2016
Education & Thought Leadership
Catherine Potvin headshot
Clean16 Award Logo

Catherine Potvin

Professor, Department of Biology; Canada Research Chair, Climate Change Mitigation and Tropical Forests; Director, Panama Field Study Semester, Professor, Department of Biology; Canada Research Chair, Climate Change Mitigation and Tropical Forests; Director, Panama Field Study Semester

It has been said that herding academics can be harder than herding cats – but Catherine has done just that, creating the Sustainable Canada Dialogues initiative, mobilizing over 60 scholars from 32 different institutions, numerous disciplines, and all 10 provinces to produce a “made in Canada” climate action plan.

The resulting position paper, Acting on Climate Change, proposes 10 key policy orientations and emphasizes how transitioning to a low-carbon economy could help open important opportunities for innovation and employment in Canada.

The Sustainable Canada Dialogues initiative has been highly successful in bringing media attention to climate policy in Canada and thereby educating Canadians and our politicians across the country on possible actions to prevent and reverse the negative effects of climate change.