Co-Chair

University of Calgary - Associate Professor, Faculty of Science, Department of Earth, Energy, and Environment

Glenn is a geologist, turned ninth-grade earth science teacher, turned geoscience education researcher.

He is currently an associate professor at the University of Calgary in the Department of Earth, Energy, and Environment, where he has been since 2013. His research focuses on teaching geoscience content using the history and philosophy of geology. He also researches how the use of metaphor impacts teaching and learning and how students learn when using virtual outcrop models.

Co-Chair

Mount Royal University - Associate Professor, Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences / International Director - Canadian Federation of Earth Sciences (CFES)

kboggs@mtroyal.ca

Katherine is fascinated by the processes that form the “Earth beneath our feet”. She is the Director for the Community Science Liaison program that strives to embed place- and curriculum-based citizen science programs in Canadian kindergarten to grade 12 classrooms. Teachers appreciate these projects because they bring the real world into their classrooms, students feel empowered because they contribute towards improved understanding of their scientific-environmental backyards and scientists get rejuvenated passions for their disciplines through these student’s enthusiasm and energetic approaches to these programs.

Katherine is also a very passionate promoter of the geosciences and has just recently developed a model to change the general public perception of the geosciences through national and international collaborations across these geoscience communities represented by various components of this Canadian bid to host IGC 2028.

In addition to being the Chair for the CNC – IUGS and the International Director for the Canadian Federation of Earth Sciences; Katherine developed significant management, leadership and communication skills through her 33 years in the Royal Canadian Naval Reserves (RCNR) where she was awarded the Queen’s Jubilee medal for her combined service to the RCNR and the geoscience academic community.

CEGA

Andy earned his B.Sc.(Hon) Geology from Queen’s University in 1991 and since then has gained 32 years of experience working in a variety of roles in both the service industry and the exploration and production business in Canada, the US and most recently Indonesia. His career path has led him through many individual contributor roles as well as leadership roles in the industry. Andy remains passionate about geoscience training and has run many classes and workshops and continues to mentor and coach in this capacity. He is currently the Canadian Energy Geoscience Association President Elect.

CSEG

A University of Manitoba graduate, Ashley has 17 years of experience in the energy industry as a geophysicist. She worked on Western Canadian assets at Talisman Energy and Cenovus Energy before gaining offshore experience with Newfoundland and Labrador's Department of Natural Resources. She is currently working at the Geological Survey of Canada assessing resource potential for offshore Canadian basins and as a Research Associate at the University of Calgary in their Tight Oil and Gas team. In her spare time, she also volunteers with Habitat for Humanity and the Alzheimer's Society.

Mount Royal University - Assistant Professor, Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences

Benjamin G. Daniels is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Mount Royal University. He is interested in numerous topics in geoscience, including sedimentology, stratigraphy, geochronology, basin analysis, and hydrogeology.

University of Alberta

President CNC IAH

Brian is a Research Associate and Instructor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Alberta. His work focuses on discovering and sharing the story of groundwater through a blend of isotopic, geochemical, numerical modelling, and physical hydrogeology techniques. He is the current president of the International Association of Hydrogeologists - Canadian National Chapter (IAH-CNC).

President - Bill Mercer Geological Consulting Ltd

Dr. Mercer has been VP, Exploration with Avalon since 2007. He enjoyed a 32-year career with the Noranda/Falconbridge group, ultimately serving as Director-Geology and Geochemistry.

Dr. Mercer’s exploration career spans over 30 countries and a variety of commodities including base metals, gold, bauxite and rare metals. Dr. Mercer was also a “Champion of Six Sigma,” with training to Black Belt level, and responsible for the supervision of Six Sigma efficiency methods in exploration and closed mine sites. As corporate Director of Geology and Geochemistry, he had dual reporting responsibilities to the SVP-Exploration and SVP-Business Development and was a team member in assessment of major projects and mines for acquisition.

Dr. Mercer served as the President of the Canadian Federation of Earth Sciences (CFES) from 2008 to 2010, and as President of the Prospectors and Developers Association (PDAC) from 2002 to 2004.

He currently chairs the PDAC Health and Safety Committee. Dr. Mercer is the recipient of the David Barr Award from the Association for Mineral Exploration in British Columbia for excellence in leadership and innovation in mineral exploration health and safety; the PDAC Distinguished Service Award; and the Award for Environmental Excellence of the NWT Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists. In 2013 he received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his service to the Canadian mining industry.

Dr. Mercer earned his BSc. in geology from Edinburgh University (1968) and a PhD from McMaster University (1975).

