Our board

Bird Protection Quebec is managed by a board of directors and appointed officers, all dedicated volunteers committed to ensuring that our vision and mission are at the heart of everything we do.

Officers

Bonnie Soutar

President

Bonnie was appointed president in May 2025. A BPQ life member, she is retired from working in funding and community development and has served on the board since 2018. She sits on the Grants Committee, and the EDI working group. Bonnie first really took notice of birds during a field biology trip while studying biology at the University of Toronto and doing caribou studies in Arctic breeding grounds. Through bird-focused travel with her husband, Bonnie’s obsession with learning has only grown.
Sheldon Harvey

Vice-President Administration and Treasurer

Sheldon was appointed vice-president of administration and treasurer in 2018. He joined BPQ in 2002 and is retired from a career in accounting and consulting. He is a past president (2014-2016). Having previously served the maximum 10-year term permitted of board members, Sheldon was re-elected to the board in 2018. He chairs the Publicity/Outreach Committee, co-chairs the Field Trip Committee, and coordinates BPQ’s Montreal Christmas Bird Count. He began birdwatching casually as a child but since joining BPQ, has observed over 300 species of birds just in the province of Quebec.
Emile Brisson-Curadeau

Vice-President Conservation

Émile was appointed vice-president of conservation in 2024. He has been a board member since 2020, except for a brief period when he stepped down to do research work abroad. Émile holds a PhD from McGill University and studied polar seabirds, focusing mainly on how these species can be affected by climate change. He has been an avid birder since he was a child.

Darlene Harvey

Vice-President Outreach and Membership Secretary

Darlene was appointed vice-president of outreach in 2023. Board member since 2019, and membership secretary since 2018, Darlene is retired from a 35+ year career as a human resource professional. She is chair of the Communications Committee, co-editor of The Song Sparrow members’ magazine, and sits on the Field Trip Committee. Darlene was coaxed into birding over 20 years ago by her husband, Sheldon, and recognized it had become a passion when, after only a few outings, she handed back his binoculars and headed out to buy her own.

Suzanne Bélanger

Secretary

Suzanne was appointed Secretary in 2024. First elected to the board in 2023, she is retired from a career in fundraising, alumni relations and communications, having held positions at charitable foundations and universities. She has served on several boards and organizational committees and mentored young fundraisers. An avid birder, Suzanne appreciates the important work of birding clubs and has eagerly contributed to BPQ since joining in 2022.

Directors

Claude Cloutier

Claude joined the board in 2017 and is retired from a career in the electrical trade. He participates in outreach initiatives as a member of the Publicity/Outreach Committee, is heavily involved in several BPQ-sponsored nest box programs and shares his expertise by participating in BPQ sanctuary maintenance projects. Claude has always had a love of nature and wildlife that morphed into a love of birds. He has been volunteering for over 50 years.

Katherine Collin

Katherine was appointed to the board in 2023. She sits on both the Education and Conservation Committees, and co-chairs the EDI working group. Katherine is a professor and coordinator of the Sustainability Major at Vanier College, and her passion for community science led her to found the Campus Biodiversity Network, an international network of higher-education institutions monitoring biodiversity on campus, and to organise the City Nature Challenge for Greater Montreal. Katherine’s favourite place to bird in Montréal is the Saint-Laurent Technoparc wetlands and surrounding area.

Virginia Elliott
Virginia joined the board in 2026. Having studied archaeology with a specialization in faunal analysis, she got to know birds from the inside out by identifying their bones rather than their feathers. Virginia began her career as a faunal analyst, interpreting zoological material from archaeological sites, before moving to a position coordinating municipal cultural events. Virginia is also a guide at Montreal’s Pointe aux Callières Museum. She has served as a BPQ field trip guide, leading outings to Angrignon Park.
Kristen Lalla

A Board member since 2018 and a BPQ life member, Kristen is a past president (2023-2025) and was vice-president of outreach prior to that appointment. She works as a wildlife biologist. While Kristen has always been interested in birds, she became a more serious birder during her studies at Dawson College. She obtained her master’s at McGill University, where she studied the movement ecology of Purple Martins. Kristen is chair of the Conservation Committee, and was instrumental in establishing the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) working group. She also volunteers at the McGill Bird Observatory.

Zofia Laubitz
A board member since 2024, Zofia is a self-employed editor and translator. She is co-chair of the Monthly Meetings Committee and co-authors a related column in The Song Sparrow members’ magazine. She also manages BPQ’s incoming email account. Encouraged by outdoorsy parents, Zofia started learning about birds, butterflies, and flowers during her childhood in Ottawa and still has a bird list created when she was nine years old! She moved to Montreal to attend McGill University and simply never left.
Sarah Marshall

Sarah was elected to the board in 2024. She has been a physiotherapist for 40 years, and has spent the last 13 years as a Faculty Lecturer and the Director’s Academic Associate at McGill University’s School of Physical & Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. She has a long history of service and leadership in her many areas of interest. Sarah coordinates BPQ’s Hudson Christmas Bird Count and supports the monthly educational meetings. She enjoys birdwatching with her husband, Bill.

Helen Meredith
Having completed a 10-year period on the Board in 2021, Helen was re-elected after a one-year break in 2022. She was BPQ secretary for many years and now chairs the Archives Committee and sits on the Grants Committee.
Megan Phillips
Megan was elected to the board in 2026. Holding a bachelor’s degree in environmental biology specialized in wildlife management and completing a master’s in education at McGill, she began her career teaching science at the high school level, worked at the McGill Office of Science Outreach, and currently is Educational Consultant at the Redpath Museum. Megan is chair of BPQ’s education committee. Her love of birdwatching was sparked by an ornithology course she took while in university.
Ron Rind

First elected to the Board in 2023, Ron brings 40 years of experience working at a preclinical research lab where he held technical and management positions that included mentoring and training others. He is chair of the Sanctuaries Committee and sits on the Conservation Committee. Although a casual birder since elementary school, having acquired his first binoculars in the 70s, Ron learned of BPQ in the fall of 2016 while attending a Northern Saw-Wet Owl banding at the Morgan Arboretum, went on his first BPQ field trip in 2017 – an experience that he says “it is an understatement to call an eye opener” – and hasn’t looked back.

Patricia Seifert

Pat joined the board in 2026. After earning her degree in biology, Pat started her career as a lab technician in a variety of fields including entomology, fisheries biology, food microbiology and virology before moving to Montreal where she worked in pharmaceutical development before retiring in 2015. Pat’s interest in birding was sparked by the sighting of a Baltimore oriole while hiking the Rideau Trail. She joined BPQ in the late 1990s after attending a Bird Fair. A regular volunteer at the McGill Bird Observatory, Pat has reached the status of lead extractor, teaching other volunteers how to safely remove the birds from the nets.