Norine Ambrose — Cows and Fish

Bio coming soon

Jule Asterisk — High Prairie Regional Environmental Action Committee

A Director with the Regional Environmental Action Committee since 1999, Jule became an environmentalist at age 11 upon reading that Lake Erie had caught fire.  In her time at REAC, Jule has produced two educational video productions, "My Life as a Plastic Bottle" (2003), and "My Life as a Tire" (2007).  She has represented the Alberta Environment Network at the Government of Alberta's Waste Management Stakeholder Group, and represented the Canadian Environment Network at the Committee for Environmental Cooperation's review of the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes.  She has presented at conferences including the Canadian Centre for Pollution Prevention, and Waste, the Social Context.  Jule is currently working toward the realization of an Alternative Energy Demonstration Project at the Boreal Centre for Bird Conservation.

Mark Bennett — Bow River Basin Council

Mark enjoys the privilege of being the Executive Director of the Bow River Basin Council and has held the position for the past 9 years. In this role he is blessed by the opportunity to work with great colleagues, both staff and volunteers. Working with the Council offers both challenges and rewards and is never boring. Mark and his family came to Alberta in 1998 from Winnipeg where he had spent the previous 14 years in Emergency Management, where he learned a great deal about the value of planning and teamwork. These two skills lend themselves well to the operations of the Bow River Basin Council. Mark also learned that the secret to success is to know what you’re doing and to surround yourself with really good people. He has the latter covered and is always working on the former. Mark holds an undergraduate degree in biology from Queen’s University. He has both a Certificate in Public Sector Management and a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Manitoba. Mark’s recent studies include the pursuit of an Environmental Management Certificate from the University of Calgary and a Non-Profit Management Certificate from Mount Royal University.

Geoff Braun — Green Calgary

Bio coming soon

Marilyn Carpenter — TransCanada

Coming soon.

Sangeen Chahal — CIBC

Coming soon.

Lars De Pauw — Penn West Energy

Bio coming soon.

Danah Duke — Miistakis Institute for the Rockies

As executive director of Miistakis, Danah oversees multiple landscape ecology and land use projects that focus on the integration of spatial (GIS) and biological information in collaboration with both government and non-government organizations. Prior to her work at the Miistakis Institute, Danah worked as a wildlife biologist in Banff National Park focusing on large mammal movement through corridors. Danah completed her B.Sc. in biology at McMaster University (1994) and her M.Sc. in ecology and environmental biology at the University of Alberta (2001), and has worked at Miistakis for the past seven years. Danah joined Alberta Ecotrust's Grant Review Committee in 2008.

Patricia Etris — Encana

As Encana's Lead for Community Investment, Patricia works with numerous environmental partners, and she brings a depth of knowledge and experience to the Alberta Ecotrust Grant Review Committee table. Prior to working with Encana, Patricia received a M.Sc. degree in Geology from the University of South Carolina, worked in environmental consultation and regulation, and earned an MBA from the University of Calgary with a specialty in Environmental Management and Sustainable Development.  Patricia lives in Calgary with her husband and two amazing teenage daughters.

Rafat Farooqi — FT Services

Coming soon.

Leona Gibb — TERA Environmental Consultants

Leona Gibb joined TERA in 1993 and became a Director in 2005. As a Senior Environmental Planner, she has worked on behalf of numerous junior and senior oil and gas companies throughout Alberta as the Project Manager and primary author of Conservation and Reclamation (C&R) Reports for over 90 pipelines.  Her duties include route selection, regulatory strategic planning, government contacts, public and First Nations consultation support, First Nation liaison, consultation with DFO and Transport Canada, environmental impact assessment as well as environmental protection and reclamation planning.

Paul Godman — Cenovus Energy

Paul has worked on a wide range of environmental issues associated with the energy sector. Since 2003, he has managed EnCana's Environmental Innovation Fund, a program that provides financial support for the development of innovative clean energy technologies. He has a B.Sc. in Earth Sciences from the University of Waterloo and an M.Sc. in Water Resources Management from the University of Calgary. He lives in Calgary with his wife and two children and enjoys cycling, skiing and photography.

