YOUTH ADVISORY
BOARD MEMBERS
2021-2022
Brooklyn Bohach
YAB Member
Brooklyn Bohach
YAB Member
Brooklyn’s love of water was first nurtured on the rivers of Niitsitapi (Blackfoot) territory where she grew up in Southern Treaty 7, as well as at the beaches of Mi’kma’ki where she spent her childhood summers. In 2021, Brooklyn graduated with a double major in Music and Environmental Science from the University of Toronto. She continues to live in Toronto on the Treaty Lands and Territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit, and the traditional territories of the Anishinaabe, the Wendat, and the Haudenosaunee.
Brooklyn is passionate about learning through many ways of knowing and engaging the arts to connect with the world around us. You can usually find her somewhere outside reading, listening to podcasts, or playing music.
David Blair
YAB Member
David Blair
YAB Member
David (he/him) grew up on the traditional territories of Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) territories (Vancouver). He spent his childhood exploring and enjoying Átl’ḵa7tsem (Howe Sound) by kayaking, hiking, and camping, where his deep connection to the ocean, marine life, and conservation began. A love for the natural environment and reducing anthropogenic impact led David to obtain a degree in Civil Engineering with a focus on wastewater treatment. While studying at Queen’s University at Kingston, situated on traditional Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee Territory, his highlights were developing an education platform around laundry-based microplastics, a remote sensor for monitoring CSOs, and conducting field research. David now works in Collaborative Innovations, bridging together research and resources to improve wastewater treatment. He is thrilled to be a part of the Youth Advisory Board for Waterlution, and looks forward to working together to make positive changes.
Tia Cain
YAB Member
Tia Cain
YAB Member
Hi! My name is Teiyana but most people call me Tia! I am a student at Carleton University and I am studying Law, Policy and Government! As you may guess, based on my program, I'd like to be a lawyer or work within the government passing bills or legislature! My dream job would be to work in the Senate or Parliament! I am originally from Toronto, but also spent some time growing up in Oakville, Ontario. The lands I am currently residing on are the traditional territories of the Erie, Neutral, Wendat, Haudenosaunee and Mississaugas or Hamilton, Ontario. I'm also of Canadian-Jamaican descent! A fun fact about me is that I really love roller coasters and the thrill of amusement parks! I also love spending time at the beach and love going camping in the summer!
Rachel Davis
YAB Member
Rachel Davis
YAB Member
Rachel is passionate about discovering effective approaches to communicate about environmental sustainability to inspire harmonious and respectful relationships between humans and our natural environment. She is currently working as a Research Consultant in Toronto, Ontario (the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples). In her spare time she is developing an interactive digital activity called Desire Paths to help youth visualize an achievable and sustainable future. She also enjoys mindfulness, fitness, and creative projects. She is excited to apply creative expression to start a dialogue during the Young Water Speaks program.
Jacey Firth-Hagen
YAB Member
Jacey Firth-Hagen
YAB Member
Jacey Firth-Hagen is proudly Gwich’in, born and raised in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada. She is the Project Coordinator for the Western Arctic Youth Collective and the Founder of Gwich’in Language Revival Campaign #SpeakGwichinToMe. She is a graduate of the Northern Outdoor and Environmental Studies Diploma Program at Yukon University. She is now working on her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Anthropology and Environmental Science at MacEwan University. She is passionate about working with youth, community, language, education, the environment and culture. She is grateful to have spent a lot of time on the land in Gwich’in territory with her dad and brother growing up. She is looking forward to working with Waterlution and learning more about what the 2021/2022 cohort offers.
Paige Hewett
YAB Member
Paige Hewett
YAB Member
Paige grew up in Ottawa, Ontario on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe Nation. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto with a Master of Education, with interests in youth and community development. She currently works as a content creator and marketing specialist with Hummingbird Chocolate Maker. A beach girl at heart, as a kid summers on the east coast inspired a love for the ocean. Cheesy or not, she’s a firm believer that “the cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears or the sea.” With an interest in environmental sustainability and social justice, she loves to engage with and learn from others about climate change, sustainable food systems, Canada’s history and more. Outside of work, she loves to spend way too much time cooking, and any time that isn’t spent cooking, in the outdoors. You can usually find her running, biking or skiing in the Gatineau Park on weekends. As a new member of the Youth Advisory Board she’s excited to support educational water programming for youth across Canada.
