Ms Darlene UPTON

Vice President, Parks Canada Agency - Agence Parcs Canada

Darlene joined Parks Canada in 1996 and has been a park warden, park ecologist and manager of resource conservation in three national parks during the first 9 years of her career. She moved into Parks Canada's national office as the Head of Resource Protection. She began her executive career in 2008 as the first Director of Law Enforcement where she led the Agency's transition to arming. Darlene served as a special advisor through deficit reduction initiatives in 2012 and then moved into the Executive Director of Waterways position, leading the significant structural realignment of the waterways. In 2017, Darlene acted as Vice President of Strategic Policy and Investments and moved from that position in 2018, to her current role as Vice President, Protected Area Establishment and Conservation. She is very interested in how technology will affect the human relationship with nature and its opportunity to accelerate conservation gains globally.