Since selling his privately-owned medical imaging company for roughly $300-million in 2001, Eric Peterson has been methodically spending his share of the proceeds. He’s used his money to buy B.C. coastal properties so they can be put aside for conservation; to launch the Hakai Institute, a scientific research institution; and to set up the Tula Foundation, a non-profit foundation named for a one-time family dog.
The couple’s support, especially through a research centre on Calvert Island, has been “completely transformative” for coastal research in B.C., said Brian Starzomski, an environmental studies professor at the University of Victoria. That conservancy takes in more than 1,200 square kilometres of land and sea, and it is managed under an agreement between the Heiltsuk Nation and the Province of British Columbia.
The former fishing lodge and the property it sits on remain with Tula, but Mr. Peterson said he’s having conversations with partners aimed at ensuring its long-term future.