Board of Directors - Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada

Charles Beaudry is a seasoned mining executive with over 40 years of experience in project generation, business development, and international project management. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from University of Ottawa (1979) and a Masters degree from McGill University (1983). Charles is a Professional Geoscientist and permitted to work in Ontario (PGeo) and Quebec (géo). He has been involved in a number of deposit discoveries during his carreer and worked with Noranda/Falconbridge (now Glencore) from 1989 to 2006 and worked overseas in Brazil (country manager 1996-2001) and Papua New Guinea (2004-05). In 2008-2009 he was General Manager for Iamgold Inc. and from 2010 to 2013 he was founding President of Xmet Inc., outlining a 850,000 ounce gold deposit in the Abitibi greenstone belt. Charles is currently VP Exploration for QC Copper and Gold Inc. and just published a 100MT copper-gold open pit deposit in Chapais, Quebec.

University of Calgary - Professor, Faculty of Science, Department of Earth, Energy, and Environment

cmhender@ucalgary.ca

(403) 975-9011

Charles Henderson has a BSc and MSc from the University of British Columbia and PhD from the University of Calgary.

He worked for Esso Resources following his MSc and is currently a Professor at the University of Calgary since 1989. He was head of the department from 2012 to 2015.

His research focuses primarily on refinement of the International Time Scale for the Permian System and the Permian-Triassic boundary interval. He has conducted this research on six continents, but especially in Arctic Canada, western Canada, western USA and South China. Recognition of his research career on conodont biostratigraphy, evolution and paleobiology culminated with the award of the Pander Medal in 2024.

Previously he chaired the XIV International Congress on Carboniferous and Permian (ICCP) in 1999 and the 2nd International Conodont Symposium (ICOS) in 2009 at the University of Calgary. He is a past-Chair of the Subcommission on Permian Stratigraphy (SPS) and incoming Secretary-General of the International Commission on Stratigraphy. He is a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and the Geological Society of America.

Council for Geoscience

David is a bachelor in geological engineering with an emphasis on geotechnics, and graduated from Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal in 2007. He has since then spent 17 years in the consulting industry, with experiences and projects spanning across Canada and internationally. David has had the opportunity to participate in various small scale to big scale projects in both mining and civil engineering. In recent years, David was heavily involved in the geotechnical design and construction support for the Centre Block Rehabilitation project in Ottawa.

David is currently the Group Manager for Ground Engineering on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, and is an accredited engineer in British Columbia, Quebec and Ontario.

Advisor

UQAM, Chair CNC - IUGG

Full Professor, Département des sciences de la Terre et de l’atmosphère, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)

Fiona Darbyshire investigates the structure and tectonic history of the ancient continental lithosphere, using natural-source seismological methods. Her main focus is on the Canadian and Greenland shields, and their surroundings.

She is currently president of the Solid Earth section of the Canadian Geophysical Union (CGU), an executive committee member of the International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth’s Interior (IASPEI), and the Canadian national representative to the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG). She was the Chair of the Local Organising Committee for the 2019 IUGG General Assembly, held in Montréal.

President - Canadian Federation of Earth Sciences

Executive Director - Nova Scotia Geological Survey

"Janice Zinck is Executive Director, Geosciences and Mines with the Nova Scotia government. Prior to this she was Director, Critical Minerals and Strategic Resources at Natural Resources Canada. Ms. Zinck has over twenty-five years’ experience in the leadership of multidisciplinary programs to address mineral resource development. She was instrumental in the creation of Canada’s Green Mining Initiative, the national program on rare earth elements and chromite development in Canada, the Mining Value from Waste initiative and Critical Minerals R&D program.

She is a Past President of the Canadian Institute of Mining Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), current President of the Metallurgical and Materials Society, and past-Chair of CIM’s Environmental and Social Responsibility Society. In addition, she is Chair of the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame and President Elect of the Canadian Federation of Earth Sciences (CFES).

She is a CIM Fellow and a past CIM Distinguished Lecturer. She was profiled as one of eighteen ‘Women of Impact in Canada’s Mining, Metallurgical and Materials Industry’ and by the Canadian Museum of Science and Technology as a “Superhero of Industry – Lady Chromite”. More recently she was announced as a 2020 Clean50 award winner, recognizing her efforts in green mining.

Ms. Zinck has undergraduate degrees in geology and chemistry, and a master’s degree in metallurgical engineering. She holds two patents, has published extensively and presented widely on aspects relating to mineral resource development."

Technical Analyst

ROGII

University of Calgary

Jesus Rojas Parra is working on his MSc in Geophysics with Prof. David Eaton at the University of Calgary. He has two years of professional experience, mainly in seismic data processing, both active and passive. Additionally, he received a BSc (2018) in Geoscience at Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia. Jesus’ current research interest is in the use of computer programming to speed up the processing time through automatization. He is trilingual speaking Spanish, English, and a little French. Finally, Jesus enjoys the outdoors and sports, especially soccer and rock climbing.

Vice President, Business Development and Partnerships

Venue West Conference Services

John Daugulis works for Venue West Conference Services as the Vice President of Business Development and Partnerships. John is an Honours graduated from the Peter B. Gustavson School of Business with a double major in Service Management and Entrepreneurship. He first joined Venue West as a co-op student in 2011 and was hired full time in 2012. Since joining the company, he has worked in all facets of the conference industry from finances to project management to business development and company leadership. As the Vice President of Business Development and Partnerships, John is responsible for securing Venue West’s national and international business, along with fostering relationships with partners around the world.