 

Drew Godsman — Newalta Inc.

Drew has over 20 years of environmental solutions experience both in Canada and internationally. He is a General Manager at Newalta where he oversees the operations of the company's Western facilities. Prior to joining Newalta in 2008, he was the Chairman of the Terra Group in Dubai, UAE, President of Valiant Environmental in Alberta and held various senior positions with Laidlaw Environmental Services and ECL Environmental Services.  He enjoys playing squash, hiking, travelling and camping in Kananaskis with his wife, son and daughter.

Linda Graf — ConocoPhillips Canada

Linda Graf is the Manager, Environment and Stakeholder Engagement, Canadian Arctic, at ConocoPhillips Canada and has been working with the Environment and Sustainable Development group since 2004. The majority of her work with the company has been on the proposed Parsons Lake natural gas development in the western Canadian Arctic.  It was a natural fit with her previous 17 years of experience living and working in the Arctic.  Ten of those years were spent with the Joint Secretariat - Inuvialuit Renewable Resources Committees providing support related to developments under review through the Inuvialuit Screening and Review Process.  While in the Arctic, Linda also worked as a biologist both privately and for the Government of the Northwest Territories, held the position of Chair and Member of the Inuvik Ducks Unlimited Committee, and was a Volunteer Fire Fighter.  She received her BSc (Biology) degree from Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia. Linda now lives in Calgary with her husband, Gordon, and two curly-coated retrievers.

Stewart Henderson — ATCO Group *

Stewart is the representative for the ATCO Group and currently serves as corporate co-chair on Alberta Ecotrust's Board of Directors.

 

 

Margot Hervieux — Peace Parkland Naturalists

Margot is a naturalist living and working in Grande Prairie. Actively involved in conservation and natural history in Alberta for the past three decades, Margot currently works as an interpreter for provincial parks. As part of her ongoing effort to promote the natural history of the Peace region, she has produced guidebooks for two local natural areas and writes a weekly nature column for the Peace Country Sun. Margot has served on the grant review committee of Alberta Ecotrust for nine years.

Brian Ilnicki — Land Stewardship Centre of Canada

Coming Soon

Klaus Jericho — Southern Alberta Group for the Environment

Klaus graduated from the Ontario Veterinary College in 1962. After completing post-graduate training in veterinary pathology, he worked for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and later for Health Canada. He has been retired for eight years, but he still has a keen interest in how the world works and the impact we have on it. He is trying to make his small contribution to make us walk more gently on this earth.

Nikki Kaehne — Alliance Pipeline

Equipped with a biology and environmental engineering background, Nikki headed east from Vancouver to work at Alliance. As part of the Environment Team, she has a wide range of responsibilities, including implementation of the Environmental Management System and coordination of environment-related regulatory approvals for construction and operations in Canada. In addition to her participation on Alliance's Corporate Community Investment Committee, she also began representing the company on the Alberta Ecotrust Grant Review Committee in May 2006. Being involved with Alberta Ecotrust's Grant Program has been an inspiring opportunity to witness and encourage environmental stewardship at the grassroots level.

Bob Kruchten — Red Deer River Naturalists

Coming soon.

Cindy L. Christopher — Imperial Oil

Cindy is the manager of safety, health and environment in Imperial Oil Limited's products and chemicals division.  She works with people across Imperial, ExxonMobil, governments and outside stakeholders on strategies to improve our SHE performance and to be recognized for those improvements.  Cindy is  married and has one daughter. She enjoys spending time with her family, good friends, her church, and outdoor activities such as gardening, kayaking, hiking and  canoeing.

 

Shawna Mattison — Pembina Pipeline Corporation

Shawna Mattison is the Manager of Health, Safety, and Environment at Pembina Pipeline Corporation. She has been active in the environmental field for more than 20 years. Her environmental interests include fish habitat conservation and restoration, protection of native prairie, and the restoration and protection of green space within urban areas.

