Dr. Susan Wood-Bohm is the Executive Director of the Climate Change and Emissions Management Corporation's Biological GHG Management Program, which is delivered in partnership with Alberta Innovates Bio Solutions (AI Bio). The mandate of the program is to discover, develop and deploy technologies that will reduce GHG emissions from biological systems or use biological products and processes to reduce emissions in other sectors. She works closely with stakeholders in agriculture, forestry and waste management sectors as well as those in energy, biofuels and materials. Susan holds a BSc (Agr) from the University of Guelph, a Master's in Biology (Queen's University), an industrial PhD in molecular genetics (Performance Plants Inc/Queen's University) and has worked in a number of academic and research administration positions. Susan serves on several boards, including Bioindustrial Innovation Canada, and is an advisor for the Ontario Pesticide Advisory Committee and the Ontario East Wood Centre.

Kerry Flick is the Director of Energy and Technology, Pulp & Energy, North America.Kerry holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Merchant Marine Academy and a MBA from Kent State University. He has served the Power Generation and Pulp and Paper Industries on the OEM side of the business for over 35 years holding various Management positions as well as Project/Proposal development and Engineering roles. He currently is the Director of the Energy (formerly Heat and Power Generation) group in North America, responsible for all business development and execution activities in the area of the company's Energy Product line. In addition, since 2007, as Director of Technology for Valmet, Inc. (formerly Metso Power) in North America, Kerry is also responsible for all technology offered by the company through the Charlotte, NC office, supporting the advancement of the Company's proven and newly commercialized products for the BioEnergy and Power Generation markets.

Kerry has been involved with the design of technologies ranging from package boilers, stoker fired boilers, pulverized coal and fluidized bed boilers (both bubbling and circulating), and biomass gasifiers - all of which involve the use of various fossil fuels to the more opportunistic biomass and waste fuels required today.

Since 2009, Gordon Murray has been the Executive Director of the Wood Pellet Association of Canada where he works as an ardent advocate on behalf of Canadian producers, traders, ports, terminals, shipping companies, equipment suppliers and all those who want to participate in growing a safe and prosperous wood pellet industry. Prior to his role with WPAC, Gordon worked in operations and finance in the wood products industry. Gordon has a bachelor of science in forestry from the University of British Columbia. He is both a registered professional forester and a chartered professional accountant.

James (Jim) Manson, M.Sc., P.Eng., is Senior Project Manager, FVB Energy Inc. and Manager of the Ottawa Office.

Jim is a senior mechanical engineer with over 25 years of energy engineering and project experience across a broad spectrum of industries including district energy systems, combined heat and power, sustainable and renewable energy systems, and the oil and gas industry. Recently Jim has operated a large scale steam based district heating system in downtown Vancouver serving over 40 million square feet. Prior to this Jim helped communities in BC and Alberta implement successful district heating systems from scratch including Revelstoke, Strathcona County, and Prince George. Jim's role ranged from pre-feasibility and detailed feasibility studies, through to financial modeling, marketing services, design, project implementation, and ongoing support during operations including customer interface optimization. Jim has experience with a multitude of low carbon energy sources and associated technologies. As the Senior Project Manager for the ESAP Project, he is responsible for the successful implementation of the ESAP Project as well as managing FVB's Ottawa office.

Mairead Kennedy is a Senior Consultant with Ramboll in North America. Mairead specialises in the planning and design of district energy systems. She is experienced in assessing the feasibility of district energy connections to waste to energy facilities, drawing on Ramboll's experience of the Denmark's integrated waste and energy policies. Mairead has been based in the UK for the past four years and has developed a keen understanding of the challenges and opportunities for Waste to Energy plants and district energy in that market.

Mathieu LeBlanc is President of ACFOR inc.

In 2006, while working for a forestry consulting firm in the Ottawa region, Mathieu decided to move back to his home province to start his own forestry management company ''ACFOR'' in the midst of the worst forestry crisis in history.

Mathieu describes himself as a social entrepreneur, to further environmental and social goals. ACFOR ''Acronym for Acadian Forest'' restores and increases the quality of the Acadian Forest through sustainable forestry management.

Struggling to find markets for low grade wood. Mathieu founded ACFOR Energy which delivers renewable heat to commercial buildings and rural communities with wood biomass, using the most advanced biomass boilers in the world. ACFOR Energy owns and operates more than 10 Biomass plants in PEI.

ACFOR's success has been recognized many times with awards. Mathieu was recently named in the top 20 under 40 by The Canadian Forest Industries.

Ellen Burack has held the position of Director General, Environmental Policy at Transport Canada since October 2013.

Ms. Burack has more than twenty five years of experience in public policy development, program design and delivery, policy planning, and research and analysis. She has worked in a number of federal departments including Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Industry Canada, Environment Canada, and Public Works and Government Services, as well as at the Canada Science and Technology Museums Corporation, generally focused on environmental and related matters. She began her government career as an economist, and was first appointed as a Director General in August 2007 responsible for greening federal government operations. Ms. Burack holds a Master of Arts degree in Public Administration from Carleton University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Honors Business Administration (HBA) from the University of Western Ontario.

Ellen Burack has held the position of Director General, Environmental Policy at Transport Canada since October 2013. Ms. Burack has more than twenty five years of experience in public policy development, program design and delivery, policy planning, and research and analysis. She has worked in a number of federal departments including Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Industry Canada, Environment Canada, and Public Works and Government Services, as well as at the Canada Science and Technology Museums Corporation, generally focused on environmental and related matters. She began her government career as an economist, and was first appointed as a Director General in August 2007 responsible for greening federal government operations. Ms. Burack holds a Master of Arts degree in Public Administration from Carleton University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Honors Business Administration (HBA) from the University of Western Ontario.

Ellen Burack occupe le poste de directrice générale des politiques environnementales à Transports Canada depuis octobre 2013. Madame Burack possède plus de vingt-cinq ans d'expérience dans l'élaboration de politiques publiques, la conception et l'exécution de programmes, la planification des politiques et dans la recherche et l'analyse. Elle a travaillé dans plusieurs ministères, notamment celui des Affaires étrangères, Commerce et Développement Canada, Industrie Canada, Environnement Canada, Travaux publics et Services gouvernementaux Canada ainsi que la Société des musées de sciences et technologies du Canada. Son travail était généralement orienté vers les questions environnementales et les problématiques connexes. Elle a amorcé sa carrière dans la fonction publique fédérale en tant qu'économiste pour ensuite être nommée directrice générale en août 2007, responsable de l'écologisation des opérations du gouvernement fédéral.

Madame Burack détient une maitrise en administration publique de la Carleton University et un baccalauréat en direction des affaires spécialisées de la University of Western Ontario.

Grace Skogstad is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto and currently chair of the Department of Political Science at the Scarborough campus of the University of Toronto. She holds a PhD from the University of British Columbia, and a BA and MA from the University of Alberta. She is a Past President of the Canadian Political Science Association (2002-03).

The author or editor of ten books and over 80 articles and book chapters, Professor Skogstad's research has compared the politics and policies of Canada, the United States and the European Union with respect to agriculture, the regulation of plant biotechnology, and, most recently, biofuels. Her current research, funded by BioFuelNet, compares EU, US, and Brazilian biofuel policies in order to inform advanced biofuel policy development in Canada.

Rob Cumming is a professional engineer with over 25 years of experience in engineering, environment, and public affairs in the industrial sector. He is the Environment Director with Lafarge Canada, encompassing over 400 sites and five product lines from coast to coast. He has specialized in the social-environmental aspects of the use of lower carbon fuels in the cement industry.

Dr. Amit Kumar is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alberta. He is the NSERC/Cenovus/Alberta Innovates Associate Industrial Research Chair in Energy and Environmental Systems Engineering and the Cenovus Energy Endowed Chair in Environmental Engineering. He currently leads a large research program in the area of energy and environmental systems engineering, life cycle assessment of energy systems and techno-economic assessment of energy systems. The focus of his research program is on assessment of both conventional and non-conventional sources of energy. He has served on a number of expert review panels and steering committees including evaluation of multi-million dollar research proposals in the area of energy systems for European Commission and National Science Foundation, USA. He has also been working on biomass based energy conversion systems and biomass supply and logistics. He is widely published in this area. He was awarded the Young Engineer of the Year award by the Canadian Society of Bioengineering (CSBE) for his outstanding contribution to the area of bioenergy and biofuels. He holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alberta, Canada and a B.Sc. in Energy Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India. For more information, please visit: www.energysystems.ualberta.ca

John B. (Jack) Holmes, Jr. is Chief Executive Officer at Zilkha Biomass Energy.

Mr. Holmes has had a lengthy and distinguished career as a leader in the energy industry. In December 2007, Mr. Holmes retired as Chief Executive Officer of Syntroleum Corporation. From 1999 through 2002, he served in several capacities at El Paso Corporation. From 2001-2002, he was Chief Operating Officer of El Paso's Merchant Energy division. From 1999-2001, he was President of El Paso Production Company. Prior to El Paso, Mr. Holmes led Sonat Exploration Company as its President and Chief Executive Officer from 1998-1999 until its acquisition by El Paso. >From 1986 to 1998, he served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Zilkha Energy Company, which under his leadership grew to $1.3 billion in value before being acquired by Sonat. Before joining the original executive team at Zilkha, Mr. Holmes held numerous executive positions in the energy business with several independent energy companies after a decade of service at Exxon Company, USA, from 1969-1979. He holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Mississippi.

Ilaria Peretti is Manager, Sales & Business Development at Turboden srl.

Ilaria holds a M. Sc. in Industrial/Mechanical engineering from Università Politecnica delle Marche, with an internship at the University of Ulster, UK and an MBA from the University of Indiana. She supported the integration between MHI and Turboden, training technical and sales people at MHI and developing the Japanese network for ORC. Since June 2011, she serves as USA resident manager for Turboden. She speaks Italian and English fluently.

Rod Albers is a registered professional Engineer with a Master's Degree in Pulp and Paper from the University of British Columbia. Rod has 25 years' experience in management, operations and engineering in pulp and paper. As Manager, Energy and Bioproduct Development at West Fraser, he leads a team that is responsible for developing and implementing West Fraser's Industrial Energy and novel bioproduct programs. Over the past 5 years Rod has been engaged in bioenergy power generation, and biorefinery process development utilizing forest based biomass.

