Core team
Rich Chapple
President
Rich’s passion for the BC marine environment started as a boy with a tin boat and a fishing rod. After financing his university years as fishing guide (and marrying the sister of three) Rich raised his daughters on Quadra Island while building a long career managing high-end fishing resorts. He jokes (in part) of mending his karma in subsequent years as Executive Director of the Pacific Salmon Foundation, Commissioner for Canada at the Pacific Salmon Commission and on many salmon conservation-based planning and stewardship bodies. He is convinced that the lessons learned from First Nations’ approach to sustainable resource use quite simply hold the key to the survival of our planet.
Keith Granbois
Director of Finance & Operations
With more than 20 years of experience in operational leadership, financial management, business development, marketing and communications, IT Systems, and strategic planning, Keith Granbois has built a reputation for driving organizational transformation, cultivating enduring community partnerships and championing sustainability initiatives. He is dually designated as a Chartered Professional Accountant and a Certified Fraud Examiner. Keith grew up and resides in Quw’utsun (Cowichan) on Vancouver Island, where he is highly active in supporting the community. As a provincial woodlot licence holder, Keith brings 25 years of hands-on experience in small-scale sustainable forest management and government relations. He is also the treasurer for Tourism Nanaimo and the South Island Woodlot Association; Board member of the Duncan Cowichan Chamber of Commerce and the Chair of its Business Advisory Committee; a community advisory member to the Xwulqw’selu Watershed Plan Collaborative Community Advisory Table; and volunteers with the Cowichan District Hospital Foundation.
Tristan Blaine
Field Technician
Tristan has been working as a Field Technician and Commercial Diver since finishing his undergraduate degree in Biology at the University of Victoria. He is passionate about underwater observation and image analysis to inform research and management decisions for the Central Coast Nations. Currently Tristan supports the Central Coast Guardian Watchmen on surveys, and spends as much time underwater as possible.
Jean-Phillip Sargeant
Project Manager, NMCAR Feasibility Assessment
As Project Manager for the Central Coast’s National Marine Conservation Area Reserve feasibility assessment, Jean helps the Nations determine if a NMCAR aligns with their stewardship objectives. The role includes coordinating Nation representatives, producing technical material, visiting communities, and ensuring the assessment takes into account other ongoing work, such as the Marine Protected Areas Network. Previously, Jean worked for three years as the Marine and Shipping Coordinator for CCIRA, ensuring the Nations’ perspectives, knowledge and expertise guided all aspects of his work. With a graduate degree in coastal and marine resource management from the University of Akureyri, Jean has worked for more than a decade on improving the marine environment—whether on board fishing vessels as an observer or working on marine protection with First Nations on the North Coast.
Kyle Wilson
Applied Quantitative Biologist
Kyle started in 2021 as CCIRA’s Applied Quantitative Ecologist, working largely on Central Coast’s longest standing fisheries research program on rockfish abundance as informing marine conservation planning, as well as the Central Coast Salmon Catch Monitoring Program. Kyle brings significant experience and expertise in building and managing fisheries research programs, collaborating with First Nations and DFO, and is well situated to support Central Coast Nation’s strategic science work to advance fisheries reconciliation. Kyle’s past research efforts aimed to inform sustainable co-management plans by understanding the social and ecological processes that shape the resilience of iconic fisheries along the Pacific Coast.
Geneviève Reynolds
Monitoring Coordinator
As CCIRA’s Monitoring Coordinator, Geneviève Reynolds supports the Central Coast Guardian Watchmen and Coordinators to build capacity for implementing marine monitoring and compliance programs, data management, collaborating with Coastal Stewardship Network, and participating on the MaPP regional monitoring subcommittees. Geneviève’s life-long passion for nature, and coastal ecosystems in particular, has led to extensive research work focusing on the relationships between culture, ecology and history. During her Masters at the University of Victoria, she investigated the ecology of Pacific yew on ancestral village sites of the Central Coast, using ecological and archaeological perspectives to examine subtle human impacts on complex ecosystems.
Molly Fraser
Marine Shipping & Response Coordinator
As CCIRA’s Marine Shipping & Response Coordinator, Molly Fraser helps to advance the Central Coast Nations’ important marine shipping and response work. Born and raised on Northern Vancouver Island, Molly is at heart a coastal person, and has spent countless days in, on, and around the ocean. Her passion for the ocean led to a Master of Science at the University of Victoria, where she researched vessel compliance to marine mammal distance regulations around cetaceans in the Salish Sea. Previous work experience includes projects with Parks Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada and the WSANEC Leadership Council.
