Tim Lougheed, President
I have been a CSWA member for more than 25 years, having been introduced to the organization by one of its founders, the immortal Mack Laing. During most of that tme I have been a freelance writer, watching both this profession and CSWA evolve significantly with technology, which has also transformed the economic model for everyone involved in science communications. CSWA continues to find itself in a unique, privilaged position of being able to help individuals in this field confront these dramatic changes. As a longstanding member who ascended all the way to the presidency of the CSWA, I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly, but what continues to impress me is the stead progress that has been acheived in recent years. So impressed, in fact, that I find myself eager to return to the front lines, to ensure that such progress continues.
Pippa Wysong, Vice President, Journalist
Pippa Wysong is a freelance science writer. She wrote the Ask Pippa Q&A science column for kids for the Toronto Star for 20 years, and contributes news stories and features to a variety of newspapers and magazines, as well as medical trades. She was on staff of The Medical Post for 10 years, and was the Canadian correspondent for EuroTimes – a European ophthalmology newspaper. She joined the CSWA when she first broke into science writing a really long time ago, and has been on and off the Board of Directors doing various things during those years.
For the CSWA, she has organized local events for members in Toronto, spoke on panels, and periodically helped organize parts of some of CSWA's national conferences. She feels her experience can help with future activities of the association. She also served on Council for nine years with the Royal Canadian Institute for the Advancement of Science.
Jennifer Gagne, Treasurer
Jennifer Gagne is a science communicator who loves creating events for people to discover the wonder of the planet through science. Her favourite tasks involve pulling together programs on shoe-string budgets with a bunch of eager volunteers to create moments of wonder and discovery. She is currently trying out her hand at marketing, and looking for the next big science communications project to take on.
Past science communications adventures include being the Interim Executive Director for the CSWA where she was the lead organizer for the 2015 conference in Saskatoon and being part of TRIUMF's Artists in Residence program.
She loves the way scince communication sparks curioustiy and appreciation for our planet, and opens one's mind to ponder our weird, and as of yet, unexplained existence.
Kate Allen, Director, Journalist
Kate Allen has written about science and technology for the Toronto Star's foreign desk since 2012. Her stories about autism research were part of a team nomination for the Michener Award, the governor-general's prize for public service journalism, and the National Newspaper Awards. Her beat has taken her to the fossil-filled badlands of Alberta, a Japanese jellyfish research cruise, the articficial intelligence labs at Google, the inside of a a dead blue whale, and the telescopes at the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii. Before coming to the science beat, she covered news and fearures for the Star's city desk. She has also worked or freelanced for the Globe and Mail, Toronto Life, Reader's Digest, and the Vancouver Sun, among others. She has a Masters of Journalism from the University of British Columbia and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of King's College.
Kasia Majewski, Director, Communications
Kasia Majewski is an experienced public relations professional with a passion for strategic creative solutions that get clients results. She has worked in all areas of public affairs including, strategic communications, media relations, government affairs, writing, marketing and events planning.
As the only social science and arts grad in a family of scientists and mathematicians, Kasia ‘fell into science’ in her first job as a policy analyst in IT and telecommunications and has not left since. She has since developed a wealth of expertise in translating complex ideas into compelling stories, working with the biotechnology industry (including as editor of BIOTECanada Insightsmagazine), in the wireless and telecommunications industries, at the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and currently at the Canadian Museum of Nature.
