Meet the Team

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Michelle Superle

Founder & Creative Director

Dr. Michelle Superle is Founder and Creative Director of the 20 Harvest Challenge, a sustainability education program that connects stories with human rights to counter climate anxiety by inspiring collaborative action.

Superle is a Research Associate with the UFV Food and Agriculture Institute, an Associate Professor with UFV’s College of Arts in the Department of English, a children’s literature specialist with many completed research projects and publications in the areas of Children’s literature and children’s rights. Her projects focus on rights-based, participatory literary programs designed to facilitate community engagement and children’s participatory action in food sovereignty and sustainable fashion

Fun fact: She is an English professor who doesn't have a favourite book (not because she hates books, but because she cannot choose).

Coordinators

Sydney Marchand

Project Manager & Event Coordinator

Camryn Wolfe

Social Media Coordinator & Graphic Designer: 20 Harvest Challenge

Project Manager & Event Coordinator: sensTory 2024—Diversity + Accessibility

Research Assistants

Kalie Holford

Research Assistant

Kalie Holford is pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of the Fraser Valley with extended minors in Creative Writing and Media & Communications. Outside of her studies, she is a YA fiction author and runs a graphic design business making promotional materials for books. She's passionate about stories and believes writing has the potential to create positive change.

Olivia MacCauley

Research Assistant, SenStory

Project developer + coordinator of “Joyful Living Circles” project

Sydney Marchand

Lead Research Assistant, Flood Stories

Sydney Marchand is Project Manager and Event Coordinator for the 20 Harvest Challenge, which is home to three community research projects: A Flood of Stories, Dig for Your Rights! and Dress for Your Rights!

Sydney’s passions for food security, climate activism, and sustainable living are at the heart of her research and influences much of her written work. Be it through journalism or creative writing, Sydney is passionate about the value and power that comes from expressing oneself through words and creative formats.

Fun Fact: She started a sustainability column for UFV's student newspaper that focused on small, actionable changes. She also loves to bake vegan treats in her spare time.

Amanda Minchau

Research Assistant, Field Trips

Amanda Minchau is a student research assistant for the 20HarvestChallenge. She is finishing her Fine Arts Degree at UFV. Over the past 13 years, she has homeschooled her two children and worked with Michele Superle on developing field trips and networking with our communities. She hopes to be painting and writing her own children's books one day. She would also love to be a distance learning teacher for other families. It's her passion to help nurture and protect our earth together.

Stephanie Ohlmann

Research Assistant

A Flood of Stories program:

Project developer + coordinator of “Experience the Fraser” installation—“A River of Poems” tile mosaic project

senStory program:

Project developer + coordinator of “It Starts with Hello!” project

Rya Owen

Research Assistant

Rya is a fourth-year English student at the University of the Fraser Valley. She has a passion for creative writing, photography, and of course, sustainability. She hopes to graduate and put those passions to work writing editorial and non-fiction pieces.

She has worked with children and youth since the age of thirteen and is delighted to be a part of a team working towards protecting children's rights. She is an advocate for youth in the government care community and works for The Federation of BC Youth in Care Networks: an organization dedicated to uplifting and advocating for youth in and from government care.

Madison Pesowski

Research Collaborator

Dr. Madison Pesowski is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of the Fraser Valley and is interested in the development of social cognition. Her research investigates how children reason about people’s actions, emotions, and mental states, such as preferences and ideas, and how children (and adults) reason about concepts like ownership.

She received her PhD from the University of Waterloo and was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of California, San Diego. Recently, Dr. Pesowski collaborated with Dr. Superle on a project exploring children’s beliefs about education, including what they want and what they think should be focused on in school.

Crystal Rinke

Youth Liaison

Jinnie Saran

Research Assistant, Communications; Accessibility & Diversity Coordinator

Camryn Wolfe

Research Assistant, Crime Prevention Through Social Development

Camryn Wolfe is Social Media Coordinator and Graphic Designer for the 20 Harvest Challenge. She first got involved in the project because of her interest in restorative justice; specifically crime prevention through social development. She is combining her interest in criminology with research regarding children’s rights to contribute to the Dig for Your Rights! program. Her creative eye is behind many of the design and promotional contents for the 20 Harvest Challenge.

Camryn is passionate about environmentalism, human rights, and animal rights. She enjoys reading, hiking, and rock climbing in her spare time.

Community Collaborators

Tiffany Stone

Tiffany Stone is an acclaimed children’s poet and picture book author. She has written eleven books (and counting), including Knot Cannot, a 2021 Gryphon Honor Book, and Rainbow Shoes, which was a finalist for the Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize. Her work often combines wordplay with facts, with the intent to entertain, inform and inspire! In addition to being an author, Tiffany has over two decades of experience as a children’s book editor, working with publishers such as Greystone Kids and Tradewind Books, as well as freelancing.

Fun fact: From the time Tiffany could first hold a pencil, she wanted to be a writer!

Sarah Sovereign