Georgia Peck
A Watershed Conservationist, with Living Lakes Canada
What Do They Do?
As the Lakes Program Manager at Living Lakes Canada, Georgia oversees all of the lake-related programming in Canada. Despite the name, Georgia notes that Living Lakes takes a watershed-level approach, with programs spanning wetland restoration, river and stream monitoring, groundwater monitoring, and lake assessments, all of which are aimed at informing policy and decision-making.
The program that Georgia most closely oversees - and is the most excited about - is the Foreshore Integrated Management Planning program (FIMP), a cumulative impact assessment tool that delineates lake shorelines using GIS and drone footage to evaluate both development pressures (docks, retaining walls, boathouses) and ecological values (vegetation, wildlife presence, sensitive zones like wetlands and tributary outlets). Since 2019, FIMP has also incorporated cultural and archaeological assessments led by local Indigenous partners, ensuring culturally significant areas are mapped and protected alongside ecologically significant ones. She also oversees the Yukon Lake Monitoring Initiative, working with the Government of Yukon's Water Science and Stewardship Branch to coordinate lake monitoring efforts across the territory, along with citizen science and youth engagement programs.
Why Does It Matter?
For Georgia, protecting lakes is ultimately about protecting the communities that depend on them. Healthy shorelines support clean water, fish and wildlife, recreation, local economies, and the cultural values that shape the identity of a place. Living in a small lake community herself has made that connection especially tangible. As Georgia puts it, “we all live downstream.”
But good science alone isn't enough. Georgia has learned that “local knowledge, Indigenous knowledge, place-based knowledge, lived experiences - they are what guide our programs.” Bringing these different ways of knowing together, and involving communities in the process, is critical to developing recommendations that people trust and ultimately put into practice.
The impact of that work can last for decades. Georgia's work informs lake management plans, community plans, and land-use plans that shape decisions about these places well into the future. For Georgia, being able to see the connection between the work she does today and tangible outcomes for communities and the environment in the future is what makes it so meaningful.
How Did They Get There?
Georgia grew up surrounded by biology and conservation. Coming from a family of biologists, she followed that interest into a Bachelor of Science in Biology at Trent University in Ontario, while building hands-on experience through roles with wildlife rescues, rehabilitation centres, and zoos.
After university, her path wasn't immediately into watershed work. Georgia spent a year working for a veterinary telemedicine startup in Toronto before moving west to work at the Wolf Centre in Golden, B.C. That move brought her back to hands-on conservation work and closer to the landscapes and communities that would eventually shape her career in water.
In April 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Georgia joined the Lake Windermere Ambassadors, a local stewardship organization. She spent that spring and summer doing water monitoring from a boat and in local creeks, while working with the community to build awareness of their local water sources. That experience connected her with Living Lakes Canada, and by the end of 2020 she had moved into her current role as Lakes Program Manager.
Want To Follow A Similar Path?
Get hands-on experience. Look for fieldwork, internships, volunteer roles, or seasonal positions that let you build practical skills in monitoring, restoration, or stewardship.
Say yes to opportunities. Be willing to try roles or projects outside your comfort zone - an unexpected opportunity can introduce you to a field or career you hadn't considered.
Learn from people with different knowledge and experience. Seek out mentors and opportunities to work alongside scientists, Indigenous knowledge holders, community members, and other watershed professionals.
Build relationships with local organizations. Get involved with stewardship groups, nonprofits, or community-based monitoring programs to learn about your local watershed and start building connections in the field.
What Does A Conservationist Do?
A Conservationist working in watersheds helps protect, restore, and steward the lands and waters that ecosystems and communities depend on. Their work is often about understanding what is happening in a watershed, identifying pressures or opportunities, and working with others to develop practical ways to protect it.
Their work can take them from the field to the office. They may monitor water quality, assess lakes, rivers, wetlands, and shorelines, support restoration projects, collect and interpret environmental information, engage community members, or identify areas affected by development, erosion, invasive species, or climate change. Depending on their role and expertise, Conservationists may work alongside Registered Professional Biologists and other specialists to turn that information into actions that support healthier watersheds.
Conservation is also fundamentally collaborative. Conservationists often work alongside First Nations, communities, governments, landowners, stewardship organizations, scientists, and other specialists, bringing together scientific evidence, Indigenous knowledge, local knowledge, and lived experience. Their work can contribute to restoration projects, community-based monitoring, education, policy, and long-term land and water management.
What's A Typical Pathway?
There is no single pathway into conservation. People enter the field from backgrounds such as biology, ecology, environmental science, geography, natural resource management, or other related disciplines. College and technical programs can also provide pathways into hands-on conservation and stewardship roles.
Hands-on experience in fieldwork, environmental monitoring, habitat assessment, or restoration is common, often gained through internships, research, volunteer opportunities, or employment with stewardship organizations, government, First Nations, or environmental consulting firms.
As their careers develop, Conservationists often broaden their expertise by working with other disciplines and building knowledge in areas such as community engagement, Indigenous and local knowledge, policy, project management, and land-use planning.
Why Does It Matter?
Watersheds are complex, interconnected systems. A change to a shoreline, wetland, stream, or upland area can affect water quality, habitat, biodiversity, and communities elsewhere in the watershed. As climate change, development, wildfire, drought, flooding, and other pressures reshape these systems, understanding what is happening, and why, is increasingly important.
Conservationists help turn that understanding into action. They work to protect healthy ecosystems, restore places that have been degraded, monitor change, and help communities make informed decisions about the lands and waters they depend on.
Conservation is not only about science. By working with First Nations, communities, governments, scientists, and other professionals, Conservationists can help bring together scientific evidence, local knowledge, Indigenous knowledge, and lived experience to inform decisions about the places they are working to restore and protect.