Our Team
Louis Gabriel Pouliot
Scientific affairs and geomatics
Louis Gabriel Pouliot holds a bachelor in geography and a Master in water management from the University of Montreal as well as a graduate diploma in comparative anthropology from the University of Quebec in Montreal. Hydrogeomorphologist by trade, he’s working towards developing a fine understanding of fluvial dynamics in all due modesty for their complexity. Sailing across disciplines in order to contribute to the protection of waters, he believes in the potential of the legal personality of watercourses as a tool of ontological dialogue and integral protection of the land.
Elisa Mairet
Head of Communications
Elisa is a student in International Relations and would like to dedicate her professional career to combating climate change and protecting Nature.
She holds a Master’s degree in European Law from the University of Paris XII (2020), and worked for four and a half years in the field of immigration law, first in Barcelona and then in Montreal. In 2024, she also obtained a University Diploma in Environmental Law.
Multilingual, Elisa speaks French, Spanish and English. Passionate about issues relating to the protection of human rights and the environment, she is convinced that the recognition of the rights of Nature is an essential step forward in developing effective legal tools to protect our planet’s ecosystems.
Elara Neath Thomin
Co-Head of Political affairs
Elara Neath Thomin is currently completing a Bachelor of Arts in political science and international development at McGill University. Before joining the Observatory, it was through her engagement with the student fossil fuel divestment movement that she expressed her desire to see a greener world come to life. She firmly believes that the rights of nature can transform our relationship to the environment and open the door to a fairer future.
Uapukun Metokosho
Innu Leader, Rights of Nature
Uapukun Mestokosho is a young leader from the Innu community of Ekuanitshit, located on the North Shore of Quebec, Canada.
She is always looking for ways to live with different peoples and cultures. She loves to travel around the world and has visited France, Sweden, Cuba, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Brazil and the United States.
Her greatest passion is to travel her ancestral territory in search of her identity in order to discover the way of life of her ancestors and to protect her territory for future generations.
Already a guardian of Nitassinan, the ancestral territory of her Innu community, Uapukun is working with the OIDN to become a guardian of the Magpie River, the first river in Canada to receive legal status.
She is also candidate for Québec Solidaire in the provincial electoral district of Duplessis.
Kelsey Watt
Co-Head of Ontario Chapter
Kelsey Watt is an environmental humanities scholar with over 5 years of experience working across academia and the NGO sector. From Queen’s University, she holds a BA and MA in English and Philosophy and is currently completing her Master’s of Environmental Studies under the supervision of Dr. Mick Smith. Much of Kelsey’s work is concerned with the intersections between ecological storytelling and environmental management policies and practices. She has worked with collaborators across the globe on the topics of invasive species management, feral cat policies and water and land rights. In her role as co-director of the Ontario Chapter at the International Observatory for Nature’s Rights, Kelsey brings her background in a variety of conservation methodologies and certifications as a means of contextualizing the Rights of Nature Movement in Ontario. She currently works on a multitude of projects across the province with teams at Queen’s and the IONR that aim to raise awareness for the rights of rivers and the role of Indigenous guardianship in the legal personhood of water.
Susan Robertson
Co-Head of Ontario Chapter
With 20 years experience, Susan is a Member of the Canadian Institute of Planners and a Registered Professional Planner in Ontario that specializes in community engagement, watershed planning and meaningful Treaty relations, through RESPECT™, an Indigenous Relations Model. Susan believes in building bridges between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples for a better future together and was the first person to be nominated and awarded The Credits Award by the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation for her contributions to promoting Indigenous cultural heritage. Susan is proud to be the Strategic Coordinator for the #MoccasinIdentifier which aims to teach Treaties to facilitate understanding on Indigenous relationship to land and to restore harmony between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. She is also an active Board member of the Shared Path Consultation Initiative. and a Director At Large on the Board of Ontario Nature, as well as the appointed Public Interest Advisory Committee Chair for the Niagara Escarpment Commission for Ontario Nature.
Darío Ernesto Roca
Web Developer
Darío is an enthusiast of technology, languages, and learning. He currently works with digital marketing agencies in the construction and maintenance of websites for various clients in the United States, Canada, and Latin America. Additionally, he has a degree in life sciences as a microbiologist and enjoys combining both facets of scientist and developer in a process of constant complementarity and learning.
Books and literature are his other great passion. He is the author of a historical fiction book, “Aluna y El Último Tayrona,” which is about the indigenous people of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta on the northern coast of Colombia, where he was born and lives. His curiosity about indigenous cultures and his passion for nature have led him to learn more about these communities and to connect with the valuable teachings they have to offer the world about the care and preservation of the environment.
Michèle-Lise Lepage
J.D. & BCL Candidate – Faculty of Law, McGill University
Michèle-Lise Lepage graduated from the University of Ottawa with an Honours Bachelor’s degree in Conflict Studies and Human Rights. She is currently a third-year law student in McGill University’s BCL/JD program. For the past two summers, Michèle-Lise has worked as a student analyst at the Library of Parliament of Canada, conducting legal research on topics including Indigenous legal traditions, Indigenous rights, constitutional law and environmental law. Her strong interest in social and environmental justice has driven her to further her knowledge in these areas, including by writing a research essay on the present and future protection of Indigenous rights in Canadian environmental law. She hopes to apply her legal education and experience to continue advancing her work in these fields.
Megan Sutherland
Intern
Bradley Wiseman
Intern
Bradley Wiseman is a recent law graduate of the Université de Montréal (LL.B., J.D.). Keenly interested in environmental law, Indigenous law, and constitutional law, he has worked as a research assistant at the Centre de recherche en droit public and with several law professors specializing in these areas. His work experiences at the Centre québécois du droit de l’environnement and the Indigenous law firm Dionne Schulze have allowed him to see first-hand how the law interacts with these issues of vital importance to our society.
His strong passion for social and environmental justice has driven him to be actively involved in various social causes, notably as President of the Indigenous Law Committee and Vice-President of the Environmental Law Committee of the Université de Montréal. In 2015, he was certified as a Climate Leader by the Climate Reality organization upon completing a training session given by Al Gore.