Hanneke grew up in Edmonton and earned an environmental biology degree from the University of Alberta. She paired that with a journalism diploma and enjoyed a decade as the Edmonton Journal’s environment beat reporter. While there, a publisher offered her the opportunity to write a book on water issues in Canada. You can still find this primer (Water in Canada: A resource in crisis) in most Canadian libraries. 

She also devised and monitored creative sentences for environmental offenders while working for Alberta Environment and Parks. Immediately prior to joining Living Lakes Canada, she worked as a senior communications lead for the Pembina Institute, a clean energy think tank, on renewable energy issues.

Hanneke moved to Penticton after spending countless vacations in the Okanagan. She views her job as Communications Team Lead at Living Lakes as a chance to empower Canadians with the critical information they need to make informed decisions about water, a life-sustaining resource that also underpins economic prosperity.