Jennifer Green is Executive Director of the Canadian Biogas Association, a non-profit, member driven organization that helps to grow the biogas and renewable natural gas sector in Canada to its fullest potential. The Canadian Biogas Association advocates for regulatory and policy change; educates stakeholders about biogas and its contributions as a renewable energy form, waste management solution, and pathway to help reduce GHG emissions; and, offers information and resources related to biogas and RNG. Jennifer works directly on behalf of the membership, with industry leaders and biogas stakeholders to create awareness and opportunities for biogas development. She is passionate about biogas and continues to direct her enthusiasm and energy to the betterment and growth of the sector.

Paul Cheliak is the Director of Innovation and New Markets with the Canadian Gas Association in Ottawa, Ontario. The CGA is the national voice for Canada's natural gas distribution companies who deliver natural gas to over 20 million Canadians in all sectors of the economy. Paul's role at CGA is to work with member company utilities to identify opportunities, develop policy recommendations and gather business intelligence to advance the efficient use of natural gas. Prior to joining CGA, Paul worked with Natural Resources Canada – Canada's federal resource department – providing natural gas market and policy advice to the Department's senior management.

Professor Henrik Thunman is Professor and Head of Division at the Division Technology, Chalmers University of Technology. He received his Doctoral degree in 2001 and was appointed Professor in 2009. Henrik Thunman's research is focused on combustion and gasification processes, including innovative processes for reforming of gasification product gases. Since 2005 he has been responsible for scientific part of the GoBiGas project, which to this date has have a budget of more than 20 million US dollars.

Jinwen Chen is the Director, Hydrocarbon Conversion, CanmetENERGY-Devon, Natural Resources Canada.

As the Director, Dr. Jinwen Chen is responsible for the management and direction of the hydrocarbon conversion program at NRCan's CanmetENERGY Devon research center. Research under the program includes oil sands bitumen upgrading/partial upgrading, advanced hydrocarbon characterization, process modeling, simulation and life cycle assessment of GHG emissions, conversion of CO2 and biocrudes to biofuels and chemicals. He has authored/co-authored over 200 journal and conference proceeding papers, and numerous industrial client reports and conference presentations. He has been a member of many scientific committees, journal editorial boards, and expert panels to organize international conferences, symposia and workshops. Dr. Chen is a regular reviewer for many scientific journals and a registered professional engineer in Alberta, Canada.

Mena Salib is the Manager of Aircraft Noise and Emissions at Air Canada. He earned his bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from Concordia University and has been in the aerospace industry for 8 years. He has held various positions from hydro-mechanical system engineer to aerospace program management and strategy. Part of his work at Air Canada is contributing towards building a viable and sustainable path for aviation biofuels in Canada.

Mark G. Speers is Director, Transportation, Trade and Investment Branch, with the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines.

Mark graduated in 1984 from Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario with an Honours, Bachelor of Science in Forestry. Since that time he has worked in various capacities with MNR in locations such as Geraldton, Espanola and Atikokan. For the past 20 years he has been in Sault Ste. Marie in various roles including: Sustainable Forest License specialist; Manager, Wood Allocation and Measurement Section; Director, Industry Relations Branch, MNR; and Project Director leading Ontario's efforts to modernize the forest tenure and pricing system for the province.

More recently and for the past 4 years he has been with the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines as the Director of the Transportation, Trade and Investment Branch. His primary responsibilities are focused on the Northern Highways Program, Winter Roads Program, Northern Industrial Electricity Rate Program, and trade, investment and marketing activities. For a six month period he had the opportunity to act as the Assistant Deputy Minister for Northern Development Division before returning to my home position.

Mark is an avid sports fan and a huge fan of the Soo Greyhounds.

Ka Wing Ng is a Research Scientist in the Metallurgical Fuels Laboratory at CanmetENERGY, Natural Resources Canada.

Ka Wing graduated from McGill University in 2000 with M. Eng in Metallurgical Engineering. Upon his graduation, he was employed as Research Associate in McGill and conducted researches in extractive pyrometallurgy. He joined Metallurgical Fuels Laboratory of CanmetENERGY in 2006 and developed his expertise in ironmaking and coal carbonization.

Ted Todoschuk is Principal Researcher in Global R&D Hamilton with ArcelorMittal Dofasco.

Ted started his career at Dofasco in 1980 after graduating that year from McMaster University with an Honours B.Sc. degree in Metallurgy and Materials Science. He has been in the Research Department since 1981.

Ted initially worked on the development of iron ore fluxed pellets but has been working in coal, coke, cokemaking and pulverized coal injection (PCI) research since 1985.

Ted lectures internally at AMDofasco and at the McMaster Cokemaking Course in Hamilton.

He is the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Canadian Carbonization Research Association (CCRA) and the AMDofasco representative on the CCRA Technical Committee since 1987.

He is an active member of the AIST, ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) and ISO.

Ted has authored several technical papers on coal, coke, cokemaking and PCI.

Steve MacDonald is CEO of the Climate Change and Emissions Management Corporation (CCEMC), an Alberta-based not-for-profit corporation with a mandate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change by supporting the discovery, development and deployment of technologies. Steve has had an extensive career in the Alberta Public Service with executive roles in various ministries, including Treasury Board, Energy, Innovation and Advanced Education and Executive Council. He played a central role in the development of Alberta's renewed climate change policy framework that establishes a comprehensive vision, strategies and outcomes to support environmental sustainability and economic growth for Alberta.

During his 31 years at McGill Donald L. Smith has conducted research in the production and physiology of crop plants, with an emphasis on plant-microbe interactions. The areas of research investigation have been: nitrogen metabolism, nitrogen fixation, root zone temperature stress and nodulation, development of methods for injection of metabolites into plants, barley production, use of plant growth regulators, intercropping, the dynamics of inter-plant competition, plant-microbe signaling, plants and climate change, biofuel crops, crop stress responses and biochar as a soil amendment. The work has involved 19 crop species. He has trained 65 graduate students, 37 Ph.D. and 28 M.Sc. This research activity has resulted over 300 publications, eleven patents, a spin-off company (Bios Agriculture Inc.) and products applied to 10s of millions of ha of crop land per year. He has been principal investigator on research grants totaling over $50 million, and has been a co-applicant on $12.5 million in other funds. He currently leads the NCE funded ($10 million per year) BioFuelNet Network, the McGill Network for Innovation in Biofuels and Bioproducts and the Eastern Canadian Oilseed Development Initiative network (AAFC funded at $1 million per year). He was head of the NSERC Strategic Green Crop Network. He has had international collaborations with the US, India, China, Russia and Brazil. Dr. Smith has served as chair of his department, is a founding member of a Canada-US think tank on climate change and agriculture in North Eastern North America, holds a James McGill professorship and was a New Sun Professor before that. He has served on the NSERC Plant Biology and Food Discovery grant selection committee. He is a past recipient of the Young Agronomist Award. He is a past president and current fellow of the Canadian Society of Agronomy, and a member of the Clean50. In 2014 he held the largest number of NSERC grants in Canada.

Glenn Mason is the Assistant Deputy Minister of the Canadian Forest Service (CFS), Natural Resources Canada (NRCan).

Glenn joined NRCan in 2011, as Director General, Policy, Economics and Industry Branch, CFS. Prior to that, he was Director of Strategic Operations for the Social Development Policy Secretariat in the Privy Council Office (PCO), where he was responsible for supporting the Social Policy Committee of Cabinet, and the health, aboriginal and justice/public safety portfolios, which earned him the Clerk's Award for Policy Excellence.

Before joining PCO, Glenn was the Director of Strategy at Human Resources Development Canada. Previously, he worked at PCO Intergovernmental Affairs, covering western Canada and NWT. In the 1990s, Glenn worked at Transport Canada on governance and commercialisation reforms within the domestic marine sector. Glenn later worked for three years at the Ministry of Finance in Georgetown, Guyana, implementing budgeting reforms to enhance their national financial management system.

Glenn is currently chair of the North American Forestry Commission of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and co-chair of MegaFlorestais, an informal network of public forest agency leaders from the largest forested countries. Glenn serves on the Boards of FPInnovations, one of the world's largest private, non-profit research centres working in forest research, the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, and the Forest History Society. He also serves in an advisory capacity on the external Advisory Councils for the Faculties of Forestry at the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia.

Glenn holds a M.A. in Development Economics from the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, a B.A. (Hons) in Political Science from the University of Western Ontario, and a Diploma in economic history from the London School of Economics, and is a graduate of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. Glenn lives in Gatineau, Québec with his wife and two children and is an avid photographer and hockey dad.

Dr. Schuh currently advises the Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) on the integrity of offset projects (carbon credits) and maintains its Greenhouse Gas accounting books. She has recently authored BC's Greenhouse Gas Validation and Verification Guidance and she authored Alberta's Greenhouse Gas Verification at Reasonable Level of Assurance. She is currently involved in the revision of ISO 14064-3 on GHG assurance, which now addresses how to provide assurance on life-cycle type assertions. She led the Canadian climate change practice for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) for a decade. During that period she was responsible for developing the greenhouse gas assurance (verification) services, including training, infrastructure development and delivery. She developed and tested the verification methodology in Canada and assisted in extending the structured verification approach for multiple climate change systems (including ETS, WCI, Australian and Alberta) using an accounting based framework for PwC US and Global. She developed one of the first greenhouse gas verification standards for the Aluminum industry in early 2003. She has worked with several governments (including Alberta, Quebec and British Columbia) in establishing greenhouse gas quantification methodologies that are consistent with science and general accounting principles and assisted with the design of policy elements. Recently, she has extended her knowledge of carbon trading systems to other applications and assisted Alberta Environment and Sustainable Development in developing a trading system for wetlands.

Michael Rensing joined the British Columbia public service in September 2003 to work in the Air Protection Section of the Ministry of Environment. In November 2007 he moved to the Ministry of Energy and Mines to develop policies and legislation for renewable and low-carbon fuels. Currently, Michael is the Director of the Low Carbon Fuels Branch in the Electricity and Alternative Energy Division. Michael has a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Victoria.

Currently acting as Advisor on Government and International Relations with Bioindustrial Innovation Canada (BIC), Murray McLaughlin is a Senior Executive with extensive strategic planning and management expertise gained in the agriculture, venture capital, economic development, climate change, and business development areas of industry, government and non-profit organizations. Innovative technologies and ensuring their commercialization in Canada has been a focus for several years and over the last few years the Bioeconomy and managing climate change has become a key focus of building the future for Canada.

