Gillian recently relocated from her hometown of Toronto to Ottawa to keep a close watch on the federal government for Environmental Defence. When not fighting big oil, you can find her swinging a hammer at the never-ending cabin construction site in Bancroft or being led on various adventures in Gatineau Park by her dog, Oscar.

Gillian was so disturbed by the images of oil-soaked wildlife on the news following the Exxon Valdez oil spill that she vowed at the age of 12 to do something about it. She studied biochemistry and biology during her BSc at McMaster University and spent time working in a genetics lab. She shed her lab coat to shift from science into policy and advocacy, and did a Masters in Forest Conservation at the University of Toronto.

Gillian worked for several years to protect Canada's boreal forests for the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Association and later ForestEthics, campaigning to protect wild spaces and species at risk and change the market for wood and paper products to support more sustainable forestry.

The urgent need to address global warming and transition off oil to clean energy drew her out of the woods and into the tar sands three years ago. Since joining Environmental Defence, she has worked on climate and energy issues to stop the expansion of dirty fuels like tar sands and spur clean, renewable energy.