Tourism Calgary

Originally from Alberta, Kyla is Tourism Calgary’s Director based in Washington, DC. She has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Calgary & has held leadership positions in Canada & the USA including Hyatt Vancouver, Hyatt Calgary, Hilton Washington/Capital Hilton, Waldorf=Astoria/Hilton Bonnet Creek Orlando, Travel Alberta & Destination Canada.

University of Regina

Dr. Leslie Robbins is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geology at the University of Regina. His research focuses on using sedimentary and aqueous geochemistry to understand the co-evolution of life and Earth’s surface environments over varying geological timescales. Additional research areas include the mechanisms controlling deposition of banded iron formations, biogeochemical cycling in modern wetlands, and the critical mineral potential of subsurface brines. Prior to joining the University of Regina, Leslie received his PhD from the University of Alberta (’18) and was a Donnelley Environmental Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale University.

Secretary of CFES

PhD, University of Ottawa

Dr. Lilian Navarro is currently working as a Lab Instructor at Cape Breton University (CBU). Prior joining CBU, Lilian earned her B.Sc. from the Universidad Central de Venezuela, and she received her M.Sc., Ph.D., and Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Ottawa. Her research work has particularly focused on process-based sedimentological characterization, stratigraphic architecture, geochemical analyses, and sedimentary evolution of ancient deep-water systems in Canada and Venezuela. She is currently the Secretary of Canadian Federation of Earth Sciences (CFES).

Ocean Networks Canada, University of Victoria

Martin is a Senior Staff Scientist at Ocean Networks Canada and an Assistant Adjunct Professor at the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences at the University of Victoria. He earned a Ph.D. in Geophysics from Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington and holds an M.Sc. in Exploration Geophysics from Leeds University. His current fields of work are gas hydrates, seafloor dynamics and geological storage of CO2.

Tourism Calgary

Mary-Frances Ryan hails from Ireland and has proudly called Calgary home for the past 10 years. With a degree in Media Studies and Musicology, she brings a vibrant energy and personable touch to everything she does.

Currently in the role of Meetings & Conventions Coordinator at Tourism Calgary, Mary-Frances is an enthusiastic advocate for event hosting in Calgary. Passionate about getting things done, she thrives in dynamic, high-pressure situations where teamwork is the name of the game.

Acadia University

I am an early career Indigenous geoscientist currently completing my Masters in Geology at Acadia University. I am mapping the geochemical variability on geomorphic elements and its impact on viticulture in the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia. I stay involved with the geoscience community by volunteering and participating in events such as the Atlantic University Geoscience Conference, Atlantic Geoscience Society Colloquium, GAC-MAC, and Acadia University’s geology society. I keep myself busy by rock climbing, hiking, and playing guitar. I’m excited to help promote Canada’s bid for the IGC.

University of Waterloo

Murdoch McKinnon is completing his PhD in Geography at the University of Waterloo. His research is focused on the restoration of ecosystem function in wetlands disturbed by industrial development. He seeks to improve our understanding of environmental controls on vegetation re-establishment in support of developing novel restoration strategies.

IGC 2012 Bid Committee

Emeritus GSC

Peter Bobrowsky is an Engineering Geologist interested in Quaternary studies primarily related to landslides and paleotsunamis, as well as geoethics, medical geology, aggregate research and paleoenvironmental studies. Former President of CANQUA, the International Consortium on Landslides and the Geological Association of Canada and Secretary General of the International Union of Geological Sciences. His vitae includes almost 500 technical publications and work experience across the globe (Canada, China, Europe, India, Africa, South America, etc.).

Ambrose University

PhD

Dr. Jeans is our Ambrose University (Calgary) representative from the Council of Chairs of Canadian Earth Science Departments to the International Geological Congress Canadian Bid Development Committee. He is an instructor of Earth and Space Sciences who also teaches for Mount Royal University, develops curriculum, edits textbooks, seasonally works in the oil and gas sectors of downtown Calgary, along with conducting free public outreach and geoscience fieldtrips and education events.

Chair IGC Foundation

University of Alberta

Stephen Johnston has a BSc from McGill and MSc and PhD degrees from the University of Alberta. He worked for Shell Canada and the British Columbia and Yukon geological surveys. His academic career includes professorships at the universities of Durban-Westville, South Africa, Victoria, BC, and Alberta where he is Chair of the Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences.

Research Scientist, Geological Survey of Canada

Vice President, Geothermal Canada

Steve is a geochemist whose research focuses of geothermal energy as a source of clean an renewable energy to meet demands in Canada. He also works on extreme environments from the modern through to ancient earth history. His work includes study of drivers of mass extinctions and other hyperthermal events throughout the Phanerozoic.