With strong experience in research, marketing, policy and venture capital, recognized for innovative leadership, negotiating and team building, Murray's experience includes R&D, regulatory, marketing, Boards of Directors, Investments, and interacting with all levels of governments - federal, provincial, local, and international. He is a leader recognized for commitment to building a strong bioeconomy in Canada.

Peter Milley, FCMC, is a founding partner of Halifax Global Inc., with more than twenty-five years consulting experience in market research and strategic market and business planning. He leads Halifax Global's forest and bio-resources practice and has worked with a variety of public and private sector clients across Canada. He has been involved with numerous forest and wood products assignments in Eastern and Northern Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as Alberta.

Mr. Milley has worked on projects evaluating the potential for repurposing three idled pulp mills in Ontario, as well as the newsprint mill in Liverpool, NS. He also led the team that developed the Forest Sector Strategy for Newfoundland and Labrador that was accepted and implemented by that Province's Government. He recently authored the paper "Adding Value to Forest Resources" for the Nova Scotia Commission on Building Our New Economy (the Ivany Comission), and has also led Halifax Global teams that have worked on several projects related to development of proposed wood processing bio-refineries.

Mr. Milley's executive experience includes service as Vice President of Corporate Development for the North American operations of a leading international wood products manufacturer, as well as senior public sector roles in natural resource management policy, and senior marketing experience in the financial services sector.

Mr. Milley holds an M.B.A. from the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics & Political Science from Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is currently a PhD Candidate in Geography at Queen's University in Kingston, where his research is focused on pathways to a commercially sustainable forest-based bio-economy.

He is the immediate Past-President of the Institute of Certified Management Consultants Atlantic Canada and a member of the National Board of CMC-Canada, the Canadian Association of Management Consultants. In 2008 he was designated a Fellow Certified Management Consultant in recognition of his professional and community leadership.

Rob McCurdy was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Pinnacle in August 2012. Rob's international career has spanned the chemical, construction materials and mining industries in Canada, the USA, Asia and Europe in successively senior roles.

Before joining Pinnacle, Rob spent over twelve years with a world leading producer of building materials.

Most recently he was their Managing Director for India, overseeing 80 manufacturing plants nationwide in a fast growing market. He was responsible for turning this newly acquired business around financially and setting the course to double its size in 5 years.

Prior to this, Rob was based in Paris where he served as the corporate Vice President of Quality, Manufacturing and Vertical Integration for this global business.

Rob earned his B.Sc. with Honors from Queen's University in 1980 and his EMBA from Carnegie Mellon in 1997.

With a career in the public service spanning 19 years, Carla St. Croix was appointed to the position of Director, Innovation and Growth Policy, Strategic Policy Branch, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) in March, 2015. In this capacity, Carla is responsible for designing, developing and directing strategic advice related to innovation across the agriculture sector and providing authoritative advice concerning these policies and their impacts to the Deputy Minister and senior executives of AAFC.

Since July 2014, Carla occupied the position of Chief, Bioeconomy Policy, within the Innovation and Growth Policy Division, and prior to that, Carla was the Senior Advisor to the Director General of Cross-Sectoral and Strategic Direction, Science and Technology Branch. Carla holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Brandon University as well as a Master of Arts degree in Political Science from Carleton University.

Currently, Dr. Gary Bull is a Professor and Head of Department at the University of British Columbia in Canada. He teaches courses in leadership, forest management and resource economics. His research is in natural resource and indigenous economics with a focus on carbon accounting and bioenergy; and multi-scaled forest estate, logistics and forest products trade models.

Gary is also a resource economics consultant to global forest products companies, oil industry, several ENGOs, aboriginal organizations and all levels of government. He has conducted audits for different wood certification bodies, prepared forest carbon standards for auditing and undertook numerous comparative studies of auditing procedures and standard development used in forest environments.

Previously he worked at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome as economist, responsible for preparing a global database on all forests in the tropical forest region. He worked with over 70 tropical countries and prepared briefings for international negotiations.

He has also undertaken economic studies of timber, tourism, ecosystems services, and mining, preparing scientific reports for international organizations such as IIED, IIASA, CIFOR, World Bank and Forest Trends. Earlier in his career he work for two large forest products companies as a resource economist, an inventory specialist and assistant engineer.

M.K. (Marty) Luckert is a professor in forest and natural resource, economics and policy in the Department of Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology at the University of Alberta. He has extensive experience investigating forest policies in Canada and abroad. His research has assessed how policies influence incentives for managing forests, and whether these incentives further the pursuit of policy objectives. Much of his work has dealt with Canadian forest tenures and subsistence economies in southern Africa. He is also actively engaged in investigating economic dimensions of biofuels; especially biofuels refinery feedstock supplies in competition with other uses.

John Peters is the Director of Energy and Environment at Silvacom. He has over 15 years' experience as a consulting resource analyst in the natural resource industry. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Forest Business Management from the University of Alberta and is a Registered Professional Forester (RPF). In addition, John received his Graduate Certificate in Project Management from Royal Roads University in 2012. With significant experience as a business unit manager, project manager, and technical lead, John has been integrally involved in and led numerous projects and initiatives for both government and industrial clients.

Mr. O'Connor, P.Eng, is President of (S&T)2 Consultants Inc. He is a mechanical engineer with a broad background in energy and environmental consulting and in industry. Mr. O'Connor's background includes over 35 years of consulting, manufacturing, and marketing experience.

He is the developer of the GHGenius LCA model for transportation fuels. The model is widely used in Canada, the United States and other parts of the world.

Mr. O'Connor provides strategic advice on fuels and transportation issues to a number of Canadian Provincial governments, several Federal Government departments and foreign governments. Mr. O'Connor has also consults for a number of companies developing new technologies for alternative fuelled vehicles and companies developing new transportation fuel processes.

Brent Rabik is currently the Business Unit Leader for Business Development & Government Affairs at Al-Pac. Brent began his career at Al-Pac in 1997 as a Certification Coordinator. Since then he has held various positions including Senior Policy Analyst, Team Lead, Public Affairs, Executive Assistant to the President and Business Unit Leader, Finance and Corporate Planning. His current role involves assisting in long term planning and strategic assessments for the company as well as overseeing the company's R&D activities. Current activities are focused around the Alberta Bioenergy Producers Group and with the Alberta Forest Products Innovation Consortium, two groups that are focused on advancing bio-based projects in Alberta. Brent has served on the Forest Stewardship Council of Canada Board and currently sits on the Board of the Hope Haven Society in Lac La Biche. Brent is a graduate of the University of Alberta and a Registered Professional Forester in Alberta.

Brent is married with two children and lives in Lac La Biche Alberta.

Brad Saville is a Professor of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry at the University of Toronto, with specific expertise in bioprocess technology, biofuels and renewable energy systems, industrial applications of enzymes, economics, and life cycle assessment. Brad has been a technical advisor and consultant to various companies, investment firms, and Government agencies. Brad has a B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Doug Hooper is a partner of Waterfall Group, a BC-based consulting firm serving the advanced biofuels and bioenergy sectors, and is the Director, Policy and Regulation, for Advanced Biofuels Canada. From 2005 to date, Doug has worked closely with industry leaders, governments, and non-governmental organizations on energy and climate change policies and programs to support the production and use of low carbon advanced biofuels and bioenergy in Canada.

Doug's expertise includes provincial, national and international renewable and low carbon fuel standards, carbon credits and offsets, fuel quality standards, sustainability certification standards, public investment programs and clean technology funds.

Doug was co-founder and CEO of Canadian Bioenergy Corporation from 2005 to 2011, a private company which co-ventured with ADM to build Canada's largest biodiesel production plant (265mly) in Lloydminster, Alberta. Doug's career has included finance and management of start-up companies, merchant banking and fund management, and a term in office as municipal councillor.

Catherine Cobden is the Founder and President of Cobden Strategies Inc. – a consulting firm that offers strategic support to clients in the areas of sustainability leadership, innovation, federal policy and regulatory issues. Her clients include private and public sector organizations from the forest, mining, construction, emergency management and bioenergy sectors.

Prior to her current role, Catherine spent 13 years at the Forest Products Association of Canada, where as Executive Vice President of FPAC, she played a key role in developing the Canadian Forest Sector Transformation Strategy, shepherded the landmark Bio-pathways study on bio-technologies and led the 2012 launch of the industry's new Vision2020 charting a dynamic direction for the sector. She has been a strong champion for innovation in the forest sector collaborating on the development of the sector's Innovation Framework, aligning efforts of key innovation players and supporting the development of new innovation delivery models.

Over her 20 years in Ottawa, Catherine has been a vocal advocate for taking action to address complicated environmental challenges while supporting economic growth and has a long record of environmental leadership on key files such as climate change, water and air quality.

Before joining FPAC, Catherine was a lobbyist with Fleishman Hilliard, where she represented the interests of natural resources sector on Parliament Hill. She also held several corporate sustainability positions within forest products companies.

Catherine is an Independent Director on the Boards of FPInnovations and the Canadian Climate Forum and a founding member of Nature Canada's Women For Nature initiative.

Catherine is a chemical engineer from the University of Toronto.

Reg Renner joined Atticus Financial in 2004 and quickly discovered that his combination of forestry and greenhouse experience allowed him to finance equipment for a diverse group of clients across North America. In 2009, he spoke in Edmonton at the 6th annual CanBio Conference on the subject of 'Project Financing' for biomass heating systems. That presentation led to a ten-part series for the Canadian Biomass Magazine and a consulting job for a client interested in understanding the future potential of torrefaction.

Reg has extensive experience working with clients regarding biomass supply issues, suitable biomass technologies, economic paybacks and business plans. This background and experience has led to increased consulting work and feasibility studies that have focused on how the project might be financed and built using various funding options. In 2012, he wrote a discussion paper on the challenges and future of financing Canadian Biomass District Heating projects and presented those observations at the 2013 CanBio conference in Gatineau, Quebec.

Reg has also presented two different times at the International Bioenergy Conference in Prince George and has been a session moderator at the International Biomass Conference in Portland, Oregon in 2009.

