Amber Heckelman

Secretary

Biography

She/her/siya

Amber is a food systems researcher, consultant, and educator. She holds a PhD in Integrated Studies in Land and Food Systems from the University of British Columbia and has nearly two decades of experience in mobilizing research to advance efforts to create healthy, sustainable, equitable, and resilient communities. Some of Amber’s recent work includes the development of a school food program evaluative framework, assessment tools, web toolkit, and other resources designed to generate healthy, equitable, and sustainable school food programs across the province. She also contributed to a series of case studies across Canada to inform federal policy on universal and nationally harmonized school meal programs. 

Amber loves gardening with her two little girls and gets a kick out of seeing them harvest raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, jostaberries, gooseberries and more straight into their mouths. Every growing season, she learns something new about the soil, plants, bugs, and herself while gardening. 

Amber currently lives and works from the unceded lands of the the Coast Salish peoples, and in particular, the q̓ʷɑ:n̓ƛ̓ən̓(Kwantlen), q̓ic̓əy̓ (Katzie), Máthxwi (Matsqui) and Se’mya’me (Semiahmoo) First Nations.