day. Surprisingly, (or, perhaps, not all that surprisingly) working for the “Veins” unlocked an environmental ethic within him that had been lying dormant for the nigh on twenty-one years of his existence. Now he can frequently be found denouncing the evils of excessive, exploitative, unenvironmentally-friendly, profit driven growth to his friends who, alas, still refuse to listen and vote for the Alliance. The positive, educationally-minded atmosphere at “The Veins of Life” has been, almost single-handedly, responsible for his “awakening”. The only negative memories he has about the “Veins” are the repeated instances of Charlie’s slug-like inability to get out of bed on time which, consequently, made him and Irene late or nearly late (which is just as bad because of the added, unnecessary stress) on a regular basis. For the near-future, Graham plans on travelling to Central and (bank account willing) South America where he will also be doing some volunteering, hopefully working in the rainforest.
	David Major David has a Bachelor of Science at UVIC and has worked for the City of Victoria Parks Department as well as working on an E-team himself. He would one day like to own his own environmental consulting company. Some of the things he has learned here at VOLWS are team skills, watersheds and fish habitat. His experience at VOLWS will be quite helpful in teaching him about professional environmental work. Some of his more memorable moments include dropping his glove down a manhole and just barely getting it back as well as getting bitten by blackberries. Ouch!!! David enjoys working with his peers in a team environment and hearing issues from all different perspectives.
	Darryl Tammley Did this scruffy looking guy go to college? Yes he did, surprisingly. Darryl graduated from Centennial College in Toronto, Ontario in Environmental Protection Technology. He gave some thought to going to university but opted for college to get some “real” experience. After Darryl completed his time at school he decided to go backpacking in B.C. He spent an “enlightening” five months living in a tent, which he swears he would love to do again. Darryl has worked as an Archaeological Research Assistant and as a Chemical Analyst in a PCB/ Pesticide Lab in Sydney. A few months later, Darryl found himself at the Veins of Life working on an E-Team. When asked what he has learned here, he put it in a nutshell; “I’ve learned that there is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path. We can ‘monkey chatter ‘ about the perils of the environment in coffee shops our whole lives without accomplishing anything at all. The hands must get dirty, one way or the other.” When asked to list things that would best describe his experiences with other E-Team members, Darryl gave the following answers: 1. Being able to criticize and make every situation controversial while keeping a huge smile on his inner face, 2. Being on the team responsible for invasive species removal, he probably killed more plants than he helped to grow, 3. Frantically trying to pick escaped salmon fry off the floor of the hatchery before they drowned, and 4. Trying to convert all E-team members into Buddhists. As for the future, if his plans to work here forever don’t pan out (just kidding), Darryl plans on started his own interpretive Eco-Tour business. It will provide wilderness survival training in the Island’s most remote utopias and hopefully a new outlook on the words “quality” and “value” as applied to our dwindling ecosystems.

Email: volws@salishsea.ca