Dr. Melissa Lem is a Vancouver family physician and Founder and Director of PaRx, Canada’s national nature prescription program powered by the BC Parks Foundation. Also, as President-Elect of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, she is an internationally recognized expert on the nature-health connection.
A senior writer for the CBC, her work has been widely published by media including the Vancouver Sun, Toronto Star, Montreal Gazette, The Narwhal and National Observer. She was the resident medical expert on CBC TV’s hit show Steven and Chris for four seasons and is a regular contributor to CBC Radio and CTV News.
Dr. Lem was the inaugural winner of University College’s Young Alumni of Influence Award at the University of Toronto, a 2020 Joule Innovation grant recipient from the Canadian Medical Association, a 2021 World Parks Week Ambassador, sits on the Advisory Committee of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas Health and Well-being Specialist Group, and is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia.