BIOS

Day 1 

Claudio Canizares (Executive Director, WISE)

Claudio Cañizares is a University Professor and Hydro One Endowed Chair in the electrical and computer engineering (ECE) department at the University of Waterloo, where he has held various academic and administrative positions since 1993. He is also the Executive Director of the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy (WISE). Professor Cañizares is the recipient of the 2017 IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) Outstanding Power Engineering Educator Award, the 2016 IEEE Canada Electric Power Medal, and multiple IEEE PES Technical Council and Committee awards and recognitions, holding leadership positions in several IEEE-PES Committees, Working Groups, and Task Forces. In 2021 and 2022, he received the Award for Excellence in Graduate Supervision from the University of Waterloo.


Catherine Hickson (President of Geothermal Canada)

Dr. Catherine Hickson has over 40 years of experience in geothermal development ranging from scientist to technology expert to corporate executive. She has worked in multiple countries undertaking exploration and development projects ranging from low-temperature sedimentary environments to high-temperature volcanic systems.  Her experience includes 25 years as a Research Scientist for the Canadian Government (Geological Survey of Canada). She is currently the president of Geothermal Canada, as well as CEO of Alberta No.1. Alberta No. 1, is Alberta’s first conventional geothermal project taking place in the heart of Alberta’s most active hydrocarbon exploration and production region in the vicinity of Grande Prairie.  

 


Maurice B. Dusseault (Professor, University of Waterloo)

Maurice is a Geological Engineering Professor at the University of Waterloo in Canada.   Three years of field experience as a roughneck and drilling fluids technician preceded his university education and research. With over 600 articles on analysis and physics issues related to subsurface engineering, he is an international geomechanics expert who has taught short courses on Geothermal Energy, CO2 Sequestration, Earth Stresses, Drilling, Oil and Gas Production, and so on, over 140 times in 27 countries. He has served as an advisor to many corporations and governments, including New Brunswick, Alberta, and Québec. 

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Jasmin Raymond (Associate Professor - Hydrogeology & Geothermics - INRS) 

Interested by heat transfer applied to Earth Sciences, Professor Raymond is a hydrogeologist conducting research on geothermal energy. His current projects involve very low to high temperature resources associated to both geothermal heat pumps and power production, spanned over four continents, from the arctic to the tropics, helping to develop sustainable energy solutions for growing needs of our society. Awardee of the Canadian Geotechnical Society, chair holder of the Institut nordique du Québec and granted by UNESCO, Professor Raymond leads the Laboratoire ouvert de géothermie to characterize thermophyscial properties of rocks essential to model geothermal systems of all kinds. The main objective of his projects, done in collaboration with geothermal designers, developers, manufacturers, and regulators, is to improve the efficiency and profitability of systems by providing scientific and social innovations.   

Randell M. Johnson (Chief Executive Officer, Acelerex Inc.)

Dr. Randell M. Johnson, P.E. has led a 25-year career with engagements in 70 countries for valuation, design, planning, procurement, operations, and maintenance in grid networks, power production, and storage assets. Dr. Johnson is the founder and inventor of the Acelerex software systems. At Acelerex, Dr. Johnson has been involved in multiple engagements with national labs, regulators, governments, utilties, developers and OEMs for asset investment justification, asset operations and economics, and deriving lower cost alternatives for investment plans. Dr. Johnson has several decades of experience working with solar, wind, energy storage, hybrid, and fossil technologies. Acelerex also engages in the product of real time software control systems for power production and storage assets. Dr. Johnson was formerly Regional Director of Energy Exemplar and before that he was Team Lead for transmission strategy at Eversource Energy (formerly Northeast Utilities. Dr. Johnson was also Network Planning Manager at Mott MacDonald and ran a consulting team for grid design and grid investments in 40 countries and assisted with $35 billion of asset investments. Dr. Johnson has Bachelors in Electrical Engineering (1995) from University of Alaska, Masters in Electrical Power Engineering (1997) and doctoral degree (2004) in Electrical Power Engineering from RPI. Dr. Johnson has Masters in Mathematical Trading and Finance (2004) from Cass Business School in London.

