2016 Speakers

Keynote Speakers

  1. Spencer Beach Image

    Spencer Beach

    My name is Spencer Beach and I learned that sometimes tragedy chooses you for no reason at all. On a day like any other, just doing my job, I found myself suddenly engulfed in a flash fire. It came with a whistle and a bang, changing my life within the blink of an eye. Forever. Within twenty seconds, I received third and fourth degree burns to 90 percent of my body. I fought through the fire to escape, to live even though I thought I was going to die. Holding onto the fading thoughts of my wife and the developing child within her womb gave me the courage to find a way out. But I had no idea what survival would mean. – See more at www.spencerspeaks.ca

  2. Brian Keating Image

    Brian Keating

    Brian is one of those rare speakers who immediately captures your attention, totally entertains you and educates you about the natural world in the most delightful manner possible. Brian Keating is a weekly guest on both Calgary and Edmonton’s CBC Radio and for many years, was a regular on the Discovery Channel, using his own wilderness adventure and wildlife filming. He’s been leading groups on nature based travel for three decades, exploring some of the best wildlife areas on the Planet.

    Brian’s previous position as “Head of Conservation Outreach” at the Zoo, enabled him to raise money and then spend it on environmental projects around the world.

    www.goingwild.org

Speakers

  1. Alex Ross Image

    Alex Ross

    As a resident of the small Metis community of Pinehouse in Northern Saskatchewan, approximately 500 km north of Saskatoon, Alex was born into a political family and was raised with the mindset to empower individuals to plow their own roads in life.

    His work experience consists of several years of underground drilling operations where his strong leadership skills led him to become the crew Foreman in a very short period. After a few years he changed gears and worked on the client side of contracts looking after surface diamond drilling and underground drilling at the Cameco Cigar Lake mine.

    Through his experience representing both contactor and client, it sparked an entrepreneurial spirit and he decided to start his own diamond drilling business. Unfortunately the market took a turn and his full hopes of the business plan were never realized. After a few years of working in the renovation industry, he caught wind of his hometown community looking for someone to run the economic business arm of the community owned business of Pinehouse Business North (PBN). As the Operations Manager for PBN, he works exclusively with aboriginal workforces and has direct oversight of the road maintenance, civil, site services, and waste management contracts. PBN employs approximately 30 people in the winter months and upwards of 125 people in the construction season. The PBN business focus is to stay flexible and provide solutions to client problems. Waste management is the sustainable core of PBN’s business operations and PBN aspires to continue to develop the waste management portion of their business and provide waste management solutions for other industries.

  2. Ali Rajabpour Image

    Ali Rajabpour

    Ali Rajabpour is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Solid Waste Management Group at the University of Alberta conducting research under Dr. Daryl McCartney’s supervision. His research is focusing on the qualitative and quantitative characterization and simulation of the Integrated Processing and Transfer Facility (IPTF) operated by the Waste Management Utilities of City of Edmonton. His areas of expertise include, MSW pre-processing, waste flow analysis, waste sampling and characterization and improvement of MSW pre-processing systems, especially trommels. Ali also has a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering and a M.Sc. in Environmental Engineering from Iran.

  3. Alida Kusch Image

    Alida Kusch

    Alida Kusch is an Associate and Waste Management Specialist in Dillon Consulting Limited’s Vancouver office. She has been engaged on national projects with experience in solid waste management master plans, waste diversion and reduction program development and implementation, waste system planning, stakeholder engagement and consultation. She is currently serving as the Vice President of SWANA’s Pacific Chapter and is the SWANA representative on the National Zero Waste Council.

