Sachiko L. Schott graduated with a B.Sc. in Zoology from the University of Guelph, and has since worked as a field ornithologist in Oregon, North Carolina, West Virginia, British Columbia, and Ontario. She began birding in 2007, a hobby that not only influenced her current career path but also reawakened an interest in painting, drawing, and embroidery. Her other hobbies include taxidermy, and some of her work is on display in PIBO’s exhibit ‘Birds and Species at Risk’ in the Pelee Island Heritage Center.

I visited PIBO’s banding station as a volunteer in the summer of 2006, which was the hottest and buggiest season I ever have experienced in Canada since I have been here!  In 2011, I started working for PIBO and spent more than 5000 hours in the field. After observing bird migration for thirteen years on the island, my passion to see the phenomenal bird activity is still strong. Currently I am an island resident and have much appreciation for this small community. I have lots of support from my friends and am happy to help other people as well. It has been a pleasure to meet many young people, students, and elders, and to spend time chatting about birds and nature at our small bird banding station in the forest.  Along with my favourite hobby, birdwatching, I also enjoy drawing birds, butterflies and the varied landscape that I love to see on the island.

Mary-Jo Rusu is a creative educator and writer. Prior to becoming an employee of PIBO, she had partnered with us to develop inspiring education projects connecting international students in China to PIBO’s mission to help the birds.  Mary-Jo looks forward to assisting others in building lifelong connections to the wonders of birds and their relationships to our ecosystem, as well as, fostering habitat creation efforts.

Co-Founder of Pelee Island Bird Observatory. Margaret is one of Canada’s best known and most prolific writers. She has written more than 40 books in nearly all literary forms including short stories, nonfiction, children’s books and stage. Her work encompasses a variety of themes including gender and identity, religion and myth, the power of language, climate change and “power politics”. Her most recent book, The Testaments, has broken Canadian sales records and was named the co-winner of the 2019 Booker Prize.

Matthew is the President and CEO as well as a Co-Founder of Syngrafii Inc. He has extensive experience in high-technology solutions and is an inventor of record on 9 granted and 27 pending patents. Matthew has worked in corporate development for over twenty years and has expertise in diverse consumer and industrial markets. Specializing in launching, monetizing and commercializing intellectual property, of late, in remote wet ink eSignatures on mobile technology platforms.

John Gruetzner is the principal of Intercedent, a Canadian business and investment advisory firm founded in 1988 and focused on Asia. Before joining Intercendent in 1991, John served as the head of the Canada China Business Council in Beijing. John has also worked for the National Broadcasting Corporation, De Laurentis Entertainment, and Filmline. He has a diverse range of skills related to conducting business in Asia including market entry and sales development, investment advisory, capital raising and corporate government engagement strategies, and has lived and worked in China for over 30 years. John is a Director on a number of public and private sector boards.

Raised in Montreal, Donna Hayes graduated in 1978 with an honours degree in English literature and communications from McGill University. She is the retired Publisher and Chief Executive Officer of Harlequin Books where she spent 28 years, the last 13 as CEO. She has also served on the board of directors of the American Association of Publishers, the Toronto Public Library Foundation and the board of directors of the TD Financial Group. Donna joined our board of directors in 2014. She also serves as Co-Chair of the Toronto Wildlife Centre.

Born in Windsor, Ontario, Wayne is a Canadian writer, editor, and translator. He is the author of 14 books, the translator of more than a dozen novels from the French, and the editor of many literary anthologies of fiction and nonfiction. He currently teaches creative writing in the MFA program at the University of British Columbia. He is the recipient of a Governor General’s Award for French to English translation, the John Glassco Translation Prize and the National Outdoor Book Award. His novel Emancipation Day was named nominee for the 2013 Scotiabank Giller Prize and named winner of the 2013 Amazon.ca First Novel Award. 

Born in Toronto and raised in Kingston, Ontario. Penny moved back to Toronto in 1972 where she worked for several businesses, including CTV before pursuing a career as a bookkeeper. She has been a bookkeeper for over 40 years. Penny joined the board of directors in 2014, and she is responsible for managing and oversight of the financial reports and statements for PIBO, as well as presenting the financial statements and budgets at the Board meetings.