Ione is a Professional Agrologist with a background in Land Resource Science and Agricultural Land Use Planning.  She is the Principal of Upland Consulting and brings ten years of extensive experience in land use policy development, planning for farmland viability and food security, promoting tools for sustainable urban and rural growth, and initiating citizen engagement. She is a skilled facilitator, published author and prolific keynote speaker on the topics of smart growth, tools and strategies for farmland protection, and watershed conservation. 

Prior to embarking into the world of consulting, Ione was employed at Smart Growth BC, a renowned non-governmental organization devoted to creating livable communities. She assisted dozens of communities across BC with Regional Growth Strategies, Official Community Plans, Agricultural Area Plans, and food security initiatives. Her previous volunteer positions include President of the BC Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society and mentor to students in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at UBC.

Ione’s combined experience has enabled her to bring a unique ecological perspective to complex rural and urban land use planning issues in B.C. She holds a B.Sc. (Hons) in Environmental Sciences from the University of Guelph and a M.Sc. in Resource Management and Environmental Studies from UBC, where her thesis focused on the relationship between water quality and agricultural land use in Abbotsford. Originally from Montreal, she now divides her time between an organic farm in the Township of Langley and the Sunshine Coast. When she isn’t in the garden she can be found paddling the many scenic waterways of BC with her husband and their baby daughter.