The Alliance is composed of a wide net of interested parties. First Nations, scientists, conservation groups, farmers, landowners, businesses, government agencies and citizens work together in this Alliance so that people and carnivores can thrive in Southern Vancouver Island.

Our directors:

Nitya Harris

Nitya lives adjacent to the Sooke Hills Wilderness Area and has a deep relationship with this land. Seeing increasing conflict between people, bears, cougars and wolves in the Capital Regional District of Victoria, BC, she founded the Coexisting with Carnivores Alliance to help address human-wildlife interactions and enhance tolerance toward carnivores. As a professional engineer, Nitya has worked as the Executive Director of SolarBC, Associate Professor at Royal Roads University and the Environment Manager of BC Buildings Corporation.  Nitya is also a member farmer of the Lohbrunner Community Farm Cooperative in Langford.

Beatrice Frank

Beatrice is the Senior Manager Resilient Habitats at WWF Canada and an adjunct assistant professor in the School of Environmental Studies at University of Victoria, BC. For the last 15 years, she has focused on understanding people’s values, attitudes, believes and behaviours toward wild species and protected areas. Her work consists of empowering local communities in addressing human-wildlife interactions. She believes that including local communities needs and expectations is key to foster coexistence between people and carnivores sharing the same landscape. So keep tuned, as she might cross your path soon and ask you what you think about cougars, bears and wolves or to participate in a public engagement activity!

Marianne Paquette

Marianne grew up in Montreal and after obtaining a BASc in Communications and Environmental Sciences, she decided to move to the West Coast of Vancouver Island. Marianne has worked with the BC Conservation Foundation for the past three years as part of the WildSafeBC program where she has coordinated multifaceted initiatives to enhance human-wildlife coexistence and increase awareness about the best ways to share the landscape with large carnivores. Devoted to the protection of biodiversity, Marianne has taken part in projects with non-profit organizations in different parts of the world, such as restoring the habitat of a native reptile species in Reunion Island, helping reduce bycatch of protected marine life in Baja California and taking part in a multi-day shoreline debris cleanup in the Broken Group Islands.

Bob Hansen

Bob began his career with the National Park Warden Service in 1975 and learned first hand responding to conflicts between people and wildlife in various national parks. In 1997  he became the first Human-Wildlife Conflict Specialist in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve with the opportunity to develop a program committed to achieving coexistence between people and wildlife in a park with a small geographical area, an abundance of wildlife and annual visitation in the hundreds of thousands.  Bob has an extensive knowledge on the effect of human-wildlife interactions to large carnivores, communities, the environment and the economy - as experienced across his work in National Parks, as the Wildlife Deterrent Specialist in Nunavut and as coordinator of the WildCoast Research Project-Learning How to Live With Large Carnivores.