Iain Glass – Executive Director

Iain was fortunate to start keeping honey bees with his father from a very young age. He had “his own hive” at seven. Although he doesn’t remember learning, he remembered the rapid changes with “Colony Collapse Disorder” and being dismayed by how these beautiful creatures’ world was changing. One day following a passionate discussion about science, bats and wind turbines, he was struck with an insight that he could effect some changes for our pollinator friends.  He would test some genetic / Darwinian principles and if they were successful, at a grassroots level, he would scale these and document the results for others to follow the path.  The experiments went well. Iain and his team built a grassroots collaboration that has developed into a Federal Non-Profit to “Follow the Science for the Bees”. 

David Weldon – Director

With a formal education in chemical engineering, David spent most of his years working in the pulp and paper industry selling and servicing industrial chemicals. It wasn’t until well into his adult years that he discovered the fascinating world of honey bees. Apis mellifera have a complex and fascinating society, and he believes that there is so much we can learn from them about ourselves and the world we live in. David started with a package from a beekeeper in Texas who claimed at the time that they hadn’t treated their bees for varroa mites nor disease in over ten years, breeding from survivor colonies and selecting for gentleness. Those bees demonstrated what was possible and left David convinced that we are not doing our bees any favours when we intervene with chemicals and antibiotics to keep the weak bees alive.

Kat Kozak – Director

Kat’s first experience with beekeeping was when she visited a local apiary with her grandmother as a child, since gifting local honey had always been a family tradition. Years later, her partner’s parents gifted her a jar of honey, and she soon discovered her grandfather-in-law had been a beekeeper in Poland. In 2012, she moved from Caledon, Ontario to Vancouver, British Columbia, and started gardening given the longer growing season. As a result, she felt compelled to learn more about beekeeping. In 2015, she took an Intro to Beekeeping course at the Honeybee Centre in Surrey, BC. Soon thereafter, she joined the Richmond Beekeeping Association (RBA) in hopes of finding a local mentor to continue her education with, and at her very first RBA meeting, the guest speaker happened to be Iain Glass who admittedly overwhelmed her with the amount of knowledge he had acquired as a Master Beekeeper. They would soon run into each other again when they both expressed interest in helping Hollyburn Properties launch their new rooftop beekeeping program, and Iain offered to be her mentor. Kat joined Ensure Hive Future with the intention of continuing to learn everything she can about beekeeping while continuing to apply these skills in local real-world settings. 

Lucie Vermette – Director

Maya is a 4th year undergraduate student studying Natural Resources Conservation, Science and Management at the University of British Columbia Vancouver campus. Her grandmother sparked her interest in environmental protection and sustainability at a young age through recycling, composting and other activities. This is her first experience working with bees, however, she has always had an interest in owning her own hives. Through her studies, she has learnt about the drastic effects climate change has on pollinators, which led her to apply to this position. Maya aims to educate others about sustainable bee management and the importance of using science to save the bees. She is excited to learn about Queen Rearing, bee management and honey production.

James is a 2nd year Faculty of Science student at the University of British Columbia Vancouver campus with the intention of going into neuroscience. James loves the outdoors and hands on field work. He is fascinated with ecology and the interaction between plants and animals.  Although he does not have previous experience working with bees, he has experience taking care of animals and is excited to learn about bees and working alongside his amazing coworkers.

Tanner, a 5th year undergraduate in the Medical and Molecular Biology program at UBC Okanagan campus, developed a profound interest in bees from a young age. This fascination ignited when his uncle invited him to participate in painting and drawing on the hive boxes prior to installation. As years passed, Tanner’s mother was encouraged by his uncle to venture into beekeeping herself, which led to bees inhabiting their backyard. It was during this time that Tanner discovered his fascination with bees and their intricacies.

For approximately a year now, Tanner has been involved in beekeeping and eagerly anticipates owning his own bees in the future. In addition to his beekeeping endeavors, he volunteers with UBC Okanagan’s iGEM team. Their collective goal is to develop a vaccine for honey bees, specifically targeting the Deformed Wing Virus (DWV).