  4. Blair Shoniker Image

    Blair Shoniker

    Blair Shoniker, MA., RPP, is a Senior Waste & Environmental Planner with 13 years of solid waste and environmental planning experience. Blair has extensive waste system planning and environmental approvals experience and is well-versed in legislation and policy governing waste systems and environmental approvals, both at the national and subnational levels. Blair’s professional skill-set includes solid waste planning (strategies, Master Plans, consultation/engagement); waste system planning within the context of environmental assessment for new or expanding waste facilities; as well as providing strategic advice on the implementation of various waste programs. Blair works with GHD’s Solid Waste Group and the Environmental Assessment & Approvals Group on projects throughout North America

  5. Brent Stutsky Image

    Brent Stutsky

    Residential Collections Superintendent Brent Stutsky has 13 years experience with the City of Calgary Waste & Recycling. In this time he has been involved with many waste diversion programs such as the leaf and pumpkin composting program, residential and depot Christmas tree collection, community clean ups, festival waste collection and diversion, the green cart pilot, and the community recycling depots. Brent started his career with the City Of Calgary in garbage collection, working on the rear loader refuse truck, and has since been ticketed and operated various types of heavy equipment within the business unit. He has been identified as the subject matter expert on the side loader co-mingle CRD truck, and co-wrote the standard operating procedure for that position and equipment

  6. Brian Ng Image

    Brian Ng

    Brian has over 10 years of experience with operations and waste diversion programs. Back when he was an EIT and before the provincial electronics waste stewardship program, he organized the annual one-day e-waste roundup in Calgary. After spending a few years with Water operations at The City, he went back to Waste & Recycling Services and took on numerous projects related to waste diversion and operations, such as the rollout of automated black cart collection in Calgary, e-waste recycling at the City’s waste management facilities, many other initiatives related to construction and demolition waste diversion, and more recently the mobile inspection app pilot project.

  7. Camille Pouteaux Image

    Camille Pouteaux

    Camille Pouteaux has a Bachelor of Applied Science in Environmental Management and a Masters Certificate in Project Management. She is a certified professional project manager (PMP) with the Project Management Institute and a certified environment professional (EP) with Eco Canada. Of her 11 years of work experience, 7 years have been directly associated with waste management program improvement initiatives for Cameco Corporation. She is a leader in program development, large scale historical waste cleanup project management, low level radioactive waste management, and community relations. During the last 5 years she has been focusing on working with one of Cameco Corporation’s northern impact communities, the community of Pinehouse, SK, to assist in the development of a sustainable business opportunity in regards to environmental waste management services.

  8. Cathy Davidson Image

    Cathy Davidson

    Cathy Davidson is a Health & Safety Superintendent with the City of Saskatoon supporting the Public Works Division since 2012. She has worked with the Waste Stream Management group for approximately 2.5 years. Cathy has eight years’ experience in disability management and achieved her CRSP designation in 2010. Prior to joining the city, Cathy worked for five years as a Safety Consultant assisting employers in the mining, construction and service industries develop and implement their safety management systems. To achieve excellent safety performance, safety leaders must manage more than behaviours and risk – they need to understand and manage perceptions. We need to shape our existing safety culture in a way that excellence can and does grow.

  9. Chris Riddle Image

    Chris Riddle

    Chris Riddle is an Applications Engineer with EPG Companies of Maple Grove, MN. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota. Chris has over 27 years of experience in the design, installation, and operation of environmental recovery and treatment equipment including groundwater and leachate recovery pumps, soil vapor extraction systems, air sparging systems, air strippers, oil/water separators, liquid and vapor carbon adsorption vessels, oxidizers, and control panels.

  10. Chuck Samphire  B.Sc. Image

    Chuck Samphire B.Sc.

    Manager – Alberta Ministry of Labour – Occupational Health and Safety Delivery – Calgary

    Chuck is currently a Manager in Calgary. Chuck started work with the government as an Occupational Health and Safety Officer in 1998 before assuming roles as a Team Leader and Manager. He has managed in both the inspection and investigation sides of OHS.

  11. Colin Smith Image

    Colin Smith

    Colin Smith is a third generation Albertan with a passion for building community and working to solve environmental challenges.
    Before 2013, Smith was a journeyman electrician who volunteered at events like Sled Island and Market Collective in his spare time. When he broke his arm in a snowboarding accident and couldn’t continue working in his trade, he took on an event planning position for Village Brewery in Calgary. The experience brought home for Smith something that had concerned him about his other favourite events. “There was just so much waste. I loved being part of them, but I hated seeing heaping trash cans at the end of the day.”
    Smith decided to step up. In 2012, he launched Green Event Services, offering recycling and waste management and diversion services for events. By 2015, Green Event Services had participated in over 150 events, diverted 90 tons of waste from the landfill, employed over 100 people, and served over one million event attendees by providing waste reducing options.
    The company’s good work hasn’t gone unnoticed. In 2015, Green Event Services received the Calgary Chamber Small Business Award for Environmental Stewardship. But it’s the less tangible successes that really make Smith smile. “Last summer, I employed more than 80 people and paid them a living wage to do meaningful environmental work. I feel proud about that.”

