About the Osoyoos Lake Water Quality Society
In 1991 the Osoyoos Lake Water Quality Society (OLWQS) was formed as a non-profit, charitable volunteer organization to promote public awareness of our lake. OLWQS was founded by a small group of Osoyoos organizers, including John Matthews, Vince Fourt, Lionel Dallas and Denis Potter. In 1994, OLWQS took over responsibility for monitoring and reporting on the water quality of Osoyoos Lake from the B.C. Ministry of the Environment and Parks, a role we continue to play.
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In the past several decades OLWQS has continued to evolve. We have been able to upgrade our monitoring infrastructure, and our team of members and volunteers has continued to grow. We have formed many mutually beneficial collaborations with like-minded non-profit and governmental organizations at every level sharing data and expertise. We have continued to expand the scope of our education and outreach efforts to raise awareness about the health of Osoyoos Lake and our local ecosystem and to assist members of our community understand what they can do to help.
OUR HISTORY
OLWQS LEADERSHIP TEAM
Birgit Arnstein (President): Birgit is a retired Registered Nurse (R.N.), with a background in emergency and cancer care, and public education and administration. Throughout her life, Birgit has been involved and volunteered with many groups that are focused on protecting the environment. When Birgit moved to Osoyoos in 2008, she rapidly became involved in the community by joining the board of the Osoyoos Festival Society, the Osoyoos Desert Society and soon thereafter became very active in the Osoyoos Water Quality Society. Learning about Osoyoos Lake and this unique ecosystem while attempting to protect it in various ways, along with giving back to this wonderful community, has been her focus for many years.​
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Board of Directors
Additional Leadership Team Members
Grace Coventry (Digital Outreach Coordinator): Grace is responsible for the development and management of our website and social media channels. Grace spent over three decades working in information technology as a developer, systems architect, consultant and enterprise IT strategist. Most recently, Grace served for five years as the Head of the Information Technology Services Division at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore Maryland, the organization responsible for much of the science and operations for the Hubble, James Webb, and the new Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescopes. Grace’s interests include astronomy, photography, making music and creative writing.
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Elise Petersen (Treasurer): Elise is a business economist with more than thirty years of financial management experience across private, First Nations, and public sectors. These are valuable experiences for her current role as our Treasurer. Originally from Sweden, Elise brought with her a strong awareness of the environment. Elise has volunteered with OLWQS since 2004 and supports our efforts to promote understanding of and appreciation for the importance of Osoyoos Lake's health.
Karen Peterson (Secretary): Much of Karen’s early childhood was spent living on the shores of Okanagan Lake in Winfield, with endless hours of swimming, skiing, boating and fishing. She moved to Osoyoos in 1981 where she attended Osoyoos Secondary School. After graduation, Karen moved to Vancouver and pursued a career in banking with Scotiabank, where she met her husband. They moved to Calgary in 2017, where Karen served for six years as Secretary and board member of a charitable organization. In 2022, she and her husband retired and moved back to Osoyoos. Karen loves the water and everything it represents for our community; supporting recreation, habitat and water conservation are crucial to our town’s existence. She is pleased to give back to our community as OLWQS Secretary.
Trevor Reeves (Data Manager): Trevor practiced as a veterinarian in northeastern B.C. for 34 years. In 2018 he retired, moving to the South Okanagan in 2020.  Nature, ecology and preservation of our world are lifelong interests. He enjoys activities in nature such as walking, hiking canoeing, kayaking, cross country skiing and photography. Currently, Trevor's main outdoor pursuit has been walking in the local grassland ecosystem to photograph and document local organisms for the study of biodiversity. Volunteering for the OLWQS as Data Manager seemed a natural fit for Trevor, as it facilitated being out on the lake and monitoring/advocating for the health of our local aquatic ecosystem. Â
Brad Holman (Member at Large / Boat Captain): Brad is a retired senior executive with the federal government, public and private sectors. During his forty-year career, he has lived in five provinces in Canada and worked with Public Safety Canada, Indigenous Services Canada and Industry Canada. Following his retirement from the Federal Government, Brad worked in the health care sector and was the board Chair of a medium-size hospital in Southern Ontario for ten years and was elected the Vice Chair of the Ontario Hospital Association Board of Directors. He also spent five years as the Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of one of the largest security consulting firms in Ontario. Brad and his wife retired to Osoyoos, BC in 2022, drawn to the region for the vast biodiversity and abundance of water related activities which the Okanagan has to offer.
Jennifer Morton (Member at Large): Jennifer previously held the position of Director of Sales at the Sheraton Landmark in Vancouver. This provided Jennifer with the opportunity to visit most provinces in Canada and many areas in the United States. Jennifer has been an avid boater and fisher for many years, and these interests felt like a natural fit for her role as a Board Member at OLWQS.
Darlene Hovind (Member at Large): Prior to moving to Osoyoos in 2003, Darlene worked in the Payroll/Human Resources fields at large companies in Calgary. She was a volunteer for the National Payroll Institute (formerly the Canadian Payroll Association) for over 15 years and served on the Board of Directors for about 10 years. Locally Darlene has volunteered with the Osoyoos Desert Centre and the Osoyoos Activity Centre. She joined OLWQS because she doesn’t want our lake to be a haven for invasive species, and becoming a place people don’t want to visit. Aside from her volunteer work Darlene likes to read and do puzzles. Â
Barb Chipperfield:(Member at Large) Barb grew up in Toronto but moved to Vancouver Island in her early 20s, a time when she spent many years traveling the world. Barb is passionate about traveling and experiencing different cultures; she has previously lived in England, Israel and India, and she often visits Thailand. Barb spent 33 years fostering at-risk youth in the Vancouver area as well as running a bookstore for 8 years. She is an avid scuba diver and kayaker, and thus the OLWQS was a perfect fit for her volunteer commitment to the community. Barb has been an OLWQS member since 2017.
Iain Fraser (Boat Manager / Boat Captain):Â Iain has been a member of the OLWQS since 2017and has served as Boat Manager since 2018. He has a background in Mechanical Engineering, working in the remote power industry. He has enjoyed joining the OLWQS which provided the opportunity to spend time on the lake while assisting in the monitoring of the lake water quality.
Bob Sherwood (Boat Captain): From his childhood playing in Eastern Canadian forests through his adult years exploring environments worldwide, Bob has had a deep connection with the natural world. He has Bachelor and Master’s degrees in Geography, and he has worked for corporate, government and consulting organizations as an environmental professional. This has included mineral assaying, glaciology, avalanche control, biology and hydrology fieldwork, marine geophysical and underwater diving surveys, environmental impact assessments and policy analysis. He has been privileged to experience unique wildlife around the world. Bob has been a volunteer with the Osoyoos Lake Water Quality Society for over ten years and is currently serving one of our boat captains.
