Susanne lives on an island off Tofino and has spent the past 40 years working on environmental issues and making positive change. Alongside her late partner Steve Lawson, she helped with the First Nations Environmental Network across Canada. She was the co-chair of the Canadian Environmental Network and has been a member of the B.C. Environmental Network for many years.

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Susanne studied at McGill University in Montreal majoring in languages and fine arts, then attended a French university for graphic design. She worked at Expo 67 and “Man and His World” in public relations and as a graphic designer, before moving permanently to the West Coast where she owned and operated several galleries. She has participated in art shows in B.C. and in New York and has several large pieces at the convention centre in Winnipeg as well as in many private and public collections worldwide. She recently produced 26 pieces for a public facility in Belgium.

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She was active in the preservation of the forests in Clayoquot Sound and started working on issues due to the loss of the wild salmon, producing a film for the Pearse Commission on salmon fishing. She was involved in court cases to try to stop the slaughter of bears for trophy hunting and to protect B.C.'s oldest park, Strathcona Park, from further mining.

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Her gardens have been featured in Harrowsmith magazine and she promotes organic agriculture. Susanne has a deep connection to the Earth and feels that what we do to the Earth, we do to ourselves. Her late partner and children have First Nations status and she lives guided by many of the traditional teachings.