Amey Karpe
YAB Member
Amey Karpe
YAB Member
Amey recently graduated from the University of Toronto with a Master of Engineering in Chemical Engineering with an Emphasis in Advanced Water Technology and Sustainable Energy. He currently resides in Toronto on the traditional territories of the Anishinabewaki, Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, Wendat, Mississauga, and Haudenosaunee. Growing up in Goa, India on the coast of the Arabian Sea, Amey was interested in sustainability from a young age.
Having volunteered in Peru building a wind turbine for a school, Amey developed an interest in volunteering for other organizations working towards increasing awareness of a sustainable lifestyle. Amey currently works as an Intelligence Analyst for a company based in Downtown Toronto. His professional interests include data analytics, leadership, environmental protection, sustainable investing and Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG).
In his free time, Amey likes writing, cycling, cooking, playing the bass guitar (albeit poorly), working on his podcast and content creation. As a member of the Youth Advisory Board, he hopes to continue empowering water education for young minds while making meaningful personal and professional relationships.
Jessica Khoury
YAB Member
Jessica Khoury
YAB Member
Jess grew up in Montreal, Quebec (the traditional territory of the Kanien'kehà:ka people) but currently works from Halifax, Nova Scotia on the unceded territory of the Mi’kma’ki people. Throughout her childhood, Jess developed a growing passion for all things related to the environment, but especially the aquatic realm. Her experiences and enthusiasm for canoe camping trips, sea kayaking, snorkeling excursions and witnessing the true beauty of marine life has encouraged her to pursue a degree in marine biology at Dalhousie University. However, through classes and networking, she realized that in order to initiate a change in the way our society treats our waters, policy and legislation are needed. This is why, after completing her bachelors, Jess plans to pursue a career in environmental, regulatory and aboriginal (ERA) law.
Besides school, studying for the LSATs and her role as a YAB volunteer, Jess is also a volunteer member for the Nova Scotia Environmental Network and the president of MEDLIFE Dalhousie. She continues to fight for social justice and brings awareness to the relationship between a healthy environment and a person’s quality of life.
In her free times, Jess also enjoys going on hiking trips, surfing, skiing, water skiing, and biking. In other words, if you find her outside, she’ll have a smile on her face!
Samantha Machado
YAB Member
Samantha Machado
YAB Member
Samantha Machado was born and raised in Winnipeg on Treaty 1 territory – territory of Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene peoples and the homeland of the Métis Nation. She splits her time between Winnipeg and Halifax in Mi’kma’ki, the unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq people. In Halifax, she is finishing her BA with combined honours in early modern studies and theatre studies at the University of King’s College. Samantha loves nothing more than to spend time with her cat. She is excited to combine her passion for environmental stewardship with her passion for storytelling through the Young Water Speaks program.
Naomi Shank
YAB Member
Naomi Shank
YAB Member
Naomi grew up in the unceded Algonquin Anishinaabe territory, specifically in the Ottawa region. Through her childhood and adolescence, she spent many of her weekends in remote regions of Quebec and northern Ontario to hunt, but preferred to photograph the wild life. A passion developed for fauna and flora, and she is now pursuing a BSc at the University of Ottawa in Environmental Sciences, specializing in Biology and Conservation. She is best described as an environmental intersectionalist for her profound interest in political sciences and general advocacy for equality.
Kariscia Ramjag
YAB Member
Kariscia Ramjag
YAB Member
Kariscia grew up in Toronto on the traditional territories of the Anishinabewaki, Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, Wendat, Mississauga, and Haudenosaunee. She is entering her third year of a biology program at Carleton University which is located on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe Nation. Kariscia is passionate about science, communications and nature restoration. She is an aspiring ocean conservationist working with Ocean Wise to encourage and increase community involvement by making sustainability acts more accessible.
In her free time, she can be found gardening, reading mysteries and laughing at science puns!
Muhammed Salyani
YAB Member
Muhammed Salyani
YAB Member
Muhammad Salyani (he/him) grew up in Maple, ON on the unceeded territories of the Anishinabewaki, Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, Wendat, Mississauga, and Haudenosaunee. Growing up, Muhammad had a passion for debating and cricket. During his B.Sc in psychology at the Univeristy of British Columbia - Okanagan Campus, Muhammad developed a strong passion for cooking, snowboarding, and cycling. His academic pursuits led him to studying genocide, specifically intergenerational trauma in youth. Since graduating, he moved to Summerland, BC working closely with the youth of the Penticton Indian Band and the Osoyoos Indian Band while learning of the Syilx nation’s culture and traditions. Muhammad believes youth can find power and resilience in all areas of life and he hopes to continue to explore relations with youths’ connection to water with Waterlunation.
