The ICOMOS Canada Board would like to thank those who participated in the election and is pleased to announce the names of the two successful candidates, Karen Aird and Mario Santana-Quintero, new representatives from Canada’s west and east.
Of Saulteau and Scottish ancestry, Karen Aird has worked as an archaeologist and Cultural Heritage Planner for the past 25 years. Karen has led many First Nations-related projects that convey a strong Sense of Place in landscapes and spaces, encompassing the stories, legal traditions and the intangible and tangible elements into cultural heritage planning. She has worked as a consulting Cultural Heritage Planner for the Nlaka’pamux Nation Tribal Council, the Treaty 8 Tribal Association, the Tse’K’wa Heritage Society, a 10,500 year old ancient site in northern BC, the Nun WaDee society and, more recently, as the project lead for the Tk’emlups te Sewepemc’s Kinder Morgan Cultural Heritage Study. In 2016, Karen took on the role as the President of the national Indigenous Heritage Circle, a non-profit Indigenous led and designed, volunteer organization that is based in Ottawa and Kamloops and focuses on creating a voice for Indigenous people on all issues related to heritage.
Mario Santana-Quintero, is an associate professor on Architectural Conservation and Sustainability at department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Carleton University. He is also the Director of the NSERC Create program “Engineering Students Supporting Heritage and Sustainability (HERITAGE ENGINEERING)” based at the Carleton immersive Media Studio Lab (CIMS). He has an architectural degree, holding a master in conservation of historic buildings and towns and a PhD in Engineering from the R. Lemaire International Centre for Conservation (University of Leuven). He is also a guest professor at the Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation (University of Leuven). These past years he has been teaching also at the Universidad Central de Venezuela, Universidad de Guadalajara (Mexico) and Universidad de Cuenca (Ecuador). Mario serves as ICOMOS Board member and he is the past president of the ICOMOS Scientific Committee on Heritage Documentation (CIPA). Furthermore, he has collaborated in several international projects in the field of heritage documentation for UNESCO, The Getty Conservation Institute, ICCROM, World Monuments Fund, UNDP, Welfare Association, and the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage.
We take this opportunity to thank Bob Buckle and Nancy Oakley for their dedication to ICOMOS Canada and their service on the Board over the past few years.