Rosalyn Ridlington Abbott has had a love of the outdoors since an early age after growing up in St. Catherines, PEI. She spent her childhood in her backyard Acadian forest, on the beaches of the south shore, and at local small family farms. This upbringing helped foster a passion for the environment and for community, two ideals which are central to the Green Party.

After returning from a year as a Rotary exchange student in Italy, she began studies at the University of Prince Edward Island where she obtained an honours in biology and a minor in environmental studies. Her research studying northern gannets and her focus on courses pertaining to island ecology and wildlife furthered her desire to work as a conservationist, and propelled her to pursue a masters degree in conservation. She obtained her MSc at Oxford Brookes University in England and conducted her dissertation research in the rainforest of Costa Rica. While it was a very enriching experience, it served to underline the fact that the Maritimes, and specifically, Prince Edward Island, was where her heart lay and she came home to begin a career in the environmental field.

She has lived in the Lefurgey subdivision in Summerside since 2004 and during that time has worked for universities, the federal and provincial government, and non-profit organizations. This work has included sessional lecturing, monitoring and protecting endangered species, liaising with landowners to augment the biodiversity of farm properties, working in education and outreach, and promoting sustainable use of natural resources. Her hope is to not only work to protect natural resources but to foster a love for them in other people and find a balance between the needs of communities and those of the natural world. She feels that in order to best move forward toward a sustainable and healthy Prince Edward Island, cooperation and collaboration between all sectors is a top priority. The Green Party’s platform best represents this vision.

In addition to the environment, one of her main priorities is support for island families. The Green Party’s policy on spending time with family and volunteering within our island communities is key to the preservation of PEI’s culture and to creating a province where our people and our environment come first.

Rosalyn is currently on maternity leave, raising her 6-month-old baby girl and two-and-a-half- year-old son with her husband, Craig. She is also working on an application to the new PhD program in Environmental Science at UPEI.