Reg currently serves on the Board of Directors for the national Bioenergy 2.0 Association and as an advisor to the Alberta Innovates-Bio-solutions group and to the organizing committee for this Biocleantech Forum. As a facilitator working with equipment suppliers, project developers, engineers and funders, Reg believes it is a great honor to serve as the moderator for this challenging subject regarding diverse feedstock sources and innovative solutions.

Mr. Joerg Goetsch is the General Manager of Corporate Affairs for Daishowa-Marubeni International Ltd. (DMI), which is one of the top bleached kraft pulp mill producers in North America. Mr. Goetsch also serves as President of the Peace River Logging Corporation, a successful partnership between DMI and the Woodland Cree First Nation.

Mr. Goetsch is an experienced operational leader and collaborative team partner with the strategic vision for leveraging new technology and industry best practices to help innovate and grow business opportunities.

He is an active member of the forestry community having participated on senior level cross business steering committees and industry specific thought leadership groups with a goal of sustainably managing and diversifying the forestry sector. He has a demonstrated track record of developing and implementing initiatives in areas such as forest management, optimizing production operations, cost management and environmental stewardship.

Christian Felske is the General Supervisor – Engineering Innovation, Utility Services, City Operations with the City of Edmonton.

Christian received his Civil Engineering Diploma and his Ph.D. in Solid Waste Management from the University of Essen in Germany. Prior to moving to Canada, he was a project engineer with the AGR mbH in Essen, Germany from 1999 to 2003. During that time he was involved in the design and operation of several landfills, composting plants and anaerobic digestion/waste to energy facilities in the Ruhr Region in Germany. From 2003 to 2009 Christian worked as a Research Scientist in the Waste Management Technologies program at the Alberta Research Council during which he lead several landfill gas biofiltration/ bioreactor and waste to energy projects. In his current role with Utility Services of the City of Edmonton Christian is responsible for overseeing the Branch's processing activities, interactions with regulators, and for providing technical and scientific expertise through the Branch's Research & Innovation activities. Christian is also managing the Advanced Energy Research Facility which houses a pilot municipal solid waste gasifier and waste-to-biofuel process based on Enerkem technology.

Dr. Evelyne Thiffault is an assistant professor in forest soils and forest biomass at the department of wood and forest sciences of Laval University (Quebec, Canada) and member of the Research Centre on Renewable Materials. She has a degree in forest engineering (2001) and a PhD in forest sciences (2006), both from Laval University. She conducts research on the ecological effects of forest management on ecosystems, and leads national and international projects on sustainability of forest bioenergy value chains.

Dr. Ilich Lama joined the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI) in 2008. NCASI is an independent, non-profit research institute that focuses on environmental topics of interest to the forest products industry. Prior to his tenure at NCASI, Dr. Lama worked at the Centre de Recherche Industrielle du Québec (CRIQ) as an NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council) postdoctoral fellow. As a Project Leader – Environmental Data Science, Dr. Lama is responsible for NCASI's Canadian mill environment research projects associated with the forest products sector. His research interests and expertise include statistical treatment and analysis of environmental data, pulp and paper process simulation, control and optimization, environmental reporting, air and water quality issues, and mill residual management and beneficial use. Ilich holds a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from the National University of Engineering, Lima, Peru, and Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering, both from École Polytechnique de Montréal.

Caroline Gaudreault is the Program Manager - Life Cycle Assessment, with the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI).

Caroline joined the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI) eight years ago. As a the team leader of NCASI's Sustainable Manufacturing & Climate Program, Caroline manages life cycle assessment (LCA) and carbon footprinting projects and foster collaboration in other areas of Program. She has completed a variety of LCA and carbon footprint studies, including several that examine the greenhouse gas and energy attributes of forest biomass. She provides expert assistance to companies and industry associations in examining the scientific basis for environmentally-based marketing claims involving forest products. Caroline also is Adjunct Professor at École Polytechnique of Montréal (Chemical Engineering Department, LCA Center) were she supervises graduate students with a focus on energy and consequential LCA and participates in the scientific committee of the LCA center. In addition, she is a member of ecoinvent database editorial board, ecoinvent being one of the largest public source of data for performing life cycle assessment studies. As such, she reviews datasets related to the manufacturing of paper products before they find their way into the database. Caroline holds Bachelor, Master and Ph.D. Degrees in Chemical Engineering, all from École Polytechnique de Montréal.

Malini Giridhar was appointed to the position of Vice President Market Development, Public & Government Affairs in June 2016. In her previous executive positions she led gas supply and business development activities, including regulatory approval of a major natural gas pipeline in the Greater Toronto Area.

Malini is a Chartered Financial Analyst and has a graduate degree in Economics. She joined Enbridge in 1994 as a financial analyst and held progressively more senior positions in the Regulatory and Gas Supply groups.

In addition to her day to day work at Enbridge, she is very passionate about the promotion of diversity, inclusion, and personal development.

Living with her family in Toronto, she feels strongly that we support the communities we live and work in. As such, she also dedicates time to a cause that she feels strongly about through Pathways to Education – who help youth in at-risk neighbourhoods graduate from high school and develop the foundation to succeed in the future.

Dr. Jamie Stephen is the Founder and Managing Director of TorchLight Bioresources, a cleantech and bioproducts consulting and project management company. He is also a Fellow at Queen's University and the Program Director of the BioCleantech Forum. His work ranges from enterprise strategy and policy analysis to fuel and conversion technology assessment. Jamie has managed cleantech and bioproduct projects for a broad variety of public and private sector clients including technology developers, investment funds, national and provincial governments, First Nations, start-ups, and Fortune 100 companies. Projects have focused on industrial growth strategies, facility feasibility, technology deployment hurdles, and investment prioritization. Jamie holds a Masters in Chemical and Biological Engineering and a PhD in cleantech economics from the University of British Columbia. He has published numerous reports and papers on bioenergy and bioproduct investment, operating risk, and industry advancement, and has travelled extensively in North America, Europe, and Asia investigating existing and emerging technologies and bioeconomy development strategies.

Ziyad Rahme joined SDTC in 2016. As Vice President of Partnerships, Ziyad provides leadership for engaging SDTC's key stakeholders, with a focus on collaboration and finding ways to effectively support SDTC's portfolio companies and ensuring they grow and contribute to Canada's competitive advantage in the global clean technology market.

Prior to joining SDTC, Ziyad spent 18 years at Iogen, a leading developer of second-generation biofuels, where he contributed in various roles involving progressive and expanding leadership responsibility. As the EVP and General Manager at Iogen, Ziyad held overall strategic and operational responsibility for Iogen Energy. Under his leadership the company successfully commercialized its technology, and completed construction and start-up of a US$105M industrial scale facility with its partner Raízen, Brazil's fifth largest company with US$25B in revenues.

Ziyad holds an M.B.A., an M.Sc. in Environmental Engineering and a B.A.Sc. in Chemical Engineering.

Jeffrey Jacobs was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Ensyn Corporation in November 2015 and is a member of the company's board of directors. Founded in 1984, Ensyn is a leader in the production of renewable, low-carbon chemicals and fuels. Ensyn maintains direct operations in New York and Canada and has joint venture interests in the U.S., Brazil, Canada and Malaysia.

Previously, Jacobs was vice president of Chevron Technology Ventures. In this capacity he identified, sponsored and demonstrated emerging technology and championed its integration into Chevron. Jacobs led strategic collaborations for developing advanced biofuels and acquiring primary carbon emission offset credits that allowed the enterprise to reliably meet its compliance obligations. In this capacity Jacobs led the formation of Catchlight Energy LLC and served as its Chairman. The joint venture was launched by Weyerhaeuser and Chevron in 2008 to develop advanced biofuels from forest-based biomass.

Jacobs was previously responsible for the development of Chevron's hydrogen business and evaluated technologies and business models that enabled its use as a transportation fuel. Earlier, he led a team responsible for the design, sale and delivery of integrated power quality, reliability and distributed generation systems throughout the United States.

Jacobs experience in the unregulated energy industry has also included management and executive roles within Pennzoil, PG&E and other companies. In these positions he directed teams in all aspects of the energy value chain, analyzing and opening new markets, developing business models while leading new ventures and directing energy and financial operations. Jacobs began his professional career as a geologist with Texaco, working in the Gulf of Mexico and later on Alaska's North Slope.

Jacobs is currently Chairman of the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory's BioEnergy Technical Review Panel. In addition, he serves as the Chairman of the Commercial Advisory Board for the U.S. Department of Energy's Algae Testbed Public-Private Partnership centered at Arizona State University. Until his retirement from Chevron, Jacobs was a member of the Executive Steering Group for the Department of Energy's U.S. Drive Initiative. Jacobs was previously a member of the Board of Directors of the National Hydrogen Association and Fuel Cells Canada.

Jacobs holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology/geology from Amherst College, a master of science in marine studies/geology from the University of Delaware, and an MBA in finance and economics from the Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh.

Lester H. Krone, who joined Stern Brothers & Co. in 2009, is a Managing Director and Co-Head of the firm's Alternative Energy Finance group. Prior to joining Stern Brothers & Co., he was a Managing Director with the Energy and Power Investment Banking Group with Wachovia Securities, previously A. G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. where he was a Managing Director and head of the Utility Group. Under his leadership the Utility Group helped to raise over $30 billion for more than 70 different clients in the investor-owned electric, gas and water utility industries. He joined A. G. Edwards in 1987 where he played a key role in establishing the Utility Group which served U. S. investor-owned electric, gas and water utilities. In addition, Les became one of the country's leading bankers in the water utility industry, with over 30 significant capital-raising and M & A assignments.

Les received his MBA from Harvard Business School and has a MS in Civil Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, as well as a BS in Architectural Engineering from the University of Colorado. He holds Series 7, 79 and 63 securities licenses, and is a registered professional engineer in Missouri.

Norbert Schmitz has studied business administration at the University of Cologne in Germany where he also acquired his PhD. He has worked several years for a leading European management consultancy before joining Meo Carbon Solutions, a Germany based management consultancy focussing on sustainability. While working with Meo, Norbert developed in a multistakeholder initiative ISCC, International Sustainability and Carbon Certification. Since 2010, he is Managing Director of ISCC System GmbH. Today, ISCC is a globally leading certification scheme with system users in 100 countries. 3,500 companies are using ISCC to proof sustainability along supply chains – from agricultural production, trade and conversion to the consumer markets. ISCC covers agricultural, forestry and alternative feedstocks and products for various markets, including bioenergy and chemical/ technical applications. The regional focus of Norbert's work is Europe, the Americas and South East Asia.

