Scientific Program Subcommittee

  • Charles Beaudry - Co-Chair

    Board of Directors - PDAC

    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.

  • Jerry Demorcy - Co-Chair

    Social Media, Communications and Marketing Subcommittee

    Mount Royal University

    Jerry is an enthusiastic geoscientist and a member of the International Venus Research Group (IVRG). He advocates for community engagement and volunteerism, fostering collaboration among geoscientists across Canada and globally.

    Jerry is a dedicated adventurer, nature lover, and marathon runner, who is excited to contribute to the International Geoscience Conference  with a passion for education, research, and exploration.

  • Murdoch McKinnon - Co-Chair

    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.

  • Tânia Martins - Co-Chair

    Field Trip Subcommittee Co-Chair

    Manitoba Geological Survey

    Tânia Martins obtained her PhD in Geology in 2009 from the University of Porto (Portugal) studying Li-Sn-Nb-Ta mineralization in granitic pegmatites.

    In 2010 and 2011 Tânia worked at the University of Manitoba, Canada, on the mineralogy of alkaline rocks and carbonatites.

    Tânia joined the Manitoba Geological Survey in November 2011 and has since May 2023, been Chief Geologist for the Precambrian Geoscience section.

  • Ben Daniels

    Mount Royal University

    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.

  • Brian Smerdon

    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).

  • Charles Henderson

    Scientific Program and Field Trip Subcommittees

    University of Calgary

    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.

  • Cherisse Du Preez

    Fisheries and Oceans Canada

  • Chris Herd

    University of Alberta

  • Craig Scott

    Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology

    Craig Scott is the Director of Preservation & Research at the Tyrrell Museum. He is a vertebrate palaeontologist that specializes in mammals from the Late Cretaceous and early Palaeogene of western Canada.

  • Cynthia Devere-Bennett

    Ducks Unlimited Canada

    Cynthia is a geoscientist and conservationist who blends her industry background in the energy sector with a focus on safeguarding Canadian watersheds and ecosystems. With a cross-disciplinary outlook, she facilitates industry engagement in protecting and enhancing biodiversity, sensitive ecosystem preservation, watershed protection, and nature-based carbon sequestration solutions.

  • David Eaton

    IGC Foundation Board; Scientific Program and Partnership Subcommittees

    University of Calgary

    Professor David Eaton was appointed 2015-2020 as NSERC/Chevron Industrial Research Chair in Microseismic System Dynamics in the Department of Geoscience at the University of Calgary. Together with graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, his work focuses primarily on advancement of research, education and technological innovations in microseismic methods and their practical applications for resource development, with a secondary focus on the deep lithospheric structure of continents. In 2007, he rejoined the University of Calgary as Head of the Department of Geoscience, after an 11-year academic career at the University of Western Ontario. His postdoctoral research experience included work at Arco’s Research and Technical Services (Plano, Texas) and the Geological Survey of Canada (Ottawa). He has recently published a textbook on Passive Seismic Monitoring of Induced Seismicity. His work has been recognized by several major awards including the J. Tuzo Wilson medal from the Canadian Geophysical Union and a 2020 NSERC Synergy Award for Innovation.

  • David Feghali

    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.

  • Hafida El Bilali

    Carleton University

  • James Head

    Brown University

  • Jennifer Cuthbertson

    University of Calgary

  • Jennifer Galloway

    Geological Survey of Canada / Natural Resources Canada

  • Jessica Pilarczyk

    Simon Fraser University

  • Julia Shustova

    University of Calgary

  • Justin (Chima) Ezekiel

    University of Calgary

  • Katherine Boggs

    IGC2028 NOC Co-Chair

    Mount Royal University

    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.

  • Kelsey MacCormack

    Alberta Geological Survey / Alberta Energy Regulator

  • Mana Rahimi

    University of British Columbia

  • Martin Scherwath

    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.

  • Peter Bobrowsky

    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.).

    Peter was part of the IGC 2012 Bid Committee.

  • Peter Hollings

    Lakehead University / Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Mining & Exploration

  • Pezhvak Didar

    AGAT Laboratories

  • Richard Ernst

    Ernst Geosciences

  • Stephen Jeans

    Ambrose University / University of Calgary / Mount Royal University

    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.

  • Steve Grasby

    Scientific Program and Field Trip Subcommittees

    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.

To see who was on the IGC Scientific Subcommittee for the bid, click here. Thank you all for your support and the role you played in helping Canada win the bid to host IGC in 2028.