Meet the Team

This was very much a team project. On this page, we share a little about the people behind the scenes who made it happen.

  • Project Lead

    Dr. Madeleine Orr is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education at University of Toronto. She is the founder and co-director of The Sport Ecology Group, an international consortium of academics who drive climate action in the sport sector through research and public education initiatives. Orr’s research examines the impacts of climate change on sport, with a focus on resilience and adaptation.

    She recently authored the ‘Sport for Nature Report’ for UNEP (2022), and is recognized as a global thought leader in sport. Her research has been covered in global news outlets including The New York Times, The Guardian, ESPN, BBC, Reuters, and Time Magazine, and she has been named to the Environmental Educators 30 Under 30 list by NAAEE (2020), the 30 Under 30 in Sustainability list by Corporate Knights Magazine (2020), and Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list (2021). She was the University of Minnesota Rising Alumni award recipient in 2022, and in 2023, she was a finalist for Outstanding Environmental Leadership Award in the Times Higher Education Awards (UK).

    In 2023, she was named a Future of Canada Fellow by McMaster University, which allowed her to pursue this project. Along the way, she fell in love with art and the potential it carries to inspire young people (and old people, too).

    Her first book Warming Up: How Climate Change is Changing Sport was published in May 2024 by Bloomsbury.

  • Facilitator

    Delaney is an environmental educator living on the unceded lands of Tiohtia:ke/Montreal. She has a multifaceted background in ecopsychology, communication, youth leadership, sociology, and massage therapy. Taking inspiration from the Future of Canada project, she has incorporated imaginative arts-based learning into her Master's research about experiences of time during the climate crisis. Delaney also enjoys daily adventures with her dog Max, cooking up delicious plant-based meals, and spending time with loved ones.  

  • Project Manager

    An actor, director, producer and teacher, Patricia has lived in Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Sudbury. Her first full length play, St Ella of the Camino was written, produced and performed in 2019. She has directed numerous productions at TFS and Laurentian University, and taught Acting and Voice in Ottawa, Sudbury and Toronto.A favorite film project, Perspective was developed in yearly chapters over nine years. The Founder/Artistic Director/Producer of Ottawa Lunchbox Theatre 2002-2006, and Text Me Productions since 2011, favorite productions include Faith Healer and Shakespeare’s Will. She holds a BFA (Concordia) and MFA in Acting and Voice Teacher Diploma (York). She is a professor emerita from Thorneloe University at Laurentian.

  • Researcher