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
Watershed Sentinel Educational Society is the non-profit publisher of the Watershed Sentinel.
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. We are deeply grateful for their support.
We always welcome new contributors and volunteers to join our growing community. If you’re interested in writing for us, please download our Writers Guidelines here.
Contact us with any questions, comments, or corrections for the magazine, the website, or social media.
We are committed to fairness, accuracy, and ethical journalism, and follow the Canadian Association of Journalists code of ethics, found here.
Delores Broten
Executive Editor
Read bio
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
Read bio
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
Deputy Editor & Circulation
Read bio
Claire has been with the Watershed Sentinel since 2016 in various editorial roles, and and more recently as circulation manager. 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 can coexist in small, rural communities.
Hazel Volk
Outreach & Social Media
Read bio
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 and Outreach Lead, combining storytelling, partnerships, and community engagement with a commitment to ecological and decolonial justice.
Her work is 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
Read bio
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
Read bio
Pa̱x̱a̱la, Desiree Mannila is a staff reporter with the Watershed Sentinel and a proud member of the Da’naxda’xw/Awaetlala Nation. Through her writing, she honours Indigenous history, governance, and sovereignty while advocating for environmental justice and community-centred storytelling.
Board of Directors
Alice Grange
Director
Read bio
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
Read bio
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
Read bio
Sally returned to her rural home in the Tsolum Watershed, Comox Valley, 20 years ago after seeking her fortune as an adult educator with Vancouver Community College.
Reprints
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
You are free to reprint articles two days or more after their original publication, but please:
- Notify us that you are reprinting our material (editor@watershedsentinel.ca)
- Use the byline information that we have printed, and add to it: “This article was originally published by Watershed Sentinel magazine as (original title) (date).”
- If you are reposting online, maintain the same links as the original article and include a link to our original article.
- Do not alter or add to the content. If you need to edit for your reprint, please check in with us (editor@watershedsentinel.ca)
- Note that we sometimes print content that is copyrighted by others, and this is not covered under the Creative Commons licence.
Copyrighted text
To reprint copyrighted content (©), we ask that you get a hold of us at editor@watershedsentinel.ca
Images
- To reprint copyrighted images on this site, please email us at editor@watershedsentinel.ca.
- To reprint images used under Creative Commons licence, follow the link to the photographer or artist, find the original image, and use it in accordance with the Creative Commons licence terms.
Privacy Policy
Watershed Sentinel and our affiliates use personal information only when necessary to provide our products and services to you. We never provide your personal information to others without your consent.