Barry graduated law from the University of Toronto in 1967 with a string of academic awards and prizes, was called to the bar in 1969 standing second in his class, and received his Queen's Counsel in in 1982. Prior to joining GreenField, Barry practised law in Toronto for 37 years as a senior litigation counsel, dealing principally with commercial disputes.

He has been a member of GreenField's Board of Directors for the past 23 years. He joined the Company 11 years ago, and as Vice-President of Business Development, is responsible for heading up GreenField's Gen2 technology initiatives.

Frank Des Rosiers was appointed Assistant Deputy Minister of Innovation and Energy Technology in May 2013. Prior to his appointment, Frank served as General Director, Tax Policy at Finance Canada and as Assistant Secretary, Priorities and Planning at the Treasury Board Secretariat. A former member of NRCan's management team, Frank served as Director General, Strategic Policy Branch from 2003-07. Between 1998 and 2003, he worked in Intergovernmental Affairs at the Privy Council Office as Chief of Staff to the Deputy Minister and Director, Economic and Fiscal Analysis.

Frank holds a Master's Degree in Public Administration from Harvard University (Fulbright Scholar). He also holds a B.A. in Economics from Laval University and a M.A. in Economics from the University of Montreal.

Based at the power station in Selby, Yorkshire, Deborah is Head of Biomass Procurement for Drax Power responsible for buying all of their renewable fuel. Deborah joined Drax in December 2006 and has over 19 years' experience in the UK power sector holding various commercial, business development and corporate positions for UK and international oil and power sector companies. Prior roles included Commercial and Project Management for projects such as the construction of Humber Power's 1,260 MW gas fired power station and sale of Killingholme Power station to Centrica. Deborah joined Drax in 2006 and has played a key role in enabling Drax to achieve their expansive and progressive biomass strategy.

Dr Heli Antila has been the Chief Technology Officer at Fortum Oyj since June, 2012.

Heli received her Dr. in Control Engineering from Tampere University of Technology, Finland in 1997. Her main research topics were optimal scheduling of hydropower and thermal power, feasibility of energy storages, and integration of wind power in energy systems.

She has been working in energy sector management consulting for 15 years. Her consulting experience covers a wide-range of topics: energy markets, regulation and policy, energy contracts, combined heat and power, strategies, and mergers and acquisition.

In Fortum her main tasks are to capture and develop technology enabled business opportunities for Fortum. The framework for these new business opportunities is defined in Fortum's vision of Solar economy. Thus the future technologies we are interested are all carbon-free and mostly renewables, e.g. bioeconomy, wave and solar power as well as flexible energy systems and advanced customer solutions.

The Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) has nominated Heli Antila as ambassador for clean energy.

Marie-Hélène Labrie is Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Communications with Enerkem.

Marie-Hélène Labrie joined Enerkem in May 2008. Prior to that, she worked in communications, business strategy, and market analysis as Director of Marketing and Strategic Planning at CAE, and as a consultant for numerous organizations, such as Oliver Wyman Delta Organization & Leadership and Desjardins Financial Security.

She is Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of Écotech Québec, a cleantech cluster, and she is a member of the Board of Directors of the Renewable Industries Canada, the Conseil des entreprises en technologies environnementales du Québec. She represents the company at the Advanced Biofuels Business Council in Washington and is actively involved in public policy advocacy in Europe.

Ms. Labrie began her career at the Government of Canada, in the Department of National Defense, and pursued it at Industry Canada and the Privy Council Office.

Marie-Hélène Labrie holds a Masters in International Business and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Université Laval in Québec.

Mr. Meredith has been with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada since 2005 and has been serving as the Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy Branch at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada since 2010. Prior to this he was the Assistant Deputy Minister for both the Farm Financial Programs Branch, and Communications and Consultations Branch.

As the Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy Branch at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, he leads on complex departmental policy advice on files such as the commercialization of the Canadian Wheat Board, Grain Transportation, the development of the agricultural policy framework. He also leads on the interaction between central agencies and intergovernmental affairs on the departments behalf. Furthermore, he serves as Champion on the department's Inclusiveness Management Committee.

Prior to joining Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Mr. Meredith held a variety of positions in the Department of Foreign Affairs, Industry Canada and in the federal intelligence community.

He holds a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Carleton University, a Master's degree in International Affairs from the Norman Patterson School of International Affairs, and a Master's in Business Administration from the University of Ottawa.

Bradley Young is the executive director of the National Aboriginal Forestry Association. He holds a Master's Degree in Indigenous Governance, formal designation under the Institute of Corporate Directors, and has contributed to indigenous forest stewardship initiatives in Canada and abroad. Originally from the Opaskwayak Cree Nation in northern Manitoba, he serves as a committee chair for the Permanent Indigenous Peoples Committee of Forest Stewardship Council International, and as a corporate board director for leading Indigenous forest sector interests.

NAFA is Canada's national indigenous forest sector voice. With membership and board representation from all provinces and/or regions, NAFA advances the interests of over 1200 indigenous forest sector businesses. Over 80% of First Nations are found in the forest, holding over 21 million cubic metres of annual allowable cut in aggregate. Driving performance and growth with these First Nations through Free, Prior, and Informed Consent can create over 7,400 new jobs and over $3.3 billion in new GDP.

As a master-builder, Douglas Cardinal's life is dedicated to creating beautiful, thriving, and harmoniously built environments.

Born in 1934 in Calgary, Alberta, his architectural studies at The University of British Columbia took him to Austin, Texas, where he achieved his architectural degree and found a life experience in human rights initiatives. Douglas then became a forerunner of philosophies of sustainability, green buildings and ecologically designed community planning. His architecture springs from his observation of Nature and its understanding that everything works seamlessly together.

In recognition of such work, Douglas Cardinal has received many national and international awards including: 18 Honorary Doctorates, Gold Medals of Architecture in Canada and Russia, and an award from United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural organization (UNESCO) for best sustainable village. He was also titled an Officer of the Order of Canada, one of the most prestigious awards given to a Canadian, and he was awarded the declaration of being "World Master of Contemporary Architecture" by the International Association of Architects.

Douglas Cardinal is one of the visionaries of a new world; a world where beauty, balance and harmony thrive, where client, architect, and stakeholder build together with a common vision.

David Layzell is a Professor at the University of Calgary and Director of the Canadian Energy Systems Analysis Research (CESAR) Initiative. In CESAR, he studies the energy systems of Canada and models the costs, benefits and tradeoffs of technologies and policies driving energy systems transformation. Between 2008 and 2012, he was Executive Director of the Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy (ISEEE), a cross-faculty, graduate research and training institute at the University of Calgary.

Before going to Calgary, Dr. Layzell was a professor at Queen's University (Kingston) and the Executive Director of BIOCAP Canada, a research foundation focused on biological solutions to climate change. While at Queen's, he founded an scientific instrumentation company called Qubit Systems Inc. and was elected 'Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada' (FRSC) for his research contributions.

Katie serves as IETA's Director of The Americas and International Climate Finance. On behalf of IETA's 160+ business members – and alongside dozens of global partners, including the World Bank, UNFCCC, EDF and OECD – Katie leads efforts to inform climate policy and carbon pricing initiatives across North and South America. She also manages IETA's growing work on global aviation and financial instruments to leverage and scale low-carbon private capital. Katie's a member of the University of Toronto's Environmental Finance Committee, Ivey Foundation's Climate Advisory Committee, and the Climate Advisory Group to Ontario's Minister of Environment & Climate Change. Prior to IETA, Katie worked with ICF International, where she managed Canada's Industry-Provincial Offsets Group and authored UNEP's compendium on "Green Financial Products & Services". Katie holds a MA (Distinction) in Environmental Policy & Development from Sussex University (UK).

Dr. Warren Mabee (Ph.D. 2001, Toronto) is Head and Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Planning at Queen's University. He holds a Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Renewable Energy Development and Implementation, and is cross appointed to the School of Policy Studies and the School of Environmental Studies. His international research programme focuses on the interface between policy and technology in the area of renewable energy and fuels, addressing issues that bridge the gap between researchers and decision-makers using tools such as life cycle assessment, geographic information systems and agent-based logistical models. His past work experiences include stints at the University of British Columbia and the University of Toronto, as well as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Dr. Mabee is currently a National Theme Leader on Sustainability in the 'BioFuelNet' Network of Centres of Excellence, Associate Task Leader (Policy) for the International Energy Agency's Bioenergy Task 39, and Director of the Queen's Institute for Energy and Environmental Policy.

Claudia Krywiak is the Vice-President, Corporate Planning, Development and Strategic Initiatives at the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE), a not-for-profit organization that drives the growth of a knowledge-based economy in Ontario by helping create new technologies, businesses, and jobs. In partnership with industry, OCE co-invests in industrially relevant R&D and the commercialization of leading edge technologies, and supports the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs.

At OCE, Claudia is responsible for the strategic development and implementation of partner initiatives that bring together key players in the innovation ecosystem. Her team has a mandate to work with government, academic and industry leaders to accelerate business innovation in high potential sectors that provide a competitive advantage for Ontario in the global economy.

Prior to joining OCE, Claudia held the position of Vice-President, Business Development (Ontario) at Mitacs, a national research organization that funds research and training programs for undergraduate, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in partnership with universities, industry and government in Canada.

Claudia received her Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Toronto in 2003 and worked for Bruker BioSpin, a world leader in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) technology.

William Strauss is the President and founder of FutureMetrics, LLC. Bill is globally recognized as a leading expert in the wood pellet sector. Bill continues to be a thought leader in the sector and has published numerous papers on a variety of subjects relevant to the wood pellet sector. He is also a founder and a Director of Maine Energy Systems, the largest manufacturer of European style automatic pellet fueled central heating systems in North America. Bill is the chief economist for the Biomass Thermal Energy Council (Washington, DC). He served as the chief economist on the Maine Governor's Wood-to-Energy Task force in 2008. Bill is the 2012 recipient of the International Excellence in Bioenergy award and has been named as one of the most influential leaders in the biomass sector in 2016 by Argus Media. Bill has more than forty years of strategic and policy planning, project management, data analysis, operations, and modeling experience in the renewable energy sector including 10 years operating large waste-to-energy plants in the 1980s. He has an MBA (specializing in Finance) and a PhD (Economics, Earth Systems Science).