  12. Daryl McCartney Image

    Daryl McCartney

    Dr. Daryl McCartney is a Professor of Environmental Engineering at the University of Alberta. He is also the Executive Director & Director of Research at the Edmonton Waste Management Centre of Excellence, a not-for-profit agency supporting research, development, and education in all aspects of waste management. Dr. McCartney has developed a successful research and teaching career in wastewater treatment and solid waste management. His current research program is focused on organic waste utilization, e.g. source separation of ICI organics; integrating anaerobic digestion processes into existing composting facilities; optimization of full-scale composting facilities; and plant and human pathogen inactivation during composting. During his career, he has authored or co-authored over 170 journal manuscripts, conference papers, and technical report publications. Dr. McCartney currently sits on the editorial board of the Journal of Compost Science & Utilization; and the University of Alberta’s Waste Diversion Working Group.

  13. David Vonesch

    David Vonesch has worked on hundreds of solar projects across Canada. David recently led the design and construction of a 2 MW solar farm East of Calgary which is Alberta’s first utility scale solar PV system and the largest system in Western Canada. David also serves on the board chair of SPARK, Alberta’s first member-owned retail power co-operative focused on renewable energy development. David is a Professional Engineer (University of Alberta) and a CanSIA/Seneca College Certified Photovoltaic Technician. As a volunteer with the non-profit Light up the World, David spent three weeks training local technicians and assisting in the installation of six solar electric systems in remote areas of the Peruvian Amazon.

  14. Devin Alibone Image

    Devin Alibone

    Devin Allibone has been at Canadian Natural Resource for 13 years as the Development Operations Environmental Manager. His team manages all of the waste management facilities for CNRL, of which there are over 15. These include landfills, caverns, treatment facilities and disposal wells. They also facilitate all of the waste tracking and reporting to regulatory bodies, identify trends and negotiate rates based on data. The group also facilitates all of the regulatory work around surface water withdrawal, spill cleanups, remediation and drilling waste management. Prior to CNRL, Devin worked and Nova Chemical as a Waste Specialist. He is also the Chair of the CAPP Waste Management Committee and sits on several regulatory steering committees. Devin attended N.A.I.T. and took Environmental Management. His hobbies are riding bikes and paying taxes.

  15. Ed Jollymore Image

    Ed Jollymore

    Edward grew up in New Brunswick until 1978, graduated from the Royal Military College in 1983 and as a Military Engineer had the privilege of working in every Canadian province and territory.
    Edward is the Manager of Medicine Hat’s Solid Waste Utility, which includes MSW collection, recycling collection and processing, composting, and a landfill. His Waste Management efforts have tapped many resources while developing Asset Management plans, a ten year Waste Management Strategy, obtaining approval for carbon credit offsets for organic composting, obtaining the renewal of the landfill’s permit to operate, eradicating an established rat colony, coordinating the automatic residential cart collection, and now exploring improved waste diversion and landfill airspace.

  16. Gary Fredrich-Dunne Image

    Gary Fredrich-Dunne

    Gary Fredrich-Dunne is determined not to be the “last child in the woods”. Countless hours spent mountain biking, trail running, hiking and camping instilled in Gary a love and appreciation for nature and the environment that culminated in a desire to protect those environments on a daily basis. Since joining Bullfrog Power in 2008, Gary has worked closely with a wide variety of businesses, non-profits, and other organizations to help them lower their environmental impact, build brand value, engage more closely with stakeholders, and ultimately, help advance renewable energy in Canada. Prior to joining Bullfrog, Gary spent over 12 years with EMI Music Canada in a variety of key roles including business development, marketing and communications, event management, and artist relations. Gary has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Calgary and an Environmental Management for Business certificate from Mount Royal University.

