About Lakeshore Eco-Network
Lakeshore Eco-Network (LEN) is a not-for-profit company launched as a response to the 2014 tornado, which destroyed thousands of trees in the Grand Bend area. Under the leadership of the Grand Bend Community Foundation, LEN launched the 5000 Trees Project with a goal to plant native trees as a meaningful response to climate change. Today, LEN raises awareness about issues of biodiversity loss and the climate crisis, sells and promotes the use of native trees and plants, and advocates for effective climate and biodiversity action. We work primarily in the municipalities of Lambton Shores, South Huron, and Bluewater.
Vision
A region where biodiversity flourishes and net carbon emissions are reduced to zero.
Mission
LEN raises awareness about issues of biodiversity loss and the climate crisis, and advocates for effective action.
Membership
As a member of Lakeshore Eco-Network you will be part of a group of concerned people who are committed to climate action, conservation, and tree planting. Just email us and we’ll add you to our group for a one-time membership fee of $25. As a member you will:
- Have an opportunity to learn about and be part of upcoming activities and events
- Be invited to members meetings
- Have a vote at the Annual General Meeting
- Receive our newsletter
Partners
We work with and are supported by several organizations in our region. And we’re always looking for new partners who share our goals! Our partners are
- Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority
- Ausable Bayfield Conservation Foundation
- Sunset Community Foundation
- Municipality of Lambton Shores
- West Coast Lions Club
- Grand Bend Rotary Club
- Friends of Pinery Park
- Lambton Shores Nature Trails
Meet our Board Members
After a career in senior university administration and several years as a freelance writer, Carolyn Young became General Manager of the Huron Waves Festival in 2023. She brings years of experience from her board work with Friends of Pinery and Reforest London. A keen cyclist, Carolyn is particularly focused on advancing active transportation network planning within Lambton Shores, aiming to create more accessible and eco-friendly commuting options for the community. Enacting practical initiatives aimed at fostering a more environmentally sustainable future is her key priority in serving on the Lakeshore Eco-Network board.
Environmental Horticulturist Janet Kurasz completed her certification in horticulture through the University of Guelph in 2001. She established a gardening and landscaping business in southern Georgian Bay. In 2009 she launched a landscaping companyin Paris Ontario, with a focus on naturalized, low maintenance, sustainable landscapes. Her interest in native plants and biodiversity has taken on new meaning in the face of the climate crisis. Janet has given talks and led workshops on incorporating native plants in the landscape and other topics. She is currently horticultural consultant and manager of the Native Plant Division at Lakewood Garden Centre in Zurich, and Chair of the Lakeshore Eco-Network Re-connecting with Nature Committee.
Retired teacher Lynn Tremain has been interested in environmental issues for many years. Since she moved to the Grand Bend area 45 years ago, Pinery Provincial Park has played a huge part in her appreciation of the natural environment. For the past three years she has picked up garbage and plastics along the shore of Lake Huron, becoming acutely aware of the issues that need to be addressed. She has collected helium balloons, food packaging, construction materials, Styrofoam, cigarette butts, plastic water bottles, and much more. She understands that working together is the best way to approach these challenges and influence positive change.
Pat Morden launched Morden Communications, a corporate communications consultancy, with her husband Max in 1995. After seeing An Inconvenient Truth in 2007, she became deeply engaged with the climate crisis, eventually training with Vice President Al Gore in 2015. She is a co-founder of Lakeshore Eco-Network, a former chair of the Friends of Pinery Park, and a former chair and executive director of the Sunset Community Foundation.
Max Morden is co-chair of the Lakeshore Eco-Network, chair of the Clean Water/Environment Committee of the Rotary Club of Grand Bend, Chair of the Huron Tract Land Trust Conservancy, and former chair of the Grand Bend Area Community Health Centre. Max is committed to the fight against climate change and has trained with Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project. Formerly a lawyer, he is partially retired from Morden Communications, a boutique corporate communications firm, which focuses on strategic writing, editing and consulting.
A childhood spent playing and exploring in Grand Bend’s oak-pine forests led Ian Jean to pursue a career in Forestry. As the Forestry Specialist at Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority since 2006, Ian leads the tree planting program, forestry and biodiversity conservation. Working with hundreds of landowners to plant trees and restore natural habitat across the watershed, Ian sees that people are motivated and that they are taking action to protect and restore natural habitat. Ian believes strongly in the need to provide information and resources to people and in supporting collaborative efforts to protect and restore our natural habitats, to address climate change and other environmental concerns.
Stephanie Donaldson- under construction