The Centre for Social Innovation’s Climate Ventures Conversations are a chance to meet the leaders tackling the climate crisis. This month we spoke with Dr. Melissa Lem, the President-Elect of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, the Director of PaRx, and a Vancouver family physician.
Watch the conversation on YouTube or below.
Dr. Melissa Lem is a Vancouver family physician who also works in rural and northern communities within Canada. Director of PaRx—Canada’s first national nature prescription program, powered by the BC Parks Foundation—and President-Elect of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, she has been researching, writing and speaking about the nature-health connection for over a decade. She has also been involved in advocacy and policy work on a broad range of issues including climate change, wildfires, fracking and LNG, toxics and sustainable health care. A widely published writer, she was the resident medical expert on CBC TV’s hit lifestyle show Steven and Chris for four seasons and continues to appear on air as a regular contributor to CTV News. Dr. Lem was the inaugural winner of University College’s Young Alumni of Influence Award at the University of Toronto, is a 2020 Joule Innovation grant recipient from the Canadian Medical Association, and a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia.
About the Moderator
Shea Sinnott is a Senior Programs Manager at the Centre for Social Innovation, where she manages Climate Ventures and Earth Tech – an accelerator for climate and water solutions. Before joining CSI, Shea worked for almost a decade as a program manager, organizer, and educator with a range of organizations fighting for social and environmental justice – including Code for Canada, the David Suzuki Foundation, Organize BC, and OpenMedia. Shea holds a Master’s in Adult Education & Community Development from the University of Toronto.
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