Executive Biographies

75th President

Garnet Mierau, RPF, is the 75th president on the Association of BC Forest Professionals Council.

He was vice-president the previous year and will serve a second one-year term as president, followed by a third as immediate past-president.

Mierau has practiced professional forestry at a provincial scale since 2003, with a strong focus on leadership roles. He’s served in an executive capacity with the Consulting Foresters of BC and as an ongoing member of the leadership team with his employer, Forsite Consultants Ltd.

Mierau also served for three years as a member of the ABCFP’s Discipline Committee and formally trained in the application of business and life coaching, which he has practiced since 2010. 

In his role at Forsite, he provides professional services and leads teams in wildfire risk management, visual resource management, and tenure management.

Chief Executive Officer

Christine Gelowitz, RPF, is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Association of BC Forest Professionals (ABCFP), a role she has held since 2016.

With more than 20 year’s leadership experience, Christine is responsible for all operations of the ABCFP. Known for her strategic growth mindset and collaborative nature, Christine takes pride in working with the ABCFP’s council to shape the association’s strategic direction while leading a team of 16 staff to deliver its day-to-day business operations.

As CEO, Christine is also leading the association through a transformative business change that will see the ABCFP now be regulated under BC’s new Professional Governance Act after nearly 75 years of operating under the Foresters Act.  Christine is also proud to be a gender champion on a national steering committee striving to achieve gender equity in Canada’s forest sector.

Christine is passionate about the forest profession she helps lead. Christine earned her designation as a Registered Forest Professional in 2003, and volunteered to serve on the ABCFP council for five years including a term as president in 2013. Christine graduated from the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George where she majored in forestry and received a degree in Natural Resource Management. Prior to joining the ABCFP, Christine worked in the BC provincial government for nearly 20 years in several natural resource ministries.

Christine is grateful to live, work and play in the traditional territories of the Lkwungen peoples, also known as home to the Esquimalt and Songhees First Nations.

Director of Practice

Mike Larock, RPF
As director of professional practice and forest stewardship, Mike develops and communicates professional standards, provides ABCFP responses on professional practice matters and works toward the association's forest stewardship commitments. Mike has led the ABCFP efforts in advancing professional reliance in the forest resource sector.

Before joining the staff of the ABCFP, Mike served on the ABCFP council as both an elected member and then president in 2001.

Mike has practised professional forestry in coast forest ecosystems as a silvicuturalist. He lives in Coastal Western Hemlock extra dry maritime, where he is a woodlot licensee and private forest landowner. Mike has been a practising forester in BC for over 30 years.

Registrar & Director of Act Compliance

Casey Macaulay, MA, RPF, is the ABCFP’s registrar and oversees the programs for admission of new registrants. Casey also manages the complaints and discipline process, including enforcement of the ABCFP’s bylaws under the Professional Governance Act.

He joined the staff in 2011 after working in the private forestry sector for 15 years. His prior experience includes co-managing forest tenures with Aboriginal communities, forest operations planning, and stakeholder engagement. 

Casey has a diploma in forest technology, a degree in forest management and a MA in conflict analysis and management.

Director of Finance & Administration

Nathan Doidge, CPA, CGA, is the ABCFP’s director of finance and administration. He is a Chartered Professional Accountant with extensive experience in administrative roles at not-for-profits and broader public sector agencies. 

Before relocating to Vancouver earlier in 2020, he was the chief administrative officer at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Nursing, for which he was responsible for supporting the division's finance, HR, IT, and office space needs.

Doidge is an avid volunteer and recently served four years as treasurer and chair of the finance and audit committee with Sherbourne Health, a community-based healthcare centre in downtown Toronto.

Director of Communications

Dean Pelkey joined the association in 2016. His role as director of communications focuses on strategic communications planning, media relations, recruitment and advocacy work. Dean has more than 20 years of experience in corporate communications, focusing on communication project management, media relations, issues management, social media strategy, and writing and editing stemming from a career at crown corporations, publicly-traded companies, non-profits, and newspapers.