TEAM
Meet our board of directors and staff!
Board of DIrectors
Shauna Yeomans, President
Geohaadoostee, (Shauna Yeomans-Lindstrom) is a part of the Yanyedi house of the Taku River Tlingit First Nation. Shauna has been involved in cultural activities and climate change and environmental awareness programs since the early years of her youth. In 2010/11 Shauna participated in "Students on Ice: Antarctic Expedition” and in 2012, Shauna traveled to Peru with the student volunteer exchange program Canada World Youth. Since then Shauna has studied early childhood development, and applies what she has learned to developing spaces and creating opportunities on-the-land for youth, to learn about traditional knowledge and values. In 2016, she began working for the Taku River Tlingit First Nation as a Land Guardian. Since 2018, Shauna also serves as a board member with First Nations Advocating for Responsible Mining. Shauna became the TAC President in July 2018.
Dennis Sizemore, Vice President
Dennis holds a BS from New Mexico State University in Wildlife Science and an MS from the University of Montana in Wildlife Ecology. His 40 years of conservation work experience includes law enforcement, management, education, and research. A co-founder of Round River Conservation Studies, Dennis has served as the organization’s executive director since its inception in 1991. Dennis is a former President of The Wildlands Project, a founding board member of the T’akhu  Tlèn Conservancy, and a trustee of the Pax Natura Foundation.
Susan Carlick, Secretary
Susan has been a leader in the Tlingit community for many years. She represented the TRTFN as the lead negotiator of the TRTFN-BC Framework Agreement and Taku Agreements and served for many years as the G2G Forum Co-chair, and as a lead negotiator for the TRTFN Treaty Process. She is a past TRTFN Clan Director and past Manager of Fisheries, Lands and Resources. She has a deep understanding of the Taku Agreements and the dynamics in the community and relationships with British Columbia.
Bryan Evans, Treasurer
Bryan is a land use planner and long-term advisor to the TRTFN with over 25 years experience in strategic land use planning in British Columbia. He served as the TRTFN’s Technical Working Group Leader responsible for development of Wóoshtin wudidaa: The Atlin Taku Land Use Plan. Bryan currently serves as TRTFN’s lead on the Protected Areas Working Group (PAWG) responsible for development of management plans for each of the new Conservancies and existing protected areas.
Trevor Williams, Director
Trevor is a member of the Taku River Tlingit First Nation. He grew up in Atlin BC, and spent many of his summers as a youth in the Taku River Watershed and fishing on Atlin Lake with his family. Trevor joined the TRTFN Land Guardian program in 2013 and has been a key figure in the success of the program. Prior to joining the Land Guardians, Trevor worked in the TRTFN Fisheries Department for 7 years, first as a technician, and then as the Fisheries Field Supervisor. Trevor has also worked as a commercial salmon fisherman on the Taku River and in carpentry and surveying.
Scott Rehmus, Director
Scott is a strategic philanthropist who has made a career in developing practical solutions to complex problems. A passion for the oceans led him in to international conservation and then to dedicate himself to supporting coastal communities working to develop economies that maintain their culture and the environment. He spent 13 years building a sustainable future for the Great Bear Rainforest, first with the Packard Foundation and then co-leading two foundations that partnered with 27 First Nations to use $120M to create thriving communities and a thriving environment.
Vincent Esquiro, Director
Vince is a member of the Taku River Tlingit First Nation. Vince sits on the Atlin District Board of Trade as a citizen and a business owner. He also serves as the Vice President of the Atlin Arts and Music Festival, as well as, being the First Nations cultural liaison for the festival. Vince is a former Youth Coordinator for the Taku River Tlingit First Nation, and a former representative of the Stikine Wholistic Working Group (SWWG) and the 3 Nations. Vince volunteers his time to youth through job shadowing at his restaurant and at his "Get Juiced" smoothie bar at the Atlin Arts and Music Festival. Vince brings a strong passion for building community and an entrepreneurial spirit to everything he does.
Staff
Aimee Schmidt, Executive Director
Aimee grew up in Atlin, British Columbia. She has an undergraduate degree in English Literature at the University of Victoria, and in 2017, she completed her PhD in Environment & Sustainability at the University of Saskatchewan. Her dissertation focused on understanding the human dimensions of polar bear-human interactions. An avid hiker and backpacker, Aimee has an enduring love the landscape and wildlife in the Atlin area. She is also very lucky to have worked seasonally as a grizzly bear viewing guide in the Taku River Watershed for many years. Aimee joined TAC as the Executive Director in January 2017.