  17. Gordon Derick Image

    Gordon Derick

    Gordon Derick was born and grew up in Sherbrooke, Quebec. He attended the University of Waterloo, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering. He has worked in operational roles in the Mining industry, consulting roles in the Food and Beverage, Cement, Institutional Boilers, Wastewater Treatment, and Mining industries, and engineering/project roles in the Mining, Cement, Wastewater Treatment, and Solid Waste industries. Gordon is the General Supervisor of Engineering and Technical Services at the Edmonton Waste Management Centre, a position he has held since 2010.

  18. Greg Hess Image

    Greg Hess

    Greg graduated from the Wilfrid Laurier University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1983. He has been with Waste Management and its predecessor companies since 1984 working in many different areas throughout Canada including British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario. With over 32 years of waste services industry experience, Greg has had wide exposure to both Canadian and U.S. operations and has managed collection, material recovery and landfill operations.

    Safety is an integral component to operating in the waste management industry and Greg has been successful in leading Waste Management in Western Canada to improved safety results and industry leading safety performance.

  19. Jamie Bakos Image

    Jamie Bakos

    Jamie President and CEO of Titan Clean Energy Projects Corporation located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Born and raised in Saskatchewan, Jamie graduated from the first accredited environmental engineering program in Canada in Guelph, Ontario in 1993. He is a professional engineer and specialist in clean technologies. He has provided sustainable environmental business solutions to companies such as Mosaic, Pillsbury, Potash Corp., Toyota, Shell, and Ontario Power Generation. Prior to Titan, Jamie spent seven years as Director of Clean Technologies at a leading international engineering, procurement, and construction firm in Toronto. Presently, he is focussed on developing new sustainable clean technologies and bio-products to reduce carbon emissions, clean up water and soil, and divert waste from landfills. His career is focussed on providing innovation in agricultural and industrial biotechnologies, and clean energy and products.

  20. Jim Lapp Image

    Jim Lapp

    Jim Lapp has gained a broad range of experience in waste management over the past 35 years. He is actively involved with the Solid Waste Association of North America and currently serves and the Canadian Representative to the International Board. Jim has worked with the Provincial government, private consultants, and a municipal government. He is presently employed by the City of Edmonton and until recently was the supervisor of compost operations At the present time, he is working on regulatory issues.

  21. Kristine Wichuk Image

    Kristine Wichuk

    Kristine Wichuk holds a MSc in Environmental Engineering from the University of Alberta, as well as a BSc in Environmental Physical Science and a BSc in Electrical Engineering. Kristine began her career as an electronics engineer, during which time she developed an interest in environmental issues. She joined the EWMCE in 2014 after spending 5 years as a Research Associate for the solid waste engineering group in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Alberta.

    In addition to her engineering and research experience, Kristine also has a broad range of laboratory experience, including work at biogeochemical (water analysis), systems biology, blood bank, and solid waste laboratories in Alberta and Iceland.

    Kristine has authored or co-authored 13 peer-reviewed journal manuscripts and one book chapter in solid waste management and other environmental areas.

  22. Leanne Michie Image

    Leanne Michie

    Leanne Michie is a born and raised Calgarian with over a decade of experience in the field of waste and recycling. Her experience extends from developing construction and demolition waste diversion programs, managing LEED for Homes projects, evaluating new homes as a Certified Energy Advisor, building an environmental guide for Alberta hotels, performing waste audits at Calgary office towers, and to today, as a Waste Diversion Specialist with The City of Calgary.

  23. Lourdes Lugue Image

    Lourdes Lugue

    Biography of Lourdes N. Lugue P. Eng

    Lourdes N. Lugue P. Eng is a Senior Process Engineer at the Waste & Recycling Services of The City of Calgary. She is the Project Manager of the Leachate Treatment Pilot Plant project which was built and operated for the conduct of a One Year Evaluation Study for treating leachate generated by East Calgary Waste Management Facility of the City of Calgary. Prior to working for the City, Lourdes had over 24 years of combined experiences across Asia, Europe and North America as a Civil engineer and an Environmental engineer where she specialized on treatment and management of high strength industrial type of wastewater, including leachate generated by landfills. She is also a Part Time instructor at the University of Calgary Continuing Education Programs teaching a Waste Management Course.

