May 12 (Theatre): Meeting the Wildfire Challenge: The Promise of Ecological and Socio-economic Resiliency
 Fire is an essential ingredient for healthy forests. Extensive community and economic infrastructure on the same landscape has required human-induced fire suppression which not only
disrupts nature’s ecology but promotes the potential for catastrophic fires as we build more infrastructure on the landscape and climate change drives drier and hotter summers.
Suppression, as a principal strategy for wildfire management, begs rethinking.
This presentation explores new ideas and approaches in the name of “resilience” that are being actively explored by researchers, policy makers and firefighters to address ever- increasing wildfire catastrophes. “Resilience” is a concept founded in an understanding that fire is both a constructive and destructive force. The challenge is how to manage both realities with confidence so that a constructive balance can be
established. 
 
Our speaker will be Dr. Jonathan O’Riordan, a former Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management in the British Columbia Provincial Government. Jon served 35 years in the public service, focusing professionally on environmental management and land and resource planning. He was an Adjunct Professor with the School of Community and Regional Planning at UBC and Research Director with the Climate Adaptation Team centred at Simon Fraser University. Dr. O'Riordan joined UVic’s POLIS’ Water Sustainability Project as a strategic water policy advisor in 2007; he focuses on provincial water policy reform and the ecological governance of water management in addition to his work on wildfire resiliency.

June 09 (Room 2): We’ve Looked at Books, How About Brew?!
We read that the public’s drinking habits are changing, perhaps with lasting generational consequences, and that the celebrated craft brewing market industry on our Island is being transformed for this reason and others. This presentation will be of interest whether you simply enjoy a glass of beer, have an interest in the
dynamic character of Island business, or just like a good story. Our presenter will share his business and personal experiences in establishing a successful brewery business and piloting it through the wet and dry travails of sustaining his success.
Our speaker will be Christopher Bjerrisgaard - Founder, Co-Owner, and Head of Commercialization of Small Gods Brewing. In addition to founding Small Gods Brewing, Chris has over sixteen years of experience in the craft brewing industry, including roles as Marketing Director at Vancouver Island Brewing, a Founding
Member / Marketing Director at Vancouver Craft Beer Week, and Marketing Manager at Parallel 49 Brewing & Central City Brewers+ Distillers. In the fall of 2025, he was elected to the BC Craft Brewers Guild Board for the 2026 / 2027 electoral cycle.

February 10 (Room 2): Whither Books and “Booktown”: TheChanging Nature of Sidney’s Book Business and Reading Culture
Sidney has been a member of the International Organization of Book Towns since 1996, in recognition of a large reading public and numerous bookstores. At one time, the town had ten bookstores, but this number has diminished over the years. Sidney’s book business remains vital, yet it operates in a different retail environment than it did thirty years ago—in fact, than it did a decade ago.
This presentation will focus on trends in the publishing and book-selling industry, the forces that are shaping these, and implications for readers and sellers. Attention will be placed on
the unique aspects of the Sidney and Greater Victoria market that is changing in both anticipated and unforeseen ways.
Our speaker will be Cliff MacNeil-Smith, the current Mayor of Sidney, who will speak in his capacity as owner of Tanner Books in Sidney. Cliff has decades of experience in the book selling
business.

March 10 (Room 2): The Saanich Peninsula Hospital and Healthcare Foundation

Our March 10 speaker will be Heather Edward, CEO of the
Saanich Peninsula Hospital and Healthcare Foundation [SPHF]. Heather will speak about the Foundation’s activities, as well as recent developments at the Saanich Peninsula Hospital and related facilities in the area. The Foundation was initially founded in 1985 to raise funds for the fledging Saanich Peninsula Hospital and has succeeded in raising over $92 million for equipment, facilities, and programs at the Hospital in the ensuing years. They recently raised $15 million for enhanced acute care.
Heather has been CEO of the SPHF since May 2024. She has an extensive background in the health care sector, including leadership roles in several organizations in Ontario. Heather earned an MA in Leadership from the University of Guelph.

April 7 (Room 2): Wowed by the Stars: New views of the Universe Through the Lens of Modern Astrophysics
Humankind is making great strides in understanding the universe with numerous astronomical observatories around the world and in space. Dr. James Di Franseco will present five (or so) images that were released in 2025 that together illustrate the incredible scope and breadth of modern astrophysics. These images
prospectively include the spectacular very first ones released by the new ultrawide-field Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile of galaxies, stars, and asteroids, amazing shots from the Atacama Large Millimetre Array and Very Large Telescope facilities also in Chile of protostars that appear to be forming planets, stunning new images by the James Webb Space Telescope of a nearby region in our Galaxy where stars are forming, and thrilling images from the Gemini South observatory of the new interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS. It will be a light show to remember.
Our speaker will be Dr. James Di Francesco, Director, Optical Astronomy at HAA and Director of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory. James earned a Ph.D. in Astronomy at the University of Texas (at Austin) based on research into the circumstellar environments of young stellar objects. He subsequently completed three-year postdoctoral stints at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics, and at the University of California, Berkeley, expanding his research. James returned to Canada in 2002 to join the Millimetre Astronomy Group at the National Research Council’s Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Centre (HAA) in Victoria. He subsequently assumed directorships at HAA and the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory. This presentation has been made possible through the appreciated assistance of the Centre of the Universe staff