John Arsenault is the Pellet Group Director Quebec Wood Export Bureau and Director, Market Access, Wood Pellet Association of Canada.

QWEB is a non-profit organization that promotes exports of all Quebec wood products and helps develop internal markets for wood pellets. WPAC is the trade organization of pellet producers in Canada.

John was previously involved in general management of manufacturing businesses and large consumers of energy including electricity, light and heavy oil, coal, petroleum coke, natural gas and biomass.

John has an MBA & Bac. in Applied Sciences from the Université de Sherbrooke.

With over 20 years of experience in Human Resources, Engineering and Safety, Ms. Duniece has excelled in all aspects of industrial and community safety, wholesale sales, and environmental programs with a customer based philosophy. Currently focused on working with the Provincial and Federal Governments, the Alberta Bioenergy Producers Group (ABPG), the Biomass Quality Network (BQN) and other stakeholders, Ms. Duniece continues to focus on community relations, the environment and market based commodity modeling. With 8 years of experience at Permolex, Bridgette Duniece works diligently to maintain a creatively challenged, innovative and forward thinking company who prides themselves on meeting company results within a team based environment.

Ian Thomson is President of Advanced BioFuels Canada, a national biofuel industry association. ABFC's work is primarily on Canadian provincial and federal mandates, programs and policies to expand advanced biofuel production and use in Canada.

For the past 14 years, Ian has been a leading industry voice, working with the full biomass value chain, non-governmental organizations, academia and industry to establish advanced biofuels' role in decarbonizing transportation.

In recent years, ABFC has worked closely with industry, advocates, researchers and regulators within the Pacific Coast Collaborative and been a chief advocate for the BC low carbon fuel standard and organizer of an effective coalition to support the LCFS.

From 2005 to 2011, Ian co-founded and operated a nation-wide biodiesel distribution business, and also initiated first and second generation biofuel and bioenergy production projects, including a co-venture to construct what is now Canada's largest biodiesel facility. He is a partner in Waterfall Group, based in Vancouver.

Jonathan Matthews serves as Director of the GHG Environmental Priority Area at Canada's Oil Sands Innovation Alliance. Jonathan's oil sands career started in 1991 when he moved to Fort McMurray to work at Syncrude as a new Waterloo graduate (B.A.Sc Geological Engineering, M.Sc. Earth Sciences). He moved on to Syncrude Research in 1996 leading oil sands tailings, extraction, and materials & reliability R&D. During this time he Chaired the Mining Association of Canada's working committee that produced "A Guide to the Management of Tailings Facilities" and was 'hands-on' in establishing the Cooperative Tailings R & D Agreement and the Oil Sands Tailings Research Facility. In 2006 Jonathan moved to Shell leading extraction and tailings innovation efforts where he was deeply involved establishment of the Oil Sands Tailings Consortium, a predecessor to COSIA's Tailings. Jonathan served as VP of Statoil's Heavy Oil Technology Centre from late 2011 to 2014, leading an ambitious program that identified viable innovation pathways to improve productivity and improve environmental performance.

Jonathan serves as a Board member for the Petroleum Technology Alliance of Canada (PTAC) and works collaboratively with the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP).

Since joining COSIA in 2014 Jonathan has witnessed total commitment and resolve from all COSIA Shareholders to advance an innovation agenda that is a "tide to lift all boats" in an increasingly complex and environmentally constrained business environment.

Fernando Preto received his B.A.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Toronto and his Ph.D. from Queen's University at Kingston. Following graduation, he joined the Canadian Combustion Research Laboratory to pursue research on reducing emissions from combustion systems. He followed this up with research projects on fluidized bed processing, small scale power generation from difficult fuels and conversion of biomass at Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). During 2013 he served as the Executive Director of the Canadian Bioenergy Association (CanBio). He is currently Team Leader for Thermal Conversion of Biomass at NRCan's CanmetENERGY laboratories in Ottawa.

Chris Norman is a Co-Founder of SysEne Consulting Inc., which is an engineering and management consulting company for the energy, transportation, resource, and high tech sectors. SysEne specializes in helping public-, private-, and non-profit organizations with their project, product, or policy development efforts by using the systems approach to technology, process, and people.

Chris is an expert in applying systems engineering and business strategy to industrial resource and energy projects. His expertise includes commercializing technology, leadership of multi-company CleanTech projects, performance analysis of complex systems, and commissioning of new technology powerplants. He has completed over 70 industrial energy efficiency projects across Canada, and was the past CleanTech and Energy Business Unit Lead at one of BC's largest engineering firms. He has an Engineering Physics degree from UBC, and has completed both the Certified Energy Manager and Certified Measurement & Verification Professional training.

Don Beverly is senior advisor in business development and renewable energy for Gaz Métro with special interests in biomethane, forest biomass, hydrogen and natural gas quality. Before Gaz Métro, he worked in industrial equipment manufacturing, research and development in thermal processes, and transformation of primary materials. He has a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from McGill University and a diploma in electrical engineering technology from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology.

Dr. Mehdi Sheikhzadeh is the Dean of Applied Research & Innovation at Lambton College and has Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Western University. He previously held the position of NSERC-Industrial Research Chair for Colleges (IRCC) and was a faculty member of Instrumentation and Control Department at Lambton College. He has accumulated 7 years of industrial experience in chemical and petrochemical companies and 6 years of research management. As Dean, Dr. Sheikhzadeh has supervised the activities of more than 300 industrial projects and managed the group of 40 research faculty, 10 staff and 350 research students. As researcher, Dr. Sheikhzadeh's research interests are process systems, advanced process control, optimization, and process design. He has been the research lead for more than 40 collaborative projects. Dr. Sheikhzadeh is the first author and co-author for more than 60 journal paper publications and conference presentations.

David is a recent recipient of the Clean 50, 2017, (one of the top 50 people in Canadian Clean tech sector) and the 2011 ASTech in Agricultural Innovation. He is a professor in Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Sciences in the Faculty of Ales and has been a provincial leader in the bioindustrial space through his efforts leading the applied provincial bioindustrial research network the Biorefining Conversions Network from 2009-2016. He is also the technology founder behind Forge Hydrocarbons, a biofuel start up created to commercialize his internationally patented breakthrough process invented and developed here at the University of Alberta and commercialized through TEC Edmonton support.

The hydrogen free, catalyst free process converts fat feedstocks such as animal fat, beef tallow, crop seed oil or even restaurant grease into pure hydrocarbon gasoline and diesel fuel. Most biofuels lacks the energy density of crude oil based products – Not so in this case: the same energy as fossil fuel based products with no impurities including metals, sulphur or nitrogen. Forge has a pre-production facility operating at 200,000 litres of high octane fuel per year at the city of Edmonton Advanced Energy Research Facility, and with the support of SDTC ($4.2M), will be building a commercial facility in Canada in 2017.

In addition, Dr. Bressler also has a robust portfolio of patents on the use of protein, including Specified risk material, from the rendering industry for the production of industrial plastics, composites, adhesives and flocculating agents and served on the Scientific Advisory boards of Biofuelnet (a national NCE based at McGill from 2012-201current and First Green Partners (a venture capital fund based in Minneapolis (2012-2015).

Dr. Hannu Suopajärvi works as a post-doctoral researcher in Process Metallurgy Research Unit in University of Oulu, Finland.

Mr. Suopajärvi defended his Doctoral Dissertation in January 2015 at the University of Oulu. The main topics covered in his Dissertation related to the evaluation of biomass-based reducing agent use in metallurgical processes by means of mathematical modeling, carbon footprint evaluations and economic calculations. Research results of Dr. Suopajärvi have been published in high quality international-referee journals.

Current research interests of Dr. Suopajärvi include the application of biochar to blast furnace injection, development of biocokes for blast furnace top-charging and evaluation of different "biomass-to-reducing agent" value chains by means of life cycle assessment methods. He is currently running two research projects in this field.

Michael Leering is the Director of Sustainability, Standards Division, for CSA Group and is responsible for oversight of three key programs including Environment and Climate Change, Natural Resources and Built Environment (Infrastructure). Michael has been working in the climate change and environmental field for over 10 years and has focused in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) management and sustainability.

Before assuming the role of Director, Michael led CSA Group's Environment and Climate change team of standards development mangers, as a Program Manager. His team was responsible for the development and maintenance of several Registries, including those for GHG Projects and Inventories, and for Environmental Product Declarations. Michael's team was also responsible for a large standards portfolio including; Quality Management (ISO 9000), Risk Management (ISO 31000), and Environment (Forestry, Sustainability Mark, Recycling, Water, Life Cycle Assessment).

Mr. Leering holds a Bachelor of Environmental Engineering from the University of Guelph and is a licensed engineer in Ontario.

Dr. Matt Rahimi is the Business Development Manager with CSA Group. Matt' primary focus is to build awareness about CSA's unique capabilities among prospective clients, and develop and maintain relationships with current and past clients. As an advocate of the company's vision to proactively seek out opportunities to assist clients with their standards' needs, Matt has spearheaded initiatives to bridge the gap between universities, research institutions, and the industry.

Prior to joining CSA, Matt spent 5 years in the technology sector, and 15 years in the engineering/consulting roles in the energy sector. He has been involved a number of new standard development projects and continues to serve on a number of boards and steering committees at different technology firms.

Matt holds a Bachelor degree in petroleum engineering, an MBA in Energy Management, and a PhD in Strategic Management from the University of Calgary, where he has been teaching graduate level course since 2008.

Geoff Tauvette is the Director of Fuel and Environment for WestJet. In this role Geoff is responsible for procuring over 1.5 billion litres of aviation fuel annually for WestJet's ninety locations in Canada, the US, Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe and managing WestJet's interests in $1 billion of airport fuelling infrastructure. He also leads WestJet's environmental management and stewardship including maintaining regulatory compliance, climate change strategy and policy development, and advancing the deployment of alternative fuels. He engages frequently with airports, airlines and governments on common issues that affect the aviation community such fuel handling standards, environmental regulations and alternative fuels and climate policies. Previous to WestJet, Geoff worked at Air Canada holding various positions within the fuel and real estate departments. Through his varied experiences, Geoff has lead and influenced the creation and set-up of numerous common service consortia for fuel and glycol management at airports including obtaining bond financing and constructing new infrastructure to meet increasingly stringent regulations and standards. Geoff is a graduate of McGill University with a Masters in Civil Engineering and University of Ottawa with B.A.Sc in Civil Engineering.