 

Leroy McKinnon — TAQA North

Bio coming soon

Kathryn Milne — Nexen Inc.

Growing up in the Bow Valley, Kathryn developed tremendous respect and awe for the environment, as well as a keen interest in how people can minimize their environmental footprint. These influences shaped her education choices, volunteer activities, and career in the environmental field. Kathryn's formal education includes a Bachelor of Science in animal biology from the University of British Columbia and a Masters of Environmental Design from the University of Calgary. She connected with Alberta Ecotrust Foundation through her company, Nexen, where she works as an environmental analyst in upstream oil and gas. Kathryn enjoys being exposed to a plethora of worthwhile environmental projects and meeting the dedicated people behind them. Kathryn is also a volunteer member of Bow Valley WildSmart and the Bighorn Corridor Environment Committee (BCEC).

Joe Obad — Water Matters

Joe Obad brings extensive experience in land use issues and communications to the Alberta Ecotrust grant review table. Focusing on the connection between land-use science and policy, he has written a number of policy briefs that have significantly altered the practices of both industry and government.  As former Conservation director with the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society,  Joe consulted extensively with stakeholders across southeastern Alberta on a variety of land-use topics, and worked to educate the public on science and land-use as project manager for initiatives such as Selected Ecological Resources of Alberta's Castle Carbondale and the Exploring the Castle Hiking Guidebook published by Rocky Mountain books.  More recently, in his work with Water Matters, he has co-authored  Source of Opportunity: A Blueprint for Source Water Protection in Southern Alberta. Joe has bachelor degrees in English and Education.

Melanie Ostopowich — BP Canada

As part of the Government and Public Affairs Team, Melanie supports BP Canada's natural gas liquids and oil sands businesses. She has been with BP since early 2007. A degree in environmental and conservation science as well as diplomas in journalism and public relations has opened up exciting doors in Melanie's career, one of the highlights of which includes being a published author of eight science textbooks currently being used in schools in both Canada and the United States. Melanie joined Ecotrust's Grant Review Committee in 2008 and is excited to participate in this unique partnership.

Phillip Penner — Nature Alberta

Philip is committed to making a positive contribution to the natural environment and health of the planet wherever he can. He is both fascinated by and passionate about nature. One of his biggest concerns is the increasing pressure that a growing global society places on the earth. He believes it is vital that current and future generations develop a healthy relationship with the natural world, where they are both knowledgeable about nature and prepared to take action on behalf of the environment.

Angela Perry — Peace Parkland Naturalists

Aside from working as a Land Use Officer for Alberta Parks, Angela Perry has been a member of the Peace Parkland Naturalists Club for two years and is currently the group's program coordinator. With a biology and education degree, she brings experience in both disciplines - as an environmental educator and a wildlife biologist for an environmental consulting company - to the Ecotrust Grant Review Committee.  She lives in Grande Prairie, where she takes every opportunity to enjoy the Northern clime through hiking, photography, fishing and other modes of exploring.  She is excited to be involved with Alberta Ecotrust and to represent Northern Alberta at the committee table.

Jim Pissot — WildCanada Conservation Alliance

Jim Pissot brings nearly 30 years experience advocating western wildland and wildlife conservation, responsible management of Crown lands, agency oversight, and sustainable rural economic opportunity. Jim served for two years as executive director of the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, working with Canadian and U.S. scientists and advocates to identify, protect and connect wildlife habitats in the Rocky Mountains. Subsequently working with Defenders of Wildlife, he led efforts to secure adequate wildlife mitigation on the Trans-Canada Highway through Banff National Park, end the grizzly bear hunt in Alberta, and convince Canada's railways to commit $40 million to repair rail cars that leak grain, attracting grizzly bears and other wildlife to their deaths on the tracks. Jim holds a master's degree in resource management from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. He and his wife Valerie enjoy backpacking, back-country skiing, photography and canoeing.