  24. Marie-Caroline Bourg

    Marie-Caroline Bourg is associate at EnviroRcube, a waste management consulting firm. She specialised in implementation of incentive tariff collections (Pay as You Throw) programs and recycling industry. Marie-Caroline Bourg is the investigator of the Collaborative intelligent pick-up (CIP) system of the city of Beaconsfield.
    Mrs. Bourg is an active member of Réseau Environment (Quebec’s largest association of professionals working in the environment). She chairs the “Market development of recycled products” committee and is a member of the Board of Directors.

  25. Mark Demers Image

    Mark Demers

    Mark Demers is a GIS Supervisor with the City of Edmonton and has worked in the world of spatial technology for over a decade. His education merges the fields of urban design and database management. He has embraced bringing mapping to user’s mobile phones, tablets and desktops so that they can collect, share and analyse the data that matters to them.

  26. Mark Welch Image

    Mark Welch

    Mark Welch began his career at Caterpillar in 1974 (42 years ago) as a laborer in the Aurora, Illinois, USA facility, which produces Landfill Compactors. In 1980 Mark graduated from the Caterpillar Apprenticeship Program and over the next two decades held various manufacturing and managerial positions within the Aurora facility.
    In 1997 Mark was promoted to Commercial Analyst for the newly formed Corporate Waste Products Group, which was created to give exclusive focus to the waste industry world wide.
    In the past 19 years Mark has traveled the world, visiting over 45 different countries and thousands of landfills, talking with managers and employees about machines, performance, customer requirements and future design and becoming the Caterpillar Waste Handling Product & Application Specialist.
    Mark is assigned in Aurora, IL as the Global Waste Industry & Compactor Product Specialist and works within the Caterpillar Industrial & Waste Group.
    Mark is also a SWANA member and MOLO certified.

  27. Myles Curry Image

    Myles Curry

    Myles Curry is a Community Relations Supervisor with the City of Edmonton and has advanced training in community based social marketing and public sector marketing. He was part of the City of Edmonton’s Utility Services first social marketing team and has implemented several successful campaigns. Myles specializes in door-door canvassing programs and has innovated new techniques using GIS technology and observational research.

  28. Nancy Nikolakakis Image

    Nancy Nikolakakis

    Nancy Nikolakakis is a Project Engineer in Tetra Tech’s Calgary Solid Waste Management Practice. Ms. Nikolakakis obtained a Bachelor of Engineering from McGill University and she now has over 9 years’ experience in environmental consulting. Throughout her career, Ms. Nikolakakis has been involved with a variety of solid waste related projects including leachate and landfill gas extraction pilot studies for the City of Calgary’s active landfill sites, methane gas surface emissions surveys, landfill design and repair plans, and municipal solid waste management planning projects. Ms. Nikolakakis has hands on experience and has been involved with numerous field programs including assessment of landfill gas extraction systems, environmental site assessments, and environmental drilling.

  29. Owrang Kashef Image

    Owrang Kashef

    Owrang Kashef, P.Eng. – Project Manager: Owrang is a senior project manager and an environmental engineer with over 25 years of diversified engineering experience across North America in the areas of environmental and water resources engineering, mechanical design, and project implementation and management. In this role with CH2M’s Calgary office, he has worked on designs and operation of mechanical and instrumentation systems, managed numerous large and small scale studies and engineering projects and has successfully completed them. He has been a project manager on numerous projects for The City of Calgary, including the East Calgary Leachate Treatment Pilot Plant, which was selected as recipient of 2016 Consulting Engineers of Alberta awards of merit in the Environmental and Sustainable Design categories.

  30. Peter Veiga

    Peter Veiga is the Supervisor of Waste Management Operations for the Regional Municipality of Durham. He has an Honours Bachelors of Science in Environmental Science and Environmental Management from the University of Toronto and a Masters Certificate in Municipal Management from the University Of Ontario Institute Of Technology. He has a 19 year background in planning and operating waste management programs.