Harman Sandhu
YAB Member
Harman Sandhu
YAB Member
Harman is currently pursuing the Economics-Statistics program at the University of Manitoba. In 2007, he moved from India to Canada with his family. He loves the outdoors, camping, biking and hiking during his downtime. Harman's best volunteering experience was at the Manitoba Museum as a science exhibit facilitator.
Emma Smith
YAB Member
Emma Smith
YAB Member
Emma has been volunteering with Waterlution since 2016. She currently lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and works for the Manitoba Eco-Network - located on Treaty 1 territory, the traditional lands of Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene peoples, and homeland of the Metis Nation. She has an undergrad degree in Environmental Studies from Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Emma grew up spending lots of time around Lake Simcoe, Georgian Bay, and the Great Lakes in Ontario. Emma has experience working in Riverine Ecology at the Freshwater Institute (DFO), working on habitat restoration projects with Ontario Streams, conducting watercraft inspections for the Aquatic Invasive Species Program in Manitoba, and will soon be pursuing her Bachelor of Education. Emma is a passionate environmentalist and artist focusing on water issues, ecology, conservation, and creative communications.
Ella Swan
YAB Member
Ella Swan
YAB Member
Ella Swan grew up in the traditional territories of the Ktunaxa Nation in a town called Invermere. Located at the headwaters of the Columbia river, the environment ranges from wetlands to Douglas fir forest to dry grasslands. Her childhood home was supplied by a cistern so water was never something to be taken for granted. From early winter to early spring showers had to be short and any time it rained was cause for celebration. Just out of high school Ella worked for the Lake Windermere Ambassadors as their Stewardship Assistant doing outreach and water testing and discovered a passion for enabling citizen science. After some time at the University of Victoria Ella went on to study at the Kootenay School of the Arts in the Textile program. She spends her time growing plants for natural dyes, getting outside for climbing and cycling, and dreaming up new art projects.
Maddie Simpso
YAB Member
Maddie Simpso
YAB Member
Maddie Simpso resides in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, on Treaty 6 Territory and the homeland of the Métis. She currently works as a Special Projects Manager at the North Saskatchewan River Basin Council (NSRBC), a watershed stewardship organization based in Hafford, Saskatchewan. She gained a unique perspective about the environment by growing up with urban and rural environmental views by living in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and spending the summers and holidays on her grandparent’s farm along the Whitefox River near Smeaton, Saskatchewan. Maddie graduated from Saskatchewan Polytechnic in 2018 with a diploma in Integrated Resource Management. Maddie is happiest when camping, swimming, hiking, learning about nature, and visiting heritage museums and historic sites. She is very excited to be a part of Waterlution’s Youth Advisory Board and looks forward to hearing different perspectives and stories of water around Canada.
Sabrina Skyba-Lewin
YAB Member
Sabrina Skyba-Lewin
YAB Member
Sabrina was born and raised in England until she came to Canada for post-secondary education, and currently resides in Charlottetown, PE on the traditional territory of the Mi’kmaq. She graduated in 2021 at the University of Prince Edward Island with a BSc (Hons) in Biology. One reason for choosing to study in PEI, was her desire to be close to nature and water. In her spare time she loves to go on long walks and explore the various trails PEI has to offer, taking photos and videos of all the natural beauty. She is well travelled, and is fortunate to have visited 12 countries, which have been a fantastic way for her to experience different cultures, and learn. Sabrina thinks that PEI is one of the most charming places she has ever been, surrounded by some of the most beautiful coastlines, with breathtaking sea views. As someone who grew up not close to water, she hopes she can pass on her appreciation for being surrounded by such picturesque landscapes and ocean, and reignite that to participants of the Youth Water Speaks program.
Jacob Wiseman
YAB Member
Jacob Wiseman
YAB Member
I currently reside on the territory of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh people. I am a third year Kinesiology student at the University of Winnipeg and have extensive leadership experience. A glimpse into how I spend my free time is that I have created a Canadian-wide non-profit organization alongside my cousin. Our organization provides free tutoring and mentorship services to first year university students. I also enjoy learning new languages and new instruments. I have always been very social and prioritized spending time with my fellow peers and family. Throughout my studies at university while studying science related subjects, my knowledge on the environment has been furthered and participating on a board to do anything I can do to help do my part with respect to global warming is very important to me. I have always been passionate about being environmentally friendly ever since I was in elementary school as I began participating in green clubs at a very young age. I believe that global warming is a substantial issue today that requires an effort from everybody. I am very excited to be participating on this year's Youth Advisory Board and I am excited to meet the team.