Gideon Forman

Health Issue Contributor Spotlight

Meet some of the authors from AJ’s Ultimate Health Issue.

Gideon Forman

Gideon Forman holds an MA in Philosophy from McGill and a certificate in Renewable Energy from the University of Toronto.

Gideon Forman

Gideon Forman holds an MA in Philosophy from McGill and a certificate in Renewable Energy from the University of Toronto. In 2004 he became executive director of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, helping to win Ontario’s lawn pesticide ban, the most health-protective legislation of its kind in North America. He also campaigned to close Ontario’s coal plants – the equivalent of removing six million automobiles from the road. In 2013, his environmental work earned him a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.

How do you keep up to date on health news? 
“When I don’t have to be in front of a computer I try not to be. I get information mostly from hard-copy journals like Scientific American, which is rigorous yet accessible and tends to have good politics. They wrote a devastating piece about the Keystone pipeline which I quote frequently.”

 

Anne Bell 

Anne Bell is the director of conservation and education at Ontario Nature, a charitable organization that protects wild species and spaces through conservation, education and public engagement. As part of the collective effort to protect all pollinators in Ontario, she is determined to bring wild bees to the forefront, so their vital role in healthy ecosystems and food security is understood and acknowledged. Anne holds a PhD in Environmental Studies from York University, and has over 20 years of experience working as an environmental educator, researcher and advocate for government and not-for-profit organizations.

How do you keep up to date on health news? 
“First thing every morning I search the Internet for news relevant to the issues I’m working on, such as pollinators. The networks I’m part of are another great source of information – we constantly share information and update each other on the latest developments.”

 

Michael Torreiter

Michael Torreiter is passionate about healthcare and the environmental movement. A state of indecision led to careers in both areas. He is finance manager for A\J and a naturopathic doctor at Healing Path Centre for Natural Medicine in Waterloo. Michael first developed an interest in the link between health and the environment from listening to his parents – a nurse and an organic farmer.

How do you keep up to date on health news?
“I read industry journals like The Vital Link and websites like naturopathiccurrents.com. PubMed is a semi-permanent tab on my browser, as it is with many other healthcare practitioners.”