    Peter has been instrumental in developing several leading waste diversion initiatives, including early testing of automated collection systems and implementing of one of North America’s first Green Bin curbside organic waste diversion programs. He has expanded Blue Box recycling programs and developed waste management plans and has presented internationally on these programs and plans.

    Currently, as part of the Regional Municipality of Durham waste management team, Peter Veiga is continuing to develop Durham’s long term organics management strategy and is and implementing several initiatives that will help Durham reach its 70 per cent waste diversion goals and manage capacity at Durham Region’s new energy from waste facility.

  31. Sean Buckles Image

    Sean Buckles

    Mr. Buckles is a Project Engineer and Team Leader with Tetra Tech, in the Solid Waste Management Practice in Calgary, Alberta. Mr. Buckles is involved in projects related to waste management, oil and gas, commercial, industrial, and residential development. He has worked on extensive intrusive investigations at several landfill sites in Calgary including Spyhill and Shepard Waste Management Facilities, and the vapour management system design and pilot testing at the inactive Nose Creek municipal landfill in Calgary. Mr. Buckles led the design for a network of horizontal intake vents and vertical extraction wells installed beneath that site, and is managing ongoing work to operate an extraction and treatment system for the LFG.

  32. Sean Cable Image

    Sean Cable

    Shawn Cable is the Founder and Director of Re-Matt. Shawn is originally from Prince George, BC but moved to Calgary in 2001. He spent his first nine years in Calgary playing professional lacrosse, six of which were for the Calgary Roughnecks. After retiring from lacrosse, he was looking for his next challenge and decided to continue his post-secondary education by enrolling in a Supply-Chain Management program at Mount Royal University.
    During an Inventory and Warehouse Management course, the class took a trip to the Sears Distribution Warehouse. During the tour, Shawn realized there were no facilities available in Alberta for companies and individuals to dispose of used mattresses. After discussions with operators from the warehouse, it became clear that the only options were to ship mattresses out of province, take to local landfill / transfer sites or to dispose illegally. Afterwards, Shawn spent the next several months researching the business of mattress recycling leading to the birth of Re-Matt.
    Shawn’s presentation will outline Re-Matt’s process and goals of eliminating all disposal of mattresses in landfills across Alberta. Re-Matt accepts mattress from residents, commercial businesses, hotels, universities, hospitals, industrial camps and municipalities. Every mattress received is built a bit differently, depending on the manufacturer, but generally contains steel springs, foam, wood, felt and cotton. Re-Matt works to find a home for almost all of the materials, post mattress deconstruction. Re-Matt supports Alberta local businesses by sending these raw materials to local manufacturers whenever possible.

  33. Sonia More Image

    Sonia More

    Sonia More is a Safety Advisor with the City of Calgary supporting Waste & Recycling Services and a part time instructor for the University of Victoria teaching an online course in Risk Management. Sonia has worked with Waste & Recycling Services for 3.5 years supporting Collection Services. As a safety advisor, Sonia has worked with the bowtie analysis as a risk management tool which defines a problem by identifying all the threats and outcomes associated with the risk. The analysis can be used for all types of risks but the focus has been on safety risks. Sonia obtained her Master of Science in Occupational Health from McGill University in 2008 and completed a Bachelor degree in Chemistry from the University of Northern BC. Her past work experience included working as an industrial hygienist in an aluminum smelter in Kitimat, BC and an OHSE consultant at the University of Victoria with a focus on laboratory and chemical safety.

  34. Stephen Bucciarelli Image

    Stephen Bucciarelli

    As owner of Predator Bird Services Inc., Stephen oversees work at a wide variety of wildlife management jobs worldwide. He is a commercial falconer with 15 years’ experience, has trained more than 100 raptors personally and has developed a falconry training program for PBSI. He has successfully trained more than 20 falconers to acquire their general falconry license. Stephen is also the driving force behind the research and development done at PBSI; he has overseen the creation of a number of unique avian deterrence systems for various applications. Some examples of these avian deterrents include: wiring grid systems to deter nesting gulls, various custom traps for starlings/blackbirds at ethanol plants, farm operations and other industrial sites, and innovative perching systems.

