About Me

I am a film-maker, photographer, naturalist, and science educator who has lived on Salt Spring Island for 17 years. My hobbies include kayaking, mountaineering, gardening and other forms of goofing around. My partner, Deborah Miller, and I are active with the Salt Spring Island Conservancy.

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Renewable Energy Pioneer Proposes Green Tourism Vision

John Stonier is a Vancouver-based chartered account and businessman with an exciting business plan for Salt Spring Island. “Free electric car charging stations are the new “wi-fi” opportunities of the decade” he declared at the Salt Spring and Gulf Islands Renewable Energy Conference this last Saturday. Stonier was part of the closing plenary panel session at the Conference, an event that attracted about 165 participants and 35 organizers and volunteers. In a stellar line-up of innovators and leaders in community climate action, Stonier joined Islands Trust Director Sheila Malcolmson, local renewable energy activist, Kjell Liem, and Vancouver based solar power innovator, Eric Smiley, to cap off what was called by many Conference attendees: “the best community conference ever.” Organized by the Transition Salt Spring education committee, the Conference provided 12 different workshops to help citizens move in small steps away from fossil fuels and toward the independenc…
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Students Announce the GISS Solar Scholarship

Keenan Nowak and Sky Losier stood in front of an audience of 200 people at the recent Salt Spring and Gulf Islands Renewable Energy Conference and announced the official launch of the GISS Solar Scholarship project. “Because we are grade 12 students and graduating this year, Sky reported, the Solar Scholarship won’t benefit us directly. But it will benefit lots of students who follow us year after year, and we really think it will be good for the community.” Keenan agreed, explaining how an installation of 20 kilowatts of solar panels on the high school gym will generate over 20 megawatt hours of power into the grid each year. “That’s enough to run an electric car for 140,000 kilometers.” he said. “It’s also about $2000 or more in electricity that the School District will save each year. The neat thing is, the District Administration and Board have agreed to put the net savings into a scholarship fund for students at the high school.” The idea for this “Solar Schola…
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Renewable Energy Conference

Transition Salt Spring is pleased to announce its annual "What's Happening in Local Climate Action" event ––– for 2014 it will be an all-day conference at the Gulf Islands Senior Secondary. All members of the Gulf Islands and surrounding areas are invited to attend the Salt Spring and Gulf Islands Renewable Energy Conference: Exploring Issues and Solutions, that will run from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm, Saturday, April 5 at the high school multipurpose room. The Conference will feature a public launch of the innovative GISS Solar Scholarship Project followed by a keynote address from Rob Abbott, Director of the BC Climate Action Secretariat. Following the Keynote, there will be three workshop/presentation sessions where people can choose from 14 different topics such as 'solar hot water for the home', 'electric vehicles as experienced by owners', 'energy efficiency considerations for house-building', and much more. There will even be a 'build your own solar toy car' workshop for par…
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Solar Scholarship Project To Be Launched at Renewable Energy Conference

The GISS Solar Scholarship Project is an innovative new partnership between the Transition Salt Spring Community Energy Group (TSSCEG) and School District 64. The project will see the installation of 20 kilowatts of solar photovoltaic panels on the high school roof, funded by grants and donations from the community. When complete, the installation will be the largest school-based solar PV array in the Province and also the largest community-funded solar power array. The electricity generated by the array will be monitored as it is fed into the grid. The Board of SD64 and Administration have enthusiastically agreed to put the hydro bill savings into a scholarship fund for students who are anticipating further studies in climate action, renewable energies, renewable energy trades certifications, and similar endeavors. The project will also involve expansion of renewable energy education throughout the District, and installation of solar vehicle charging capacity. The SD64 Sch…
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