Restoration Officer, Lynea Aboumrad
laboumrad@blueberryfn.ca - 250-224-5957
As a Restoration Project Officer, Lynea works on a variety of restoration projects within the department. With a background in ecosystem restoration, ecological agriculture, and mine reclamation, Lynea's main drive is to connect people to land as a healing tool for both ecosystems and communities. Their special interests include soil biology, collecting and processing native seed, and growing native plants.
Procurement Officer, Allan Apsassin
aapsassin@blueberryfn.ca - 250-224-7864
Allan Apsassin joined the Blueberry River First Nations Restoration team on April 3, 2023. He has worked in office at Saulteau First Nation and brings skills developed working with their lands and government departments. Allan loves camping, hunting and quadding plus doing outdoor activities with family and the laughter that comes with family. He also likes rodeos and traveling and did a lot of international traveling to the south Pacific including Australia and New Zealand.
Finance Assistant, Destiny Apsassin - on leave
restorationfinance@blueberryfn.ca
Interim Program Manager, Dolly Apsassin
dapsassin@blueberryfn.ca - 250-224-7957
Dolly Apsassin is a Blueberry River First Nations member and has two beautiful children that are her joy in life. Her ancestral language is Beaver, and she is extremely proud of her Beaver heritage and culture. Dolly enjoys camping, family time, reading, and playing badminton with her kids. She loves watching her daughter play hockey. Dolly graduated from NLC’s Applied Business Technology program in 2018.
“I believe in treating everyone with kindness because love never fails.”
Executive Assistant, Jerri-Lynn Apsassin
japsassin@blueberryfn.ca - 250-224-2746
Jerri-Lynn Apsassin is a member of Blueberry River First Nations who is of Dana-zaa/Plains Cree heritage. Jerri has completed Business Management and Fashion Marketing Certificates along with an Artisan Entrepreneurship Diploma. She has 4 years’ experience in the administration field. Jerri has a desire to reconnect, rediscover, restore the cultural heritage and be a part of the healing process within the land. She is happy to be a part of the team.
Dormant Sites Officer, Stan Apsassin
dormantsites@blueberryfn.ca - 250-261-1194
As the Dormant Sites Project Officer, Stan's duties include answering oil company documents that pertain to dormant sites and orphan wells and engaging community members in sites' restoration. He also sets up dates and times that both parties are available to come together and discuss what has to be done. Stan loves being outdoors, quadding, camping, learning new things, meeting new people, and helping Band Members out whenever possible.
Water Resource Officer, Vanessa Apsassin
vapsassin@blueberryfn.ca - 250-261-8674
Vanessa loves family and the outdoors, and brings those values to the team as a Water Resource Project Officer. She works to coordinate opportunities for membership to monitor and restore the damaged watersheds and aquatic ecosystems in BRFN territory.
Restoration Officer, Leroy Mickle
lmickle@blueberryfn.ca - 250-261-9745
Leroy is a member of the Blueberry River First Nations. He loves being out in the outdoors and being one with the land no matter where he’s at. Leroy is a newly hired Restoration Project Officer who is happy to be part of the team and ready to learn and partake in the new adventure.
Water Resource Officer, Ian Ruttenberg
iruttenberg@bluberryfn.ca - 250-261-3052
Ian currently works as a Water Resource Project Officer in the Restoration Department. He has a geoscience background, as well as a strong interest in water management, hydrology, and hydrogeology. He obtained an MSc in Bioresource Engineering from McGill University in 2021 with a focus in Integrated Water Resources Management. He previously did surface and groundwater sampling, water quality analysis, flow assessment, core sampling, soil sampling, and completed environmental monitoring and summary reports, while previously working in Sudbury, Ontario and Ayer’s Cliff, Quebec. He is also skilled with mapping and spatial analysis, having applied GIS to various environmental monitoring tasks.
Restoration Officer, Darian Weber - on leave
dweber@blueberryfn.ca - 250-224-9431
Darian has been involved with a variety of ecological restoration projects with BRFN on BRFN territory. She is prioritizing reciprocal restoration on culturally and spiritually significant sites to support treaty rights and practices on the landscape. Darian completed her BSc in Environmental Sciences in 2016 at the University of Saskatchewan and her MSc in Ecological Restoration in 2019 at Simon Fraser University and BCIT.
Restoration Officer, Joanna Chipesia
jchipesia@blueberrryfn.ca - 250-262-9780
Joanna is a member of the Blueberry River First Nation and is of dunne-zaa descent. She is the newly hired restoration project officer. She has worked in the BRFN Lands Department for 4 years and brings the knowledge and experience from working with industry and members into this new position. She enjoys being in the field with her colleagues & community members and learning new stories and skills from them. She is hopeful for the future with the restoration department and gaining a new perspective in this new position.
Dormant Sites Officer, Dale Chipesia