  35. Stephen Laird

    Stephen Laird is a Works Technician with the Regional Municipality of Durham, Works Department and has a marketing and business background. He also has completed the Masters Certificate in Public Sector Management from the University Of Ontario Institute Of Technology. Stephen has 15 years of experience with project management, contract administration, program implementation and public education and communications within the waste management sector. Stephen has embraced the use of social media and Apps and is always looking for new ways to enhance communication and relationships with the residents of Durham Region.

  36. Steve Johnson Image

    Steve Johnson

    Steve graduated from the University of Alberta with an undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering and a Masters of Engineering in Environmental Engineering. He has worked for Hydrogeological Consultants, Alberta Environment, Waste Management of Canada Corporation, and AECOM throughout his career specializing in waste management over the past 15 years. At Hydrogeological Consultants he conducted landfill groundwater monitoring programs and surface water availability evaluations. While at Alberta Environment he was and approval writer for landfills, water, and waste water treatment facilities and then the Provinces Landfill Specialist instrumental in the development of the Standards for Landfills in Alberta, the Guidelines for Landfills in Alberta, and initiating the Standards for Composting in Alberta. He also was the chair of the Alberta Landfill and Compost Operator Certification Committee, a member of the Technical Guidance for the Quantification of Specified Gas Emissions from Landfills, the Technical group for the Management of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials in Waste, and a variety of dead animal disposal committees. While at Waste Management of Canada Corporation Steve was the Site Engineer responsible for landfill capping, developing and operating a leachate treatment plant, waste acceptance approvals, regulatory reporting, gull control, and the upgrade to a landfill gas collection and flaring system. At AECOM he has completed projects in regulatory approval applications, airspace assessments, transfer station design, and landfill designs. Steve is a SWANA instructor for the landfill basics course and the leachate management course.

  37. Tamara Shulman Image

    Tamara Shulman

    Ms. Tamara Shulman is Team Lead for Tetra Tech’s waste planning team. She has 20 years of experience in waste reduction and diversion program planning, implementation and assessment, with expertise in organics management and food waste prevention. Ms. Shulman combines her content expertise with unparalleled project management, communication, research, and analysis skills. Building from her decade of experience at the San Francisco Department of the Environment and StopWaste.Org, Ms. Shulman returned to Metro Vancouver in 2008 and has been instrumental in shaping organics management and waste reduction programs for public and private sector clients in western Canada and California.
    Her project repertoire includes zero waste management plan development, residential collection reviews and pilots, technical assistance and system audits for businesses and institutions, waste characterization studies, recycling market analyses and product stewardship program reviews, stakeholder engagement, community facilitation, and community-based social marketing program creation. Her commercial sector planning experience using a “four pillar” approach to address policy, management tools, operations and infrastructure, and behaviour change has culminated in a waste diversion technical training designed and executed in partnership with the Edmonton Waste Management Centre of Excellence.
    Her experience has been gained in a range of settings, from non-government organizations (NGOs) to regional, local, and Aboriginal governments in western Canada and California.

  38. Wilbert Yang Image

    Wilbert Yang

    Mr. Wilbert Yang is a Senior Waste Management Engineer with Tetra Tech EBA in Vancouver, BC. He has 25 years of experience and established Metro Vancouver’s first organic waste processing facility. He has extensive experience leading organic waste management feasibility projects and evaluating advanced waste management technologies. He established the National Solid Waste Benchmarking Initiative and worked on solid waste management projects in Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and California

  39. Xiaomei Li Image

    Xiaomei Li

    Xiaomei has over 25 years experience of developing and commercilising technologies that enable the sustainable development of agricultural/livestock industry and rural communities. Xiaomei received her Ph.D in plant growth and soil environmental stresses from Oregon State University, USA. Currently she is a senior advisor for bioenergy with Alberta Innovates-Energy and Enviroment Solutions and Chief Scientific Officer for XY Green Carbon.