 


Mafalda Miranda (postdoctoral fellow, INRS)

Mafalda Miranda’s interest in geothermal energy started very early, when she visited a geothermal power plant on S. Miguel Island in the Azores Archipelago (Portugal). This interest in geothermal resources led her to take a degree in Geology and a Master in Geosciences at the University of Coimbra (Portugal). Her master thesis was supported by the EMSURE project - Energy and Mobility for Sustainable Regions and aimed at characterizing the thermophysical properties of granitic rocks in order to assess the deep geothermal energy potential of target areas in the central north of Portugal. After completing her master’s degree, Mafalda worked as a research assistant for 2.5 years at the Natural Radioactivity Laboratory of the University of Coimbra, where she continued to develop the geothermal research started during her master’s degree. This interest in geothermal energy led her to Quebec City in 2017, and in 2021 Mafalda earned a PhD in Earth Sciences at INRS. Her PhD thesis was supported by a research chair of the Institut Nordique du Quebec to assess the geothermal energy potential of northern Quebec. Mafalda’s thesis describes an approach to perform a first-order assessment of the deep geothermal energy source using geothermal exploration tools that are accessible to northern and remote communities facing critical energy issues and with important geothermal data gaps. Mafalda is currently a postdoctoral fellow at INRS, working under the supervision of Prof. Jasmin Raymond, conducting research on geothermal energy for remote northern communities.

 

Kamelia Atefi (Associate Professor, York University )

Kamelia Atefi is an Associate Professor in the Lassonde School of Engineering at York University. She completed her Masters, Doctoral, and Postdoctoral studies in Civil Engineering at the University of Waterloo. Prior to joining York University in Aug 2020, she was an Assistant Professor in the Civil, Structural, and Environmental Engineering Department at the University at Buffalo, NY, since 2016. Dr. Atefi is a registered professional engineer in Ontario, and an Editorial Board Member of the Canadian Geotechnical Journal. She has over fourteen years of research experience in computational geomechanics, focused on coupled processes in porous media. Her research contributes to the development of resilient and sustainable energy production/storage technologies, and design for climate change through a fundamental understanding of coupled geomechanical processes (hydraulic-mechanical-thermal-dynamics). Her current research involves the enhancement of geothermal, hydrocarbon, and aquifer storage recovery systems; prediction of geo-environmental impacts of deep production/injection operations; tunneling in extreme geological settings; and bio-mediated soil improvement. 




Shawn Day (Barkley Project Group Ltd.) 

Shawn Day, B.Sc. (Honors) Geology, is a Project Coordinator and Geologist with Barkley Project Group. Shawn’s focus is on community engagement and community ownership of geothermal resources while helping to develop and explore for these resources. Shawn graduated from the University of Alberta and is a proud member of the Bigstone Cree Nation, part of Treaty 8 Territory in Northern Alberta. Shawn has spent his career planning and executing field sampling and drilling programs throughout Northern British Columbia and the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin in both the mining and energy industries. He is also an avid science and energy communicator and educator. Shawn also holds a 3rd Class Power Engineering certificate with experience in operations and maintenance.

Angus James Capot-Blanc Jr.(ADK Holdings Ltd.)

Angus James Capot-Blanc is from Fort Liard, Northwest Territories, and is a proud band member of Acho Dene Koe First Nation. Angus is the Community Geothermal Liaison in Fort Liard for the geothermal exploration project led by ADK Holdings Ltd., the economic development corporation of Acho Dene Koe First Nation. Angus has devoted himself to his culture for his community, as he runs the Fort Liard Handgames Society, where he teaches youth in the community to carry on the tradition of dene handgames. Angus travels to other communities in the North to attend Handgames tournaments, where he picks up his cultural knowledge from elders from other communities that he travels to. 


