Dee Ann Benard, Executive Director

Dee Ann Benard joined ARDN as executive director in April, 2009.  After earning her B.Sc. (Biology) and M.Sc. (Plant Pathology) from Simon Fraser University, Dee Ann moved to Edmonton in 1994 to work as a Laboratory Scientist with Alberta Agriculture.  There, she also spent time as a cereal and oilseed specialist, before joining private industry to manage the Alberta operation of Integrated Crop Management Services (ICMS), Inc in 1998.  In 2000, she joined the Alberta Research Council in Vegreville as a plant pathologist, where she worked on canola diseases and managed the cereal disease program.  In 2003, her focus turned to the business side of science, when she became the business development officer for ARC’s Life Sciences Division.  In 2004, she joined the newly formed Agricultural Research and Extension Council of Alberta (ARECA) as executive director.  Under her leadership, ARECA grew from a “one-woman” home-based operation with a one-time $80,000 grant, to a staff of six full-time professionals and an annual budget of over $1,000,000. 

Dee Ann has served as a member of the Agriculture and Food Council since 2005, and was the Chair of Advancing Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food from 2007 to 2009.  She is an active volunteer in her community and in her professional life.

Dee Ann lives with her husband Jim and son Adam on a small farm in Strathcona County beside Elk Island National Park.  She is an avid skier and hiker.

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Joy Vonk, Operations Manager

ARDN’s operations manager is Joy Vonk.  After raising her three children and doing various part-time and volunteer positions, Joy joined DeVos Brokers as office manager in 1996.  In 2003, she earned a Diploma in Office Administration from the Academy of Learning.  At that time, DeVos Brokers was sold and became Letal Brokers, and Joy continued to manage the office.  In July of 2004, Joy began dividing her time between Letal Brokers and the newly-formed Agricultural Research and Extension Council of Alberta (ARECA).  She worked her way from part-time administrative assistant to full-time executive assistant with ARECA, until she was invited to join ARDN in May, 2009. 
Joy continues to partake in learning opportunities, and has taken numerous courses, including event management and accounting training.  She has extensive experience with event management, bookkeeping and accounting, scheduling, website maintenance and newsletter production.  Joy lives in Edmonton with her husband Ron.  They have two adult daughters and one adult son, and one grand-daughter. Joy enjoys playing golf on weekends.

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Paul Watson, Research Director

Paul Watson joined the ARDN as Research Director on September 21st, 2009.  Paul earned a B.Sc. in Environmental Science (University of Manitoba) with a math minor in 1994, followed by an M.Sc. in Botany (University of Manitoba) in 1997.  After this, Paul worked as a Research Associate at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (1997-2000) doing multivariate analysis of weed community changes resulting from altered tillage practices on the Canadian Prairies.  In 2000, Paul returned to the University of Manitoba as a Ph.D. Candidate in Agriculture and received his Ph.D. in 2004.  In September 2003, he joined the Alberta Research Council as a Weed Scientist.  In addition to traditional weed science and agronomy, Paul also worked on novel projects such as the development of a working economic model for the formation of an Alberta-based company that would grow, extract and refine artemisinin (a cure for quinine-resistant malaria) from Artemisia annua L.  Paul continues to upgrade his skills, having recently completed an Executive Training course (New Product Development: the Complete Approach) at the Schulich Center. Paul enjoys playing guitar, cards, and golf in his spare time.

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Judy Ferguson, Director of Community and Member Engagement

Judy Ferguson has spent much of her career in leadership roles, helping small not-for-profit organizations grow and become more effective through the development of effective stakeholder relations and communications strategies.  In 1994, she left a long career with the Government of Alberta to take a government relations position with Edmonton Home Builders’ Association, which eventually led to her position as executive director of the organization.  In 2001, she made the move to Calgary to become the president of the Urban Development Institute – Calgary. In 2007, after being away from her family for several years, Judy returned to the Edmonton area and moved to Sherwood Park to be near her daughter and her family.

For the last three years, Judy was pleased to hold the position of program director for Rural Alberta’s Development Fund.  As program director she oversaw the development, implementation and administration of all components of the funding program; including the development of review criteria and processes; as well as the development of program evaluation mechanisms to ensure that funds were distributed according to Program Criteria.  She also led a task force charged with defining community capacity building in a relevant manner to facilitate the decision making process and to provide clear expectations to rural Albertans seeking funding for their innovative, capacity building projects. Judy is looking forward to working with the ARDN and its members to facilitate partnerships and collaborations with Alberta’s rural communities and community based organizations; strengthening the solid foundation that the organization has built in a very short time.

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Melissa St.Dennis, Communications Officer

When Melissa was six years old, her family moved to Wandering River, Alberta. Rural life is the only lifestyle Melissa knows – the lifestyle she loves. She grew up helping the secretary and teachers: photocopying, organizing, and assisting. Those skills (among others) led her to become the Vice President of her Students’ Union. In high school, she had articles published in a local paper and worked at Hope Haven Women’s Shelter in Lac La Biche.She was also an asset to her Leadership Team, collaborating with Free the Children, students, and staff on various projects: raising money to build a school in Kenya, fundraising for Kids for Cotlands, and volunteering at Hope Mission.

In 2008, Melissa began her first year in the Professional Writing program at Grant MacEwan University. She has been published by the Edmonton Journal, Confulence Magazine, and Curb Magazine and has continued her community involvement. She was part of the 2008-2009 Project HOPE team through MacEwan’s Students’ Association where she helped fundraise $65 000 in only eight months, traveled to San Andres, Nicaragua and repaired the community well, restored the town’s women’s shelter, fixed a local school, installed solar panels, held artesanía (craft) workshops, and facilitated games. In 2011-2012, along with working as ARDN’s full time communications officer and completing her final year of the applied bachelor degree, Melissa will be leading this year’s Project HOPE team back to San Andres to continue the community development work. 

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