Dr. Mahmood Ebadian is an industrial engineer with the primary focus on supply chain management and lean manufacturing. He is currently a researcher at Biomass and Bioenergy Research Group (BBRG), the University of British Columbia. He is also the founder of Biomass Supply Chain Consulting Ltd., a consulting company specializing in the application of decision science in biomass supply chains to help clients make more informed strategic, tactical and operational decisions. He is the co-author of two books on "Lean Manufacturing" and "Lean Supply Chain". His passion is in adopting the best supply chain management practices from mature industries into the bioeconomy.

Dr. Getachew Assefa is an Associate Professor of Environmental Design at the University of Calgary with a focus on Sustainable Development and Design. He is the former Athena Chair in Life Cycle Assessment at the Faculty of Environmental Design. His holistic approach to research and education strives to avoid problem shifting and sub-optimization in the design and development of technical systems including energy systems, biofuels and bioenergy, waste management system, buildings, etc. His research interest includes life cycle sustainability assessment, life cycle assessment, built environment assessment, environmental product declaration, industrial ecology, and sustainable consumption. He has a B.Sc. degree in Chemical Engineering from Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, Masters in Environmental Engineering and Sustainable Infrastructure and a Ph.D. in Industrial Ecology from Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. He has over seventeen years of experience of teaching and research in Europe, China and Africa. He also consults in the area of product sustainability positioning and life cycle assessment.

Christiane Egger is Deputy Manager of the OÖ Energiesparverband, the energy agency of Upper Austria (one of the nine Austrian provinces), and the manager of the Ökoenergie-Cluster, a business network of 160 companies active in renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Christiane is also the Vice-President of FEDARENE, the European network of regional energy and environment agencies. She is the conference director of the World Sustainable Energy Days, one of the largest annual conferences in Europe on energy efficiency and renewable energy sources.

Christiane is an expert in energy efficiency in buildings, in solar and biomass heating and in developing markets for renewable energy and energy efficiency.

She holds a law degree and a post-graduate degree in environmental engineering.

Jim Grey received his degree in Chemical Engineering from McGill University. Since then he has spent his entire career in Agricultural processing. His background includes technical, plant management and senior executive roles in Canada, the US and Europe, primarily with Casco, Inc. as President and its parent Corn Products International (now Ingredion Inc.) as Executive Vice President, North America. Jim served on the Board of Directors of Canada Starch Inc., Commercial Alcohol Inc. (Greenfield Energy), GTC Nutrition Inc. and currently serves as the Chair of Renewable Industries Canada (formally the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association), Vice Chair of the AgEnergy Co-operative Board of Directors, Chair of the AgEnergy Co-operative Corporate Governance Committee and is a member of BioIndustrial Innovation's Canada Board of Directors.

Jim is the CEO of IGPC Ethanol Inc. and a member of the Board. IGPC Ethanol Inc. is wholly owned by Integrated Grain Processors Co-operative Inc., one of the largest agri-business cooperatives in Ontario. Jim joined the company located in Aylmer, Ontario prior to plant completion in April 2008 and continues to lead the business with a focus on strategic initiatives for the future. Jim has recently received the Chartered Director's (C.Dir) designation from The Directors College (a joint venture of McMaster University and the Conference Board of Canada).

David Mackett has led community development initiatives for Whitesand First Nation since 2009 which includes the design, development and implementation of the Community Sustainability Initiative. After a 15 year career with Abitibi-Price he returned to school and graduated from Confederation College's Geographic Information Systems Program in 1992. He then began working for a First Nation owned not-for-profit organization which supported community economic development initiatives. For the next 17 years David led the implementation of a geospatial technology platform and mapping advancement which assisted First Nations to protect, preserve and promote their cultural resources within land use and forest management planning. David's work with Whitesand is to create a stronger and happier community through better communication and relationships with governments and industry. His mandate is to address barriers, identify priorities and build opportunity to better achieve community sustainability.

In his spare time David enjoys golfing, boating and completing projects at their place at Surprise Lake. He also helps his wife Valerie run New Hope Dog Rescue, a not-for-profit organization which finds forever homes for abandoned and abused dogs.

Elizabeth Shirt serves a dual role of Director, Policy and Planning with Emissions Reduction Alberta (formerly the Climate Change and Emissions Management Corporation) and Alberta Innovates-Energy and Environment Solutions. Elizabeth provides climate change and innovation policy and strategy advice to these organizations as they work to deliver on provincial climate change priorities and outcomes.

Prior to joining ERA and AI-EES, Elizabeth was a part of the Government's Climate Change Secretariat where she helped coordinate the work of Alberta's Climate Change Advisory Panel, whose work culminated in the launch of the Climate Leadership Plan.

Elizabeth joined the Alberta Public Service in 2012 where she worked in the department of Innovation and Advanced Education. Prior to joining government she worked providing policy development and advocacy support to Capital Power Corporation (Edmonton, AB), the Canadian Electricity Association (Ottawa, ON), and the Nuclear Energy Institute (Washington, DC).

Elizabeth has a bachelor of arts in economics from the University of Mary Washington (Fredericksburg, VA) and a masters of economics from George Mason University (Fairfax, VA).

Steve Price is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Alberta Innovates Bio Solutions, a funding agency of the Government of Alberta advancing economic growth in the province's agriculture, food and forest sectors through research and innovation. Steve also continues to serve as the Executive Director of its Bioindustrial Innovation business line, a position he has held since the launch of Alberta Innovates Bio Solutions in 2010. In 2007, Steve became Executive Director of the Alberta Forestry Research Institute in the former Alberta Advanced Education and Technology. For the 24 years prior to this, he worked for the Government of Canada in a variety of positions and in a variety of locations including southern Africa and Southeast Asia. In 1992 he was the Director of Operations for the Canadian Forest Service in Ottawa. As Director, he was responsible for the management of forest research and operational programs including the Model Forest Program and the First Nations Forestry Program in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the North West Territories. In 1989 he was Program Director, Regional Development at the former Forestry Canada's Northern Forestry Centre in Edmonton, having started there in 1983 as Senior Development Officer. Before joining this federal government department, Steve held numerous positions with the Government of Saskatchewan including manager of forest inventory and manager of silviculture in the forestry branch of the department of natural resources. Steve is a graduate of the University of Toronto.

Brenda has extensive experience in energy and environment regulation and policy, sustainability, CSR and innovation. Her career has included executive roles at the National Energy Board and as CEO of the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association. Brenda currently serves on the Board of Governors for the University of Calgary, chairing that board's Environment, Health, Safety & Sustainability Committee, and is Vice Chair of Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA; formerly CCEMC). She serves on the Advisory Council for the Positive Energy Project at the University of Ottawa, the Member Council for Sustainable Development Technology Canada, and co-chairs the Nature Canada initiative Women for Nature.

Brenda holds a Bachelor's in Applied Science (Metallurgy) from Queens University, a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Waterloo, and a PhD in Resources and the Environment from the University of Calgary.

Chris is the Director General of Clean Technology, Innovation and Jobs at Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. He is a member of the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Working Group on Clean Technology, Innovation and Jobs, which was formed pursuant to the Vancouver Declaration on Clean Growth and Climate Change, agreed to by First Ministers in March, 2016. Before his current role, Chris managed wireless telecommunications policy in the department, as well as strategic policy coordination. He previously held roles at Natural Resources Canada, including managing renewable fuels policy and programs. Prior to his time with the Government of Canada, Chris held management positions in high technology companies and consulted at Bain & Company. Chris holds an MBA from INSEAD and an engineering degree from Queen's University.

Matt Jones is the Director General of Climate Policy at Environment and Climate Change Canada. He has worked his entire career in the environment field, both in the private and public sectors. He is currently focused on the development of the Pan-Canadian Framework on climate change. Previously he has played a leadership role in the development of the National Air Quality Management System and spent many years negotiating international environmental agreements on climate change, biodiversity and air pollution.

Jordan R. Solomon has held the position of President and CEO of Ecostrat for over 20 years where he oversees the biomass consulting group, the biomass commodity trading group, and the US-based log export business. His responsibilities include new project origination, evaluation and commercialization, corporate strategy and team support. His areas of expertise include project development, risk-assessment, bio-resource trading, contracting and financing, and risk mitigation for bio-feedstock supply and export.

As head of Ecostrat's consulting group, Jordan directed development the Biomass Supply Network© the largest proprietary wood fiber supply database in North America. He has led bioenergy project consulting teams for JP Morgan, Shell, Enviva, NREL, DTE Energy, Macquarie Bank, Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Southern Company, Rentech, Noresco, EDF, Sweetwater, Solvay, McKinstry, LaFarge, PGE, Eastman, Coca-Cola, Johnson Controls, Siemens, and the Canadian government. Ecostrat is one of the leading companies in use of advanced stochastic modelling and Monte Carlo simulation to understand and mitigate bioenergy feedstock risk. Presently, Jordan leads the development of predictive bioenergy supply chain risk analytics team in the application of Analytic Hierarchy Process–Quality Function Deployment (AHP–QFD) and chance constrained optimization algorithms to bioenergy supply chains.

As head of the biomass supply group, Jordan has overseen development and operation of biomass supply chains for over 5,000,000 tons of feedstock over two decades for bioenergy, biofuel, and biochemical projects. He has negotiated, structured supply chains, financed and executed bulk shipments of biomass overseas to Europe and Asia. In 2003 Jordan led the team that executed the first bulk vessel shipments of wood pellets from the east coast of North America for the nascent European biopower industry. In 2004 he established the export chip market from the US to Turkey by de-risking the US biomass supply chain and sending the first full vessel shipment of woodchips for the composite board market, an overseas market which now intakes over two million tons of chips per annum. In 2014, he led the team that established the supply chains and oversaw the shipment of 225,000 tons of wood fiber from the US south overseas to Daewoo North America.

He has previously served on the Board of First Asset Renewable Power FlowThrough Limited Partnership as a Director of First Asset Power Funds Inc. (I, II, III, IV). He currently sits on the Board of Directors of the public Special Purpose Acquisition Corporation (SPAC) Dundee Acquisition Ltd. (TSX: DAQ.UN) and on the Bioenergy Feedstock National User Facility Advisory Board (Idaho National Laboratory / US Department of Energy).

