ONEIG leadership members are truly a welcoming and supportive group and we definitely walk the talk of being "all in it together". We are at different places in our geography, nursing practice background, eco-awareness, and professional and leadership experiences BUT we all have in common a super huge love of people, the natural world and basically making the world a better place because we love it so much. Get in touch with us via social media or email: oneigrnao@gmail.com to find out about a new learning adventure.
“Action on behalf of life transforms. Because the relationship between self and the world is reciprocal, it is not a question of first getting enlightened or saved and then acting. As we work to heal the earth, the earth heals us.” - Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass
Co-chair: Josalyn Radcliffe, RN
Josalyn joined ONEIG's executive in November 2019. She contributes her prior undergrad education in English and Psychology and experience as a Public Health Nurse working with vaccine preventable diseases. She has always felt a connection to the environment since her early life in Northwestern Ontario, taking every opportunity to spend time outdoors in the garden, running, and biking. She has been supporting social and environmental advocacy for many years and is a current PhD candidate in Public Health focused on climate change, health, and food security. She loves learning about how we can build a safe, inclusive, and healthy environment, and is excited to move forward with ONEIG. Meet Josalyn here!
Co-chair: Rob Samulack, RN (More on Rob to come!)
Policy and Political Action ENO: Dominique Baillargeon, RN, BScN
Dominique joined the ONEIG executive team in August 2020. She completed her BScN at the University of Windsor and is currently working as a Registered Nurse. Her passion for environmental health sparked during her many long runs, hikes, and outdoor adventures as she became increasingly appreciative of nature's gifts. Specifically, she is extremely passionate about advocating for access to safe drinking water in Indigenous communities in Canada as this has been an ongoing issue for many years. She is excited to work with the ONEIG team to address these inequities and create a healthy environment for all. Meet Dominique here!
Policy and Political Action ENO: Olivia Brundia, RN, BScN
Olivia joined the ONEIG Executive in August 2020 and completed her BScN from Nipissing University and Infusion Therapy Certificate from York University. Olivia's final research paper for her undergraduate program was on the importance of environmental health from a nursing perspective. Her interest regarding the environment arose from extensive travel at a young age to various countries and national parks. She is a great advocate for citizen science and volunteers time with projects such as Mission Monarch, Adopt-A-Pond Wetland Conservation & Clam Counter in association with the Toronto Zoo, and the Killarney Loon Count in collaboration with Bird Studies Canada. Olivia served as a Consultation Representative at the RNAO Annual AGM, and is an active RNAO member. She is passionate about issues such as clean drinking water and reduction of waste produced by hospitals.
Treasurer: Victoria Ralph, RPN, BScN student
Victoria is a newly graduated and freshly registered nurse with a cumulative 13 years of experience as an RPN in home care, palliative care, and the operating room. She has been the executive financial officer for ONEIG since 2020. Her passion is caring for others and the world around her by creating a healthy environment, finding alternative solutions for waste, and advocating for endangered areas of natural habitats. She developed a recycling program in 2018 within the Welland Hospital operating room due to the unecessary amount of materials being put into our wasteland. She looks forward to meeting people with similar interests and working together to improve the environmental health within Ontario and thereby the overall health of our communities.Meet Victoria here!
Student Liaison: Emma Ayukawa BScN student
CANE Liaison: Hilda Swirsky, RN, BScN, MEd
A values driven and evidence-based leader; Hilda , with passion, professional courage, generosity and unwavering commitment to optimal health equity for patients and their families, is always incorporating the social and environmental determinants of health into all of her work. She strategically advocates and champions challenging priority issues at all levels.
With a multifaceted career encompassing, clinical practice, nursing leadership, education, research and extensive professional, community and political experiences, Hilda has extensive expertise and a broad perspective locally, provincially and nationally. She is a role-model and mentor facilitating enabling promotion of environmental fairness and equity for all and battling environmental racism. Environmental equity founded on cultural sensitivity, environmental advocacy and research that reinforces innovative evidence-based environmental practices.
Committed to life-long professional growth Hilda received her Diploma of Nursing from York Regional School of Nursing, her BScN from Ryerson Polytechnic University and, enthralled with learning, her Master's of Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. She remains up-to-date with the most current knowledge and research through her collaborative connections and congenial relationships with other environmental leaders such as Gideon Forman of the David Suzuki Foundation and organizations such as the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments. She participates in both planning and giving educational venues and in actively listening to webinars, e-learning, educational courses and Zoom and Webex meetings.
As a long-standing, dedicated member of RNAO, she has been involved from the date of her first RNAO meeting when she campaigned for Treasurer of Region 6 and won. Hilda excels in most challenges she has taken on including being an RNAO Board member for Region 6 for four years and a founding member of ONEIG.
Being a liaison is one of her strengths and thus Hilda has been in the role of Workplace Liaison and CANE/ONEIG liaison sharing and coordinating with each group political actions and activities.
Membership ENO: Samson Elijah
Social Media ENO: Cleo Danforth
Communications ENO: Jessica Burford
Past Chair: Elise Skinner, BA, MScN, RN
Elise was nominated to the role of ONEIG president in July 2019 and led ONEIG through the 2019-2021 period. She is a nurse with a passion for health equity and a desire to promote nursing leadership in mitigating climate change and its human health impacts. To the role, she brought leadership experience in palliative care, community health and education. She holds an undergraduate degree in law and human rights as well as master’s degree in nursing.
Past Student Liaison: Paula joined the role of ONEIG Student Liaison in September 2020. She is a Bachelor of Science in Nursing student at the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing at the University of Toronto. She is currently in her second year of the two- year program. Paula loves to participate in outdoor activities like running, biking, nature walks, and cross-country skiing. Paula is in interested in the environmental determinants of health, fair trade, and public health. She is eager to engage Ontarian students in the ONEIG's mission to promote water protection, climate action, and environmental justice. Meet Paula here!
Past President: Kerrie Pickering, RN
Kerrie emigrated from New Zealand 15 years and has over 25 years of international nursing experience. In 2010 Kerrie completed a BSc Environmental Studies and in 2013 an MA Geography focused on climate change adaptation. Her PhD work focuses on the health-environment intersection. She began a ‘Green Team’ at in the Niagara Health System and became a member of the Brock University Sustainability Coordinating Committee. Being an ONEIG member provides a unique opportunity to work with like-minded nurses with the best tools to create the changes we know need to happen. Nurses hold a unique position and responsibility within society as respected healthcare professionals allowing us to improve the health of the environment, individuals and communities.
Past Policy and Political Action ENO: Susan Munro, RN
Susan tirelessly works on water issues in her community. She has a deep conviction that access to reliable, clean water is a human right as the WHO declared in 2010. Susan has a nursing history in public health, mental health, home care and long-term care, so she brings a breadth of understanding the connection between the environment and health.
Past-Social Media ENO: Andrea Baumann, RN
Andrea joined the ONEIG executive in the role of Social Media ENO in 2018. Andrea is a registered nurse currently working as a research assistant. She joined ONEIG after learning more about the connections between the health of the planet and human health through an environmental health class during her Master of Nursing program. She is particularly interested in climate change and how nurses can be involved in advocating for public policy changes to both prevent further climate change, and to mediate its effects.