Andrew Wigston (Natural Resources Canada (NRCan))

Andrew Wigston is a geoscientist with CanmetENERGY-Ottawa, which is one of Natural Resource Canada’s energy research labs. CanmetENERGY-Ottawa develops clean energy technology solutions for Canadians and Canadian industry. Andrew works in the Subsurface Environment Group, whose research is focussed on CO2 storage, hydrogen storage, and geothermal energy technologies. 


Emma Wildeboer (Natural Resources Canada (NRCan)) 

Emma Wildeboer is a technical advisor with the Renewable and Electrical Energy Division (REED) of Natural Resources Canada. REED is focused on delivering evidence-based programs and policies to support Canada’s transition to a net zero electricity grid. With a background in chemical engineering, Emma works on emerging technology files including geothermal, hydrogen, and energy storage. 


Robin Groat (Daylu Dena Council)

Robin Groat is the geothermal community liaison for Daylu Dena Council and is a key team member of their geothermal exploration program. Robin lives in the remote community of Lower Post, BC and is a member of the Kaska Dena of Liard First Nation. She sits on many community and land stewardship boards and is very passionate about the betterment of our community and land.


Daniel Alonso Torres (Barkley Project Group Ltd.)

Daniel Alonso Torres, M.Sc., G.I.T. is a Geothermal Exploration Specialist leading the design and execution of early-stage geothermal projects. He holds a Master of Science in Geology and Geophysics from the University of Calgary, and a Bachelor of Science in Geology from the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain. In collaboration with remote communities and First Nations, Daniel has advanced geothermal projects across Western Canada and has over 12 years of experience working on research and exploration projects throughout North America and Europe.  
 
Alice Friser(Professeure - Département des sciences administratives)

Alice Friser is a professor in the Department of Administrative Sciences at the Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO). She is also a member of the public law research center at the Université de Montréal and the Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development research group at UQAM. With a master’s degree in environmental sciences and a Ph.D. in business administration (UQAM, 2019), she is interested in issues of social acceptability and corporate social responsibility, particularly in the context of the energy transition.

noname_1689089325157Stan Reitsma (CEO, Geosource Energy)

Stan and his partners founded Geosource Energy in 2004 with a focus on delivering vertical closed-loop geothermal systems, which is now the largest vertically integrated design-build geothermal constructor in Canada. Stan has a B.Sc. in Geological Engineering, M.Sc. in Earth Science, and a PhD in Civil Engineering. After spending 7 years as tenured faculty in Civil and Environmental Engineering at University of Windsor, Stan made the jump from academia to business to follow his passion for sustainable solutions and environmental protection. His tireless pursuit of innovation and improvements in all aspects of geothermal systems, has earned him the reputation as a global expert in the geo-exchange industry.

Reaves Christie, (Applications Technology Specialist, Geosource Energy)

As an Application Technology Specialist, Reaves is a technical leader and is proficient throughout the geo-exchange design and construction process from detailed design to construction, implementation and operation of ground-heat exchangers. An alumnus of the University of Waterloo, Reaves brings strong competencies in geological engineering principles and a diverse background of experience including the design, construction and monitoring of earth-filled dams, property management and construction.


Jason Collard (Gonezu Energy Inc.)

Originally from Ottawa, Jason has his Bachelor of Business from the University of Western Ontario and a Bachelor and Master in Education from the University of Ottawa, Ontario. In 2017, Jason moved to Fort Providence, NT and worked on a series of community development projects in the Dehcho region. In 2019, Jason transitioned to solely focusing on work in the Energy Sector.  Since then, he has been working with Dehcho First Nations (DFN) to develop a regional energy strategy and individual community energy plans. The work is largely guided by DFN resolution, with a focus on looking at renewable energy options that are “designed to maximize benefits to individual Dehcho communities.”Jason is a strategic and logistical planner with over 15 years of experience managing and supporting projects involving community engagement through a collective impact-based approach. Skilled in working with diverse organizations and finding common goals and developing effective work plans to achieve shared goals. Extensive experience in working with the community and regional Indigenous Governments and communities on community engagement, needs assessment, project development, and implementation.


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