Fireweed has been involved as an activist in the environmental and social change movements since the ’80’s. In the early 90’s she founded ‘Women and the Earth’ – initially a major conference and ecofeminist workshop series in Vancouver, BC, followed for many years on Denman Island by celebratory seasonal gatherings for women from various communities throughout the region.

Committed to challenging oppression in all it’s forms, Fireweed has co-ordinated commercial seal hunt, rodeo and so-called ‘exotic’ animals as entertainment protests alongside anti-coal mine demos. She has been involved with avian, terrestrial and marine wild-life rescue, and is a co-founder of Denman Island MEOW (Make Every One Wanted) – the island’s successful reduced cost spay/neuter program. As a non-violence trainer she has been active on the front-lines of logging blockades, and as an ally to rural youth in support of their interests in animal and environmental advocacy.

Fireweed has also sparked a number of local food security initiatives. She is the founder of DIVA (Denman Island’s Veganiculture Association) – promoting veganic agriculture as a vital response to global climate change and animal cruelty, and the Denman Island Community Vegan Potluck Series -hosting over 100 potlucks over the years including dozens of films and guest-speakers. She was a co-founder of SPUDS CO-OP – a local organic potato collective that incorporated only stock-free growing techniques over nearly a decade.This project followed several years of co-ordinating volunteer work bees in support of local organic produce growers under the moniker, Denman Island Garden Party Series. Thanks to a nomination by her peers, Fireweed has been recognized by Oxfam International as a “Local Female Food Hero.”

      She has been a guest speaker and workshop presenter at numerous feminist events, veg fests and other environmental gatherings over the decades on the topics of vegan ecofeminism and veganic growing. Fireweed was the co-host for “Connections” – a pirate radio program with a pro-intersectional feminist and animal rights orientation, and continues to admin numerous social media sites related to feminism, animal rights and environmental issues. She is the cofounder of Denman Islanders for Climate Action and Social Justice, and a published author (ie, see “Call to Compassion: Religious Reflections on Animal Advocacy”, Lantern Books; and her online archives for ‘The Transition Kitchen’, a monthly column in the Island Word on Vancouver Island from 2011-2021.)

      Fireweed is a Fine Arts grad from Emily Carr in Vancouver, BC (1981, sculpture and mixed media) and has exhibited both nationally and internationally. Her primary focus today is photography. Formerly employed in visual arts promotions, as a graphic designer, vegan caterer and herbalist (Sacred Harvest Botanicals) she is now ‘mostly’ retired, with the plan of dedicating more time to art and activism. In 2023 she was pleased to join the animal advocacy team at http://www.HumaneHoax.org. Happiest moments relaxing are spent beach-combing with her camera, and gardening in the woods at Redamora on Denman Island where she lives with her beloved partner and feline family on unceded indigenous territory in the Salish Sea.