Our Team
Alberta Food Matters Board Members

Wanda Laurin
Chair
About Wanda
Wanda has been involved in the Ground Level Youth community garden for the past 6 years, and just this year also is working with École des Quatres Vents at their school based community garden. Each garden has a unique set-up for who participates and how decisions are made. Wanda also belongs to the Peace of the Whole Holistic Management group and the Peace Permaculture group. These two organizations are a means to share information on stewardship of the land and the mental wellbeing of the caretakers of the land. Her philosophy in life is, enjoy the moment, plan for the future and consider: we are the ones we have been waiting for.

Gbemiro Adegbuyi
Vice-Chair
About Gbemiro
Gbemiro Adegbuyi is an undergraduate student at the University of Alberta where he is studying Dietetics. He is passionate about community nutrition, public health, children’s health, and food security. He promotes these interests with organizations including Rotary International, the Boys & Girls Club of Edmonton, and the Heart & Stroke Foundation. In the future, Gbemiro would like to work as a dietitian in community and clinical settings to help people of various ages and health statuses develop and maintain nutritional practices appropriate for them to live healthy and happy lives.

Jamie Desautels
Treasurer
About Jamie
Jamie is a recent graduate of the Master of Public Policy and Administration program at Carleton University and has a passion for healthy food environments. She strives to merge her policy skills with the knowledge she has gained through her undergraduate degree in Nutrition (University of Alberta) and certificate in Food Security (Ryerson University).
In 2013, Jamie studied food security in rural Tanzania. Currently, she is researching food security in the arctic and hopes to have a positive influence on policies affecting access to traditional food.
Growing up, Jamie’s family owned a small farm in southern Saskatchewan and in her early adult years she spent some time working on an organic farm in northern Alberta.
Although Jamie loves gardening, she has recently taken to foraging. Her favorite foods to pick are morel mushrooms, fiddleheads, and all kinds of wild berries.

Shelby Rowein
Media & Communications
About Shelby
Shelby is a Master’s of Public Health student at the University of Alberta’s School of Public Health. She is working on her specialization in health promotion, and currently works as a clinical Registered Dietitian in rural Alberta. Shelby lives in her hometown of Macklin, Saskatchewan where she grew up on a farm. She has a keen interest in addressing local food security levels through a capacity building approach. In her spare time, she can be found coordinating local community gardens and breakfast programs, gardening, baking, bird watching, and coaching local softball.
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