ALI welcomes new Director: Dave Poulton

The Alberta Land Institute’s objective is to connect research and policy for better land management. With a new addition this summer, the Institute has enhanced its ability to carry out that mission.

On June 1, 2016, Dave Poulton joined ALI in the new role of Director. An experienced consultant to organizations, businesses, and governments, Dave possesses a wealth of experience in promoting cross-sectoral collaboration. He is also an experienced researcher, with specific expertise in the areas of conservation offsets, market-based conservation, parks and protected areas, and land-use planning.

In the role of Director, Dave will help guide the development of ALI’s ongoing strategy, while taking a lead role in outreach, and helping to further raise the Institute’s profile across Alberta. He will inform and support ALI’s research agenda, and help ensure that work completed by Institute researchers is shared with decision makers and stakeholders throughout the province.

Dave is no stranger to the Alberta Land Institute; he is one of only two speakers to deliver presentations at both the 2014 and 2016 editions of ALI’s bi-annual Land Use Conference (the other was Peter Boxall, Principal Investigator on ALI’s Alberta’s Living Laboratories wetlands project). He has also built strong, long-standing relationships with many of ALI’s researchers, staff, advisory board members, and partners.

In addition to his appointment with ALI, Dave will continue to serve as the Executive Director of the Alberta Association for Conservation Offsets and the Principal of Poulton Environmental Strategies. He is a member of the board of the Environmental Law Centre, was Executive Director of the Southern Alberta Chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society from 2000-2008, and served as Conservation Director of that organization from 1999-2000.

Dave holds a Master of Laws degree in Natural Resources, Energy and Environment program at the University of Calgary Faculty of Law, as well as a B.A. and M.A. in political science from that institution. His LL.B. was completed at Dalhousie University in Halifax.