Western Canada’s award-winning environmental news magazine
The Watershed Sentinel has been the voice of the grassroots environmental movement in BC and beyond for 35 years. When environmental community groups and thinkers working on the ground on issues such as water, oil and gas projects, climate change, genetically modified foods, fish farming, Indigenous rights, and conservation want their stories heard, they turn to us.
What began as a community newsletter on Cortes Island has grown into a respected publication led by editor Delores Broten, who, alongside a network of activist colleagues, brings investigative journalism and high standards of writing to issues that matter.
In a media landscape increasingly shaped by corporate ownership and algorithm-driven visibility, we work to amplify voices that are often left out, and to offer a space for thoughtful conversation about environmental issues and their wider social implications.
Our work is made possible in large part through the support of our dedicated community of sponsors, patrons, and sustaining subscribers. We are deeply grateful to everyone who has supported the Watershed Sentinel over the years. Read more about our history.
Acknowledgement of Territories
The Watershed Sentinel is produced on unceded Coast Salish territories, specifically of the K’ómoks First Nation.
Unceded means that this land was never surrendered, relinquished, or handed over in any way. We are grateful to the K’ómoks Nation for their ongoing generosity in sharing their culture and actively educating the wider community.
As settlers on this land, we are working towards better understanding how we can support Indigenous sovereignty.
Our Team
We rely on the guidance and support of our Board of Directors, Editorial Advisory Board, and the many volunteers – proofreaders, peer-reviewers, writers, photographers, graphic artists, and fact-checkers – who lend their skills. Thank you! We invite you to join our growing and committed network. Download our Writers Guidelines here.
Delores Broten
Executive Editor
Delores is the co-founder and executive editor of the Watershed Sentinel, a bimonthly environmental news magazine in its 35th year of publication. She has an MA from York University. Her life has revolved around print publishing, from student newspapers to the research charity CANLIT, which as its name indicates, focused on aspects of the publishing, history and sales of Canadian literature.
She also founded Reach for Unbleached as a grassroots campaign on pulp mill pollution. She has worked with most of the environmental issues and organizations in BC and on national toxics campaigns, as well as participating in numerous policy consultations. She was on the government negotiating team for the UN treaty called the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).
Zoe Blunt
Editor
Zoe joined Watershed Sentinel as editor-in-chief in 2024. She is a lifelong environmentalist, women’s rights campaigner, and Indigenous ally, and her writing has appeared in Canadian Dimension, Focus Magazine, Monday Magazine, Counterpunch, Adbusters, and People’s Voice. She is known for her work as a grassroots fundraiser and workshop leader for forest action groups.
Claire Gilmore
Circulation
Claire has been an editor of various stripes with the Watershed Sentinel since 2016, and is now moving into the circulation/distribution department as well. Having grown up in a small town on Vancouver Island, she has a deep love for the natural world and appreciates the diverse viewpoints that coexist in community. She represented the magazine at numerous in-person events prior to the great in-person-event depression of 2020-2023(ish), and looks forward to doing so again.
Hazel Volk
Outreach & Social Media
Born in France, Hazel spent a decade living and working in Central Australia before settling on Vancouver Island. With a background in communications and web project management, she joined the Watershed Sentinel in 2025 as Digital Communications Lead and contributor, combining storytelling with a commitment to ecological and decolonial justice and community resilience.
Her work and writing are informed by a lifelong interest in psychology, ecopsychology, and intercultural learning. Outside of work, Hazel can often be found wandering forests and shorelines, camera in hand, in search of wildlife and the stories that connect people and place.
Ester Strijbos
Graphic Designer
Ester has been part of the Watershed Sentinel team for over 23 years. Originally from The Netherlands, she immigrated to Canada in 2001 and met Delores two years later. They have been working together ever since.
Ester has always cared about the environment, with a particular interest in renewable energy, creative solutions, and upcycling. In recognition of her contributions, she received the Jo Anne Green Award in 2016.
She loves working on the magazine, especially the hands-on creative side of publishing — from typesetting to colour. As a freelance designer, Ester works with non-profits, authors, and small businesses on publishing and web projects, and she also volunteers with seniors in her community.
Outside of work, Ester enjoys pottery, playing music, gardening, and spending time in her garden or by the ocean.
