Brian Guy, Professional Biography
Brian is a leader with a proven track record of success in the business and non-profit sectors, and is well-known as a collaborative leader and decision-maker.
In 1994, he founded and led a successful business based in downtown Vernon (Summit Environmental Consultants), bringing more than thirty-five young professionals and their families to the community. After merging with Associated Engineering in 2010, Brian grew its environmental consulting business in communities throughout western and northern Canada before retiring from full-time work in 2017.
He is a Professional Geoscientist with expertise in hydrology and water management and has led or contributed to many water-related initiatives in the Okanagan (and across western and northern Canada) over the past 28 years, both in a paid and a volunteer capacity. In 2010, Brian managed a comprehensive three-year water supply and demand project in the Okanagan. He led a major study of the streamflows needed to sustain fish populations in Okanagan streams. In 2017, he wrote a report on the causes of the flooding that occurred around Okanagan Lake, and on the provincial response to the flooding that year. In 2018, he initiated and contributed to a significant project to update the Sustainable Water Strategy for the Okanagan. In 2021 he investigated the knowledge gaps and defined 18 studies needed to inform a needed modernization of the Okanagan Lake Regulation System. In 2021 he worked with Purppl, a Kelowna-based social purpose accelerator, to coach and mentor an Indigenous-owned environmental consulting business to help put it on a path to long-term success.
In 2017 Brian was awarded the C.J. Westerman award, the highest award for a Professional Geoscientist in B.C., in recognition of his contributions to the practice of geoscience in the province.
Between 2015 and 2017 he led Associated Engineering’s Climate Change Task Force, which educated municipalities, clients, and staff on risks caused by the changing climate, and on opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This work not only helped clients address climate-related risks and opportunities but also strengthened the company’s competitive position.
Brian has volunteered for many years at the local, regional, provincial, and national levels. Locally he has coached youth soccer, chaired the board of the Okanagan Science Centre, and was a director of the Sovereign Lake Nordic Club. He has volunteered for 16 years with the Okanagan Water Stewardship Council, including a term as Chair, and served as a director of the Okanagan Basin Water Board. He served on the RDNO Solid Waste Management Committee; and since 2018 has co-chaired the City of Vernon Climate Action Advisory Committee, which developed a Climate Action Plan for the City which was approved by Council in April 2021.
Links to Reports and Awards
Addressing the New Normal: 21st Century Disaster Management in British Columbia, The Abbott/Chapman Report (Contributor)
Review of 2017 Flood Response Report: (Primary Author)
Provincial webpage with links to both the 2017 flood report and OLRS plan of study report
Okanagan Sustainable Water Strategy (Chair of the Okanagan Water Stewardship Council when this report was intiated, and also was on the core authorship team)
Water Supply and Demand Phase 2 Summary Report: (Project Manager and Lead Author):
Okanagan Conferences Brian organized and led
Reports related to work Brian led to determine environmental flow needs for Okanagan streams
EFN Phase 1 and 2 Summary Report
Modernizing the Okanagan Lake Regulation System: A report Brian wrote in 2021 about steps needed to modernize the Okanagan Lake Regulation System – the series of dams, dikes, and drop structures that control the flow of the Okanagan River south of Penticton