About Deirdre
Deirdre Leowinata was born in Jakarta, Indonesia to an Irish father and a Chinese-Indonesian mother. After spending much of her childhood in an international community in Dhaka, Bangladesh, she moved to Ottawa where she did her Bachelor of Science in Evolution, Ecology, and Behaviour under the supervision of macroecologist Dr. Jeremy Kerr, focusing on the impacts of climate change on butterfly ecology and physiology. Compelled by a growing need for science communication, she moved to Toronto in 2013 to complete a post-graduate program in Environmental Visual Communication through the Royal Ontario Museum and Fleming College.
Since then Deirdre has led multimedia communications and reporting for local and international organizations of various sizes. She is a savvy and creative cinematographer, writer, and director, with a breadth of experience in music videos, shorts, and feature-length films. She continues to combine her academic training with her technical skill set and strong storytelling ability to facilitate impactful multimedia stories that address our relationships with the natural world. She strongly believes in using film to empower individuals and communities, and is committed to education and mentorship, especially of young women in film and in STEM. She is deeply appreciative of the mentors who have taken chances on her, and who continue to inspire her.
Deirdre moved to B.C. in 2016 and has firmly committed herself to the ecosystems and communities of the coast (see below). She enjoys seabirds, and freediving in kelp forests. She is currently based in and around the traditional territories of the Wiwēqay̓I (We Wai Kai), Wiwēkam (We Wai Kum), and Xwémalhkwu (Homalco), and K’ómoks Peoples.
Deirdre’s special interest areas are: Climate change, biogeography, protected area management, fisheries management, forest management, transparent governance, environmental philosophy, multidisciplinary & collaborative approaches to problems, and community-led initiatives.
Photos thanks to Tavish Campbell
Pledge to the Coast
My name is Deirdre Leowinata, and today I re-commit myself to this coast and its future. I love this place, and I recognize and accept my responsibility, as a resident of this ecosystem, to try to make it better.
“I believe in kindness. Also in mischief. Also in singing, especially when singing is not necessarily prescribed.” – Mary Oliver
I believe in human dignity. I believe in honesty. I believe in the power of words. I believe in the power of laughter. I believe in the power of bringing people together. I believe in the inherent value of nature, and the infinite and untold benefits of healthy, intact ecosystems. I believe in the wisdom of trees, and the rights of all living creatures. I believe in questioning everything.
I recognize the vastness of the universe and the uniqueness of this place. I recognize the gift that is life on Earth, and how little we still know about it. And I commit to acting consciously with these principles at my core every day. I commit myself to this place, my home, in its present, for its future, through all the lessons of its past.