Desiree Mannila
Staff Reporter
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Board of Directors and Editorial Advisory Board
Alice Grange
Director
I moved to Cortes Island in the 1980’s, water access only and off the grid, in part because I was told Cortesians recycled and liked to dance! Before I knew it I was chairing the Recycling Committee, met Delores, Friends of Cortes Island, and Reach for Unbleached! We produced a book on Sustainable Development, and transformed the small Free Store into a happening place. The “Tissue Issue Campaign” connected concerned consumers with retailers and producers of chlorine free paper products. Eventually Delores convinced me to join the Watershed Sentinel Board of Directors, and then to help create the Sentinel Educational Foundation.
When not chairing meetings, I love to travel and work as an Emotional Freedom Techniques Practitioner. (EFT Tapping). tappingdetective.com
Susan Yates
Director
Susan has been active in environmental and social justice groups for more than 50 years, inspired and encouraged by working with others whose energy, determination, and visions for the future offer hope for a better world.
She has lived on Gabriola for 43 years and is serving her 4th (non-consecutive) term as an elected Trustee for the Islands Trust. In 2015 she received an Islands Trust Community Stewardship Award “In recognition of 30 years contributing to literary arts and environmental stewardship”.
Susan has been a Director on the Board of The Watershed Sentinel Educational Society for 22 (??) years.
Sally Gellard
Director
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Director
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Director
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Regular Contributors
Andrea Palframan
Contributor
For more than 25 years, I have worked at the intersection of communications, community development, social justice, and environmental stewardship. My career has included backing Indigenous Nations to defend land, air and water for future generations with RAVEN, as well as consulting grassroots organizers, regenerative agriculture initiatives, researchers and nonprofit leaders from the Salish Sea to southern Africa.
I am passionate about helping communities tell compelling stories that inspire action and strengthen resilience. Based on Chuan/Salt Spring Island, I continue to joy in advancing environmental sustainability, social equity, and community-led change. andreapalframan.com
XXX
Contributor
Susan has been active in environmental and social justice groups for more than 50 years, inspired and encouraged by working with others whose energy, determination, and visions for the future offer hope for a better world.
She has lived on Gabriola for 43 years and is serving her 4th (non-consecutive) term as an elected Trustee for the Islands Trust. In 2015 she received an Islands Trust Community Stewardship Award “In recognition of 30 years contributing to literary arts and environmental stewardship”.
Susan has been a Director on the Board of The Watershed Sentinel Educational Society for 22 (??) years.
XXX
Contributor
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In luctus orci ac suscipit fringilla. Quisque egestas dignissim sem, at mattis odio maximus vel. Sed ut urna a ex fringilla feugiat volutpat eget tellus. Quisque ut diam sit amet enim gravida fringilla ut euismod sem.
xxx
Director
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse aliquam consectetur felis et bibendum. Nulla facilisi. Aliquam et interdum eros. Ut massa nunc, vestibulum nec risus consectetur, fringilla tempus urna. Maecenas pulvinar elementum magna, et molestie ligula iaculis nec. Morbi sit amet sapien quis eros rutrum dignissim. Integer dignissim vestibulum elit, et tincidunt augue luctus nec. Vestibulum eu tortor mi. Proin a vulputate ipsum. Donec ut magna in nunc viverra ullamcorper a quis est.
In luctus orci ac suscipit fringilla. Quisque egestas dignissim sem, at mattis odio maximus vel. Sed ut urna a ex fringilla feugiat volutpat eget tellus. Quisque ut diam sit amet enim gravida fringilla ut euismod sem. Ut vitae vulputate lacus. Interdum et malesuada fames ac ante ipsum primis in faucibus. Curabitur et consectetur est.
xxx
Director
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse aliquam consectetur felis et bibendum. Nulla facilisi. Aliquam et interdum eros. Ut massa nunc, vestibulum nec risus consectetur, fringilla tempus urna. Maecenas pulvinar elementum magna, et molestie ligula iaculis nec. Morbi sit amet sapien quis eros rutrum dignissim. Integer dignissim vestibulum elit, et tincidunt augue luctus nec. Vestibulum eu tortor mi. Proin a vulputate ipsum. Donec ut magna in nunc viverra ullamcorper a quis est.
In luctus orci ac suscipit fringilla. Quisque egestas dignissim sem, at mattis odio maximus vel. Sed ut urna a ex fringilla feugiat volutpat eget tellus. Quisque ut diam sit amet enim gravida fringilla ut euismod sem. Ut vitae vulputate lacus. Interdum et malesuada fames ac ante ipsum primis in faucibus. Curabitur et consectetur est.