Board of Directors

Jane McAslan, Director/Chair

Jane McAslan works at the Humanities and Social Sciences Library at McGill University in Montreal. Jane served on the Executive of her union, MUNACA, from 2009 to 2016, many of those years in the capacity of Vice President-Communications. Jane brings more than 25 years of non-profit administrative and management experience to Cetus. She has particular expertise in the areas of protocol and procedural development and policy construction and implementation. Prior to her work at McGill, Jane worked with Greenpeace Canada and Greenpeace International in administrative and communications capacities. She managed the Greenpeace Canada office in Vancouver for many years, and conducted online research for international offices and campaign staff. Throughout her life, Jane has exhibited a commitment to the environment and to the welfare and protection of animals, both domestic and wild.

Tristan Ray-Wilks, Director

Tristan Ray-Wilks has always been drawn to conservation work, particularly ocean conservation since his late high school years. His university focus was on environmental resource management which led him into a career in marine conservation through education and guiding. For over a decade he has been a nautical captain and wildlife guide up and down the coast of British Columbia. He is also a guide and assistant expedition leader in the polar regions of Antarctica and Canadian high Arctic. Through his work he's witnessed many marine mammal disturbances which led him to join Cetus in 2015. Since that time he’s aided in various field operations for Cetus and has gained marine mammal response training and experience including large whale disentanglement training. In his spare time you can find him on or near the ocean kayaking, free diving, or sailing. He currently calls Quadra Island home.

Mary Hearnden, Director

Mary Hearnden has spent the past decade working as a fund development researcher for three non-profit organizations: The University of British Columbia, the BC Cancer Foundation, and the Alzheimer Society of BC. Mary has helped to raise funds for many initiatives, ranging from brain and cardiovascular health to biodiversity research and marine science. Her responsibilities in her non-profit work, as well as work in the private sector, have included media monitoring, information management, and data analysis. Mary is a librarian by profession with a scientific background; she holds degrees in Life Sciences and Library & Information Science. She brings this scientific experience and educational background to her work at Cetus. Mary has lived in Vancouver for 20 years and is a keen nature enthusiast. She has an innate curiosity about the natural world and is committed to preserving and protecting BC's environment and the wild animals who depend on it. She is very excited to bring her considerable skills and experience to Cetus.

Darryl Luscombe, Director

Darryl Luscombe currently works as a consultant/freelancer and has many years of experience in the non-profit and government sectors. Darryl has a PhD in chemistry from Deakin University (Australia) and worked as a research scientist for the Australian government for a number of years. Following this experience he worked for several non-government organizations, including the Victorian National Parks Association (VNPA), Greenpeace Australia, & Greenpeace International, primarily on issues related to Persistent Organic Compounds (POPs) and their elimination. This included an active role with the International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN) to bring about the ratification of the UN Stockholm Convention on the Elimination of Persistent Organic Compounds. For almost ten years, Darryl lived on Malcolm Island, close to the Robson Bight Ecological Reserve, and became passionate about the protection of the marine mammals in the area. He was also active in the community of Sointula and was a Board member of the Sointula Resource Centre Society for nine years and Chair of the Board for eight years. For two and half years he was the Administrator for the Sointula Waterworks District, which provided valuable experience in finance, bookkeeping, and the mundane but useful issues of dealing with multiple levels of government in a small community-lead organization.

Roger Friesen, Director

Roger Friesen is recently retired from the position of Associate Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of the Fraser Valley, a position he held for 26 years. Prior to this, Roger taught at the University of Manitoba and the University of Winnipeg. His primary teaching and research discipline were sport/performance psychology. In addition to teaching, Roger has worked for 30 years as a performance psychology consultant in high performance sport and continues to do so. This has involved working with athletes in preparation for Olympic, Commonwealth, and Pan Am Games as well as working with those in the corporate world and those in the performing arts including musicians, actors, and ballet dancers. Roger’s work also led him into adventure tourism in which he has taught communication skills, stress management, and team culture to guides and organizations. Roger has led expeditions both in the mountains and on the ocean and he continues to be passionate about nature. These experiences, spanning 20 years, have convinced him that exposing people to wilderness is the best way to provide education about our amazing world. When not teaching or working with various groups, Roger spends his time in the mountains or on the ocean sailing.

Marie Fournier, Director

Marie Fournier is a marine biologist with expertise in BC’s killer whale populations. Marie is currently working with DFO’s Salish Sea Initiative collaborating with First Nations to reach shared marine focused goals. She previously worked with Cetus for 17 years managing the Robson Bight Warden program on-site from the Cracroft Island camp and its Eagle Eye observation station researching Northern Resident Killer Whales. Marie was born and raised in Vancouver BC and holds a Bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Victoria with a focus on the marine environment. She has spent many years working with cetaceans in a variety of projects around the world, including with the Hakai Institute in BC doing sea otter surveys and foraging observations, as a research assistant in Kaikoura, New Zealand, and as a naturalist and Zodiac driver with GAP Adventures in Scotland, Norway, and the Arctic. Marie also spent many years care-taking Orcalab (Pacific Orca Society), a land-based research station on Hanson Island that monitors cetaceans acoustically and visually. She has worked with Marine Education & Research Society focussing on large whale disentanglements and with Fisheries & Oceans completing marine mammal surveys, fin whale mark-recapture studies, and Southern Resident Killer Whale work with the Ecosystem Sciences Division (Ocean Protection Plan).