"Water is everything"

John has lived in the area for over twelve years, with spectacular views of the whole bay at home. He has had a long career in research and teaching in environmental - especially aquatic - sciences. Among his interesting jobs were: four months sailing around the North Atlantic on a Tall Ship training programme and leading a Canadian Arctic conservation study for WWF Canada. Retired now - no less than six times, from various university, international and national organizations - he never seemed to get it right. He has been fortunate that people keep asking him to do things!

John was born and completed his education in Britain before coming to Canada. Always interested in how things function and interact in the environment, he is now keen to apply his knowledge and skills at a more regional level. A reluctant terrestrial being, he sails his own boat during the summer, and races as a crew, every Tuesday evening.

Richard is currently the chair of the St. Margaret’s Bay Stewardship, having joined the board almost immediately after moving to Upper Tantallon in 2023. He was born in Toronto and was interested in fish from a very early age, thanks to a copy of “Fishes”  by Zim / Shoemaker. Parental job moves took him to the United States, the UK and South Africa; but they eventually settled in the Cotswolds.

He is a keen fisherman and went on the study Zoology in Liverpool; the final year was specializing in freshwater fisheries, salmonids and the impact of dams on habitat and species diversity. 

After a career in the pharmaceutical industry that involved jobs in Montreal, Basel and back in the UK, he moved to Massachusetts in 2011 where in semi-retirement he was chair of the Wellesely Wetlands Protection Committee for several years. This role was to balance development needs against the need to protect wetlands so that they could function as a biological entity and also reduce the physical effects of their loss on flooding and damage to infrastructure.  Hobbies include fly fishing (enthusiastic but inept) and model railways.

He is proud to serve on the SMBSA board as we advocate for the stewardship of our treasured environment for current and future generations.

Tim joined the Board of SMBSA as Treasurer in August 2022. Brought up in Scotland, he developed a strong interest in the outdoors, travelling around the world, trekking in the Himalayas, Andes and Africa. He became a keen kayaker and has carried out kayaking trips to Alaska, British Columbia and also joined an expedition to Ellesmere Island.

He worked as an accountant in the UK, latterly specialising as a financial adviser to many major charities. He was also Treasurer for a national UK charity which supported people who had suffered homelessness.

Since retirement, he and his partner, Barbara, a Nova Scotian, have spent an increasing amount of time at their property on the Bay. Now a Canadian Permanent Resident, he is keen to support local charities such as the Association.

Mike Lancaster has been working with the St. Margaret's Stewardship Association (SMBSA) since 2012, starting off in the position of Micou's Island Stewardship Coordinator and now fulfilling the role of Executive Director.

He has been instrumental in the expansion of programming and capacity that the Association has seen over this period of time. Mike has led the SMBSA to become a provincial leader in community-based stewardship planning and programming. As a result, many federal and provincial organizations and governments seek our advice and experience.

A trained forester, Mike also has extensive experience in assessing and documenting old forests, Species at Risk, and ecologically-significant places across Nova Scotia.

Reilly is the Stewardship Coordinator for the St. Margaret’s Bay Stewardship Association (SMBSA). A lifelong resident of the area, she has always felt a strong connection to nature and found a meaningful place to grow both personally and professionally within SMBSA.

As Stewardship Coordinator, Reilly remains committed to advancing environmental stewardship, conservation, and restoration initiatives throughout the Bay area. She also leads community engagement efforts, supports fundraising initiatives, and manages social media communications to strengthen connections between the organization and the community it serves.

"It always seems impossible until it's done."

Nelson Mandela

Lindsay Lee is passionate about preserving biodiversity and enriching communities by expanding Nova Scotia's network of protected areas.

Thanks in part to her family’s multi-generational woodlot, Lindsay grew up with a strong connection to the natural world. From mainland moose to fireflies, singing songbirds to babbling brooks,

Lindsay believes that nature is integral to our physical and mental health.

She is the Secretary of the Eastern Shore Forest Watch Association and serves on Sierra Club Atlantic’s Executive Committee. She also enjoys volunteering for the Ecology Action Centre's Wilderness Issues Committee, the Rights of Nature Network, and Friends of Blue Mountain Birch Cove Lakes.

Lindsay is perhaps best known as one of the leaders of the movement to Save Owls Head Provincial Park; now, she’s excited to bring that same dedication and enthusiasm to ensuring that the 15,000-hectare Ingram River Wilderness Area is protected for generations to come.

A lifelong nature need, Lindsay can still be found hiking, photographing native plants, and peering into wetlands looking for frogs.

Rohan has lived in the area for most of his life and has grown up enjoying the outdoors within St. Margaret’s Bay and its surrounding communities. Rohan has a background in natural resources and appreciates the importance of the healthy and significant ecosystems found within and surrounding the Bay.

Rohan is a proud board member who enjoys spending time outside searching for rare plants and lichens to help bolster the protection and stewardship of St. Margarets’s Bay and its surrounding areas. 

Jeff grew up on, in and under the waters of St. Margaret’s Bay. He went through local schools in Head of the Bay, Boutilier’s Point and Hubbards before getting to Sir John A.

After high school he wanted to work to improve our environment and came to the conclusion that the best way to do that was from within the “establishment” as a professional engineer. He did a basic civil engineering degree followed by a Masters Degree in Water Resources Engineering.

In the 40 years since, his work has touched almost everyone in Nova Scotia, from developing modern onsite sewage disposal standards, undertaking large area planning studies, helping to develop and write erosion and sedimentation control guidelines and manuals, and making sure that almost 100 new schools landed in good places, including the new Bayview High and St. Margaret’s Elementary.

Jeff has spent his career providing the link between engineering principles and the built works around us that affect our environment and our social wellbeing. He’s moved back to the home he grew up in and is actively rejoining the community, following in his father’s footsteps.

A Nova Scotia native, husband, and father of two, Horne has lived in HRM his whole life and in the district for over 14 years. Horne is very engaged and involved with community issues, Chairing the St Margaret’s Bay Stewardship Assn from 2016 to 2022 , Nick is deeply involved in making his community a better place, receiving both Provincial and Municipal Volunteer Awards in 2018 for his dedication.