Jason Ponto — Environmental Law Centre

Jason is the Program Assistant at the Environmental Law Centre. He holds an interdisciplinary MA degree, specializing in Global Change. His MA research focused on studying some of the not-for-profits and co-operatives that make up Alberta's social economy, with an emphasis on 'green' social enterprises. He also holds a BSc in physics and has spent many summers researching near-Earth space physics.  Jason is currently serving as the Policy Director for the Edmonton Bicycle Commuters' Society.  He likes spending time on his bicycle, backpacking in the mountains, making music, taking photographs, and traveling. Two noteworthy trips include a road trip to Guatemala and back and spending nine months trying to get lost in Asia.

Jeff Reading — Alberta Council for Environmental Education

Jeff Reading is an environmental specialist with the City of Calgary's Ecological Footprint Team. He has been an environmental and outdoor educator for close to thirty years, working as a teacher, consultant and program specialist with the Calgary Board of Education. Jeff has served on numerous boards, including the Global, Environmental and Outdoor Education Council of the Alberta Teachers Association, the Association For Experiential Education, and the Safety Committee for Outward Bound Canada. His wife, Shelagh, and their children David and Meghan share a love of international travel and exploring natural environments together. Jeff has been an active member of the Alberta Ecotrust grant review committee since 1994 with a two-year hiatus in 2002-2003.

Amit Saxena — Devon Canada Corporation

Formally trained as a wildlife research biologist, Amit specializes in managing natural resource and biodiversity issues for Devon. Amit's expertise is primarily with large carnivores, including grizzly bears, black bears and wolves – he has even worked on special assignment with tigers in India, but he has also written conservation plans for songbirds and tiny endangered orchids. Prior to joining Devon in 2007, Amit spent the past 15 years working as a wildlife biologist for Parks Canada, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and several environmental consulting firms. Amit has a B.Sc. in forest ecology from the University of Alberta and a M.Sc. in conservation biology from Arizona State University. He joined Alberta Ecotrust's Grant Review Committee in 2008. Born in Edmonton, Amit now lives in Calgary with his wife and young daughter.

Terra Simieritsch — Pembina Institute

Terra Simieritsch is a policy analyst with the Pembina Institute's Energy Solutions team. Her research focuses on the environmental implications of oil sands development with an emphasis on water and Aboriginal concerns. Terra has co-authored two Pembina Institute publications on trans-boundary issues in the oil sands - The Waters That Bind Us and Carbon Copy - as well as Catching Up, a report on conservation offsets. She has given many presentations to stakeholder groups on the implications of current and future oil sands development. Terra has a B.Sc. in environmental science from the University of Calgary and a diploma in forest technology from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. 

Jason Smith — TERA Environmental Consultants

Jason K. Smith is a Senior Environmental Planner and Director at TERA Environmental Consultants in Calgary and has worked in the environmental consulting industry for 10 years. He specializes in National Energy Board-regulated pipeline projects and has managed numerous environmental assessments for work in Western Canada. He has served as project manager on several provincially and federally-regulated pipelines, including high profile projects like the Georgia Strait Crossing Pipeline Project and TMX - Anchor Loop Project.

Coming Soon — Greater Edmonton Alliance

Coming Soon — Athabasca Bioregional Society

Neil Symington — Suncor Energy Foundation

Neil is responsible for Suncor's sustainable development and environmental reporting. He works with the socially responsible investment community and provides support on greenhouse gas policy development. Prior to joining Suncor, he worked on policy and issues management with respect to climate change, land-use and boreal habitat protection, and participated in multi-stakeholder groups including the Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Trading Pilot and the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy's Boreal Forest Task Force.

He volunteered to represent the Suncor Energy Foundation on the Alberta Ecotrust Grant Review committee because he is passionate about supporting local action on environmental issues. My interest in the outdoors led me to previous careers as a naval officer, trekking guide and whale watching pilot. He continues to pursue his outdoor passions through climbing, sea kayaking, trekking and snowboarding.

