Dr. Melissa Lem

Family physician; Past president, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment; Salzburg Global Fellow; Clinical Assistant Professor, Faculty of Medicine, UBC

Dr. Melissa Lem is a Vancouver family physician, Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine, a Salzburg Global fellow and past president of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. An advocate for the health benefits of time spent in nature, her writings on the environment, and human well-being have been published by national media and environmental organizations including the CBC, Toronto Star, Vancouver Sun, Montreal Gazette, David Suzuki Foundation and Alternatives Journal. Currently a senior writer for the CBC, Lem was the resident medical expert on CBC TV’s hit lifestyle show Steven and Chris for four seasons and continues to educate diverse audiences on air. She has a Medical Doctorate from the University of Ottawa and was the inaugural winner of University College's Young Alumni of Influence Award at the University of Toronto in 2015.