Meaghen McCord
Executive Director
A seasoned conservation leader with over 20 years of experience in ocean and terrestrial conservation, Meag was most recently the Executive Director of CPAWS-BC. Prior roles include policy advisor, marine ecologist and conservation manager with Parks Canada, where she advanced Canada’s ocean conservation targets through close collaboration with First Nations and federal and provincial agencies. Previously, Meag founded and directed the South African Shark Conservancy where she developed strategies to protect threatened marine species and ecosystems in the southwestern Indian Ocean. A champion of gender equity and inclusion, Meag also served as Vice Chair of the African Network for Women in Marine Science. As CCIRA’s Executive Director, Meag provides oversight for the day-to-day development and management of our programs, projects and teams, ensuring this work serves the interests, objectives and aspirations of Central Coast Nations.
Cyndi Hanuse
Administrator
Cyndi helps coordinate CCIRA programs and contractors, assisting with accounting, project administration, bookkeeping, financial accountability and program updates, plus correspondence with each Nation’s business and administration teams. She manages banking, internal meetings and hiring coordination, and communicates with government entities and external parties on CCIRA’s behalf as needed. Before joining CCIRA in 2012, Cyndi worked five years as an Environmental Technician in Stream Mapping and Habitat Restoration, and for Homalco Indian Band, Klahoose Indian Band and the Wuikinuxv Nation, as Fisheries Manager and implementing the Wuikinuxv Guardian Watchmen program. Cyndi attended North Island College for Applied Business Technology Office Skills and Vancouver Island University for the Essential Field Skills Certificate Program.
Gord McGee
Marine Planner
Gord supports the Nations’ leadership in restoring a traditional resource management approach for Central Coast waters. This work includes coordinating technical teams, helping to establish the Marine Planning Partnership (MaPP) Central Coast Marine Use Plan and advancing the Marine Protected Area Network for the Central Coast. Prior to CCIRA, Gord worked as a land-use planner with the BC Government on the Great Bear Rainforest Agreement and the Sacred Headwaters Planning process, as a consultant with the Kuna First Nations in Panama, and as an ocean kayaking guide. With a Masters degree in Resource and Environmental Management (Planning) from SFU, Gord is inspired and guided by the Nations’ values-based approach to resource management.
Taylor Mason
Marine Planning & MaPP Implementation Coordinator
Taylor helps to advance Central Coast Nations’ marine planning efforts and to enhance the sustainability of BC’s marine environments. Taylor grew up in the unceded territory of Mi’kmaq First Nations (Prince Edward Island), which fostered an interest in marine and coastal water resources early in her life. She has an undergraduate degree in Aquatic Resources and Public Policy and a Masters in Marine Management from Dalhousie University, and has worked with Indigenous communities on all three Canadian coastlines—each role focused on enhancing Indigenous capacity and interests at a community-level and in partnership with government and stakeholders.
Megan Adams
Salmon Programs Coordinator
Megan is passionate about salmon and the ecosystems and communities they support. For over a decade, she worked in close collaboration with First Nations on projects aimed at upholding Indigenous sovereignty while also fulfilling stewardship objectives. At CCIRA, Megan supports Central Coast Nations in various salmon programs, including habitat restoration, catch monitoring, and expanding knowledge of genetic baselines in the region. Prior to this role, Megan worked with a team of artists, researchers, and facilitators to assess cumulative effects on salmon and other key species across the Central Coast. She also built relationships and expanded her knowledge of natural history in the area through her work on a grizzly and black bear monitoring program that spans the Central Coast, including monitoring bears alongside stewardship staff in Wuikinuxv territory.
Danny O’Farrell
Fisheries Governance Coordinator
Danny O’Farrell has more than 20 years’ experience in marine and freshwater fisheries management, most of it with First Nations across BC, including the Nuu-chah-nulth and St’at’imc Nations. He has also helped develop various stewardship Guardian programs, as well as salmon research and habitat restoration projects. For all of this work, Danny is committed to ensuring that First Nations’ rights are upheld, and that fisheries health is maintained for future generations. Danny has a graduate degree in Coastal Marine Management from the University of Aukureyi. In his role with CCIRA, Danny will support Central Coast Nations’ priorities under the Fisheries Resource Reconciliation Agreement (FRRA) framework, and help to advance opportunities to develop collaborative fisheries governance in their territories.