Anne-Marie Syslak — Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society – Southern Alberta

Anne-Marie Syslak, Acting Executive Director of the Southern Alberta Chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, joined the organization's Education Team in the summer of 2004 and took on the role of Acting Executive Director in November 2009. Anne-Marie has worked in the environmental education field for the past sixteen years and enjoys teaching about nature and ecological issues through her creative lessons. She has a B.Sc, a B.Ed, and a M.Sc. in Environmental Education. Anne-Marie loves to travel, flirts with art and music, and is often found playing in the mountains. Originally from the prairies, Anne-Marie has a particular passion for plants and wildflowers. When she's not howling like a wolf with her daughter, you might find her on the trail going ga-ga over a glacier-lily!

Erica Thomas — Total E&P Canada

Erica Thomas is the Corporate Social Responsibility and Stakeholder Relations Advisor for Total E&P Canada.  Prior to taking on her present role, Erica worked as the Community Engagement Coordinator for Total in Strathcona County on their Upgrader Project. In that position, she worked with local residents and facilitated the community investment portfolio for the greater Edmonton region.  Before joining Total in 2008, Erica worked in Tourism and Economic Development for Strathcona County.  Erica looks forward to bringing her community investment background and community development experience to the Alberta Ecotrust team!

Gareth Thomson — Alberta Council for Environmental Education

Gareth Thomson is executive director of ACEE and has twenty years experience in environmental education, working first for the Government of Alberta and then as the first education director of CPAWS – Calgary/Banff. Gareth currently serves as a judge for the Alberta Emerald Awards, has been a board member of several key environmental education groups and grantmaking foundations, served on Canmore's municipal Town Council, and taught at an International Baccalaureate high school. Gareth has an engineering degree, an M.Sc. in environmental geology, and is a certified teacher. He has been honoured by a lifetime achievement award from the Global Environmental and Outdoor Education Council (GEOEC) of the Alberta Teachers Association, and the 2008 Outstanding Individual (non-profit) award from the Canadian Network for Environmental Education and Communication (EECOM). A proud father of two children, Gareth can still occasionally be sighted on the hiking trails around Canmore.

Jason Unger — Environmental Law Centre

Jason Unger received his law degree, with a specialization in environmental law, from Dalhousie University and was admitted to the Alberta Bar in 2002. After articling in Calgary he practiced in general litigation, regulatory and administrative law and later went on to work for the Alberta Wilderness Association. Prior to practicing law, he worked as a summer student at the Environmental Law Centre. He also worked in the field of biology following completion of his B.Sc. in biology from the University of Winnipeg. Jason's current areas of focus at the Environmental Law Centre include water law, species at risk and wildlife law, conservation tools on private lands, and administrative law. Jason is an avid Ultimate player and enjoys other outdoor activities like hiking, camping and backpacking.

Peter Zimmerman — ConocoPhillips Canada

Peter Zimmerman is currently the Manager of the Environment, Regulatory, and Stakeholder Engagement oilsands group. Peter has over 30 years of broad experience in the upstream oil and gas industry before joining Conocophillips in July 2008.  

Peter has managed a wide variety of projects and sustainability issues, at both the operational and strategic planning level.  This includes environmental impact assessment & management planning, environmental auditing & management systems, climate change and energy efficiency, biodiversity conservation, life cycle assessment, liability management, remediation and reclamation, and stakeholder engagement.  This has included working with various Aboriginal communities and many special interest groups.

Peter is an active member of the conservation community.  He has been a long time member of CPAWS, including a term as a National Trustee, and also represented several ENGOS on the Alberta Grizzly Bear Recovery Team.  He holds a Master's degree in Environmental Design from the University of Calgary.  Peter and his wife Dianne live in Calgary with their daughter Grace. 

 

Vacant — RBC Foundation

Vacant — TransAlta