Jordan holds a B.A. Honors (Eng. Phil.) from University of Western and a Masters in Environmental Studies with a specialty in Corporate Environmental Strategy from York University.

Arthur Potts was first elected as Member of Provincial Parliament for Beaches–East York on June 12, 2014. He brings to the role a passion for public service and a history of working with others to find sustainable solutions. As an entrepreneur and small-business owner, Arthur understands the challenges and opportunities of Ontarians trying to make their way in our great province.

Arthur began his career as a labour relations consultant with the Central Ontario Industrial Relations Institute and taught the subject at Seneca College. In 1989, he co-founded his first business – Wood Waste Solutions Inc. – a firm that specializes in wood waste management, recycling wood into usable end products. Wood Waste Solutions is still in operation today.

As the new Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Arthur will work with others to find solutions for the challenges of sustaining Ontario's environment while creating opportunities for our province's green technology industry.

Arthur is honoured to be part of Kathleen Wynne's team and has played an instrumental role in a number of provincial and local initiatives. His tipping legislation recently came into effect, protecting the incomes of Ontario servers and food service staff; he helped facilitate a $50 million donation to Toronto East General Hospital, now named for the donors' late son, Michael Garron; and he was instrumental in ending the unfair practice of charging nonrefundable waiting list fees to parents trying to access childcare, as well as in getting craft cider into farmers' markets and grocery stores.

He is a proud father of two daughters – Robin and Dara – and lives in the Upper Beaches with his common-law partner Lisa Martin and her three children. A fly-fishing enthusiast, Arthur also enjoys sailing and plays hockey and tennis, where he is a member of Kew Gardens Tennis Club.

Kim Rudd has been a lifelong entrepreneur and an advocate on the federal and provincial levels for small businesses, child care, and post-secondary education. In 2011, she was named RBC's Canadian Woman Entrepreneur of the Year, and served as Vice-Chair of the Ontario TCAF Secretariat. Additionally, Ms. Rudd was Founding Executive Director of the Association of Private Colleges and Vice-President of the Ontario Association of Career Colleges.

Ms. Rudd has also been a lifelong volunteer in organizations ranging from the United Way to Kinark Child and Family Services, heading the Regional Physician Recruitment and Retention Committee and serving as President of the Northumberland Central Chamber of Commerce. She was elected as Member of Parliament for Northumberland—Peterborough South in 2015, and was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources.

Gabriel John is the Environment Lead, Electricity and Sustainable Energy Division with the Alberta Department of Energy. Gabriel is a Professional Agrologist and holds a Masters degree in Resource Economics from the University of Alberta. He also holds a certificate in Greenhouse gas inventory quantification. Gabriel has over 14 years of diverse experience and knowledge in academia and in public policy.

He currently oversees the development of strategic environmental and sustainable energy policies and programs in the Department of Energy. Mr. John joined the public service in 2008 and has had the opportunity to work in the energy-environment public policy nexus, including the development and implementation of Alberta bioenergy policies and programs, renewable and alternative energy and environmental policies relating to the decarbonization of the electricity sector. Prior to this role, Gabriel worked in the academia where he taught economics for 4 years.

Doug Campbell is a Senior Technical Advisor at Nova Scotia Power. In this role he acts as a resource to the Generation Asset Management, Planning and Power Production Groups. He is a Professional Engineer with more than 40 years in the engineering, construction, commissioning and operation of Thermal Generating and Hydro Station as well as other industrial facilities. Recently completed projects with Nova Scotia Power were the construction, completion, and start- up of a 60MW biomass facility and the Tuft's Cove 6 Combined Cycle Unit.

Recent research work has been involved in various aspects of biomass combustion, collaboration in the development of a solid fuel evaluation model to aid in the screening of different coal products. Other projects have included the use of CFD modelling to simulate new burner retrofits for NOX reduction and carbon burnout. More recently he has also participated in testing to determine the effects of halides and different forms of carbon in the collection of Hg in the back end of conventional utility boilers equipped with precipitators.

Current study work includes the evaluation of advanced technologies to assist in the transformation of the grid to adapt to the integration of renewable resources this includes elements of fast acting generation, storage, micro grid and distributed generation.

Michael is a semi-retired sustainable energy consultant. He has spent much of the last six years working with Public Services and Procurement Canada as a technical adviser on their ESAP (Energy Services Acquisition Project) initiative. In previous years, with Natural Resources Canada. Michael was the director for district energy research and project development and he has been involved in many district heating projects across the country. Since 1984 he had been the Canadian representative of the IEA district heating and cooling research committee and the Chair of that committee in the later 90's. In that capacity, he got to see many different approaches to community energy systems. Michael was also part of the CitiesPlus team that developed a 100 year sustainable energy plan for the Greater Vancouver - Canada's entry in an international competition that they won. Michael continues to be active on energy and environment issues and provides regular advice on strategies to mitigate Climate Change.<

Sebnem Madrali is a chemical engineer by training with over 20 years of experience in the energy R&D sector and the last 12 years specifically on bioenergy. As a senior research engineer at CanmetENERGY, Natural Resources Canada, she leads projects on advancing development and implementation of heat and power generation from biomass residues and biomass fuels, and brings together industry, government, and academic stakeholders from the agriculture, forestry, and energy sectors.

She received her B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from Istanbul Technical University, Turkey, and her PhD from Imperial College of University of London, UK.

John Kozij is the Director General of the Policy, Economics and Industry Branch of the Canadian Forest Service at the Department of Natural Resources Canada. Prior to joining NRCan in January of 2015 he was the Director General of Land and Environmental Management and the Director General of the Northern Policy and Science Integration Branch at Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) where a large preoccupation included developing and championing Canada's Northern Strategy. Prior to this, John was a senior officer with the Privy Council Office, and a senior economist with the Canadian International Development Agency.

John was born in BC and has a degree in economics from Simon Fraser University and a Masters in economics from Dalhousie University in Halifax. John has also worked and volunteered overseas, working for over a year in northwest Pakistan and as a volunteer in a refugee camp in southeastern Thailand. He is a father of two young boys, a curler, and a basketball and soccer coach.

John Kozij est directeur général de la Direction de la politique, de l'économie et de l'industrie pour le Service canadien des forêts, Ressources naturelles Canada. Avant de se joindre à RNCan en janvier 2015, il était directeur général de Gestion de l'environnement et des terres, et directeur général de la Direction générale de l'intégration des politiques et de la science du Nord aux Affaires autochtones et Développement du Nord Canada où il a fermement travaillé à l'élaboration et à la promotion de la Stratégie pour le nord du Canada. Avant cela il a été agent supérieur au Bureau du Conseil privé ainsi qu'économiste principal à l'Agence canadienne de développement international.

John est né en Colombie-Britannique. Il est diplômé en économie de l'Université Simon Fraser et détient une maîtrise en économie de l'Université Dalhousie de Halifax. John a travaillé et effectué du bénévolat à l'étranger; il a passé plus d'une année dans le nord-ouest du Pakistan en tant que bénévole dans un camp de réfugiés dans le sud-est de la Thaïlande. Il est le père de deux jeunes garçons, joueur de curling et entraîneur de basketball et de soccer.

Dr. Xiaotao Bi received BASc (1980-1985) and MASc (1985-1988) degrees from Tsinghua University, and a PhD (1991-1994) degree from the University of British Columbia. He is currently a professor in the Chemical and Biological Engineering Department and a Fellow of Canadian Academy of Engineering. He has been the associate director of the Clean Energy Research Centre (www.cerc.ubc.ca), director of China-Canada Joint Centre for Bioenergy Research and Innovation (www.ccjcberi.center), and the manager of the Fluidization Research Centre.

His research has been focused on multiphase reactor systems and their application for NOx reduction, biomass gasification, biomass torrefaction and catalytic pyrolysis. He has also worked on water management in PEM fuel cells, life cycle analysis and integration of biomass energy systems. He has published more than 350 peer-reviewed papers, which have been cited more than 8000 times. He was the recipient of a 2011 UBC Killam Research Fellowship, the 2012 AIChE Particle Technology Forum Lectureship Award, and the 2014 Teaching Excellence Award of UBC Chemical and Biological Engineering Department.

Professor Richard Aspinall has recently been appointed Vice President (Technology) for the University of the Amazon Region - IKIAM, in Ecuador. He is also an Honorary Research Fellow of the James Hutton Institute, in Scotland. Previously he was Chief Executive and Director of Research at the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute (MLURI), Head of the Department of Geography at Arizona State University (2004-2006), Professor and Director of the Geographic Information and Analysis Centre at Montana State University (1997-2004), Program Director for Geography and Regional Science at the US National Science Foundation (2001-03), and a scientist at the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute (1987-1997). He is founding editor of the Journal of Land Use Science, editing the journal from 2006-2014, and was also editor of the Environmental Sciences section of the Annals of the Association of American Geographers from 2005-2009. He was co-Chair of the IGBP/IHDP Global Land Project (GLP) at its formation to establish the GLP governance and initiate the Strategic Plan; subsequently he was a member of the International Science Steering Committee and coordinated the GLP Nodal Office in Aberdeen (2006-2011). His research interests are in land systems science, sustainability, geographic information science and systems, and coupled human-environment systems.

Amanda Bambrick is currently engaged as Senior Offset Policy Advisor in the Government of Alberta's Climate Change Office. In this role Amanda is engaged in government oversight of the Alberta's emission offset system, including protocol development, assurance systems and processes, emissions trading, stakeholder support, and policy analysis in relation to Alberta's greenhouse gas reduction policies. Amanda has also served in Government of Alberta roles advising on policy related to alternative and renewable energy, renewable fuels standard programs, and carbon capture and storage.

Amanda is a Professional Agrologist under the Alberta Institute of Agrologists and has a M.Sc. of Natural Resource Sciences specializing in carbon storage in mixed cropping and forestry systems from McGill University.

Rob has more than 14 years' experience in generation procurement, power system planning, strategy development and operations in the public and private sectors. As the Manager of Procurement Operations at the IESO, Rob is responsible for designing and operating renewable generation procurements. Rob also lead's the IESO's negotiating team on the Whitesand First Nation bioCHP project.

Rob has a Bachelor of Commerce and an MBA from the Rotman School of Management.

Dennis St. George is a Professional Engineer with Manitoba Hydro where he is responsible for delivering technical and business solutions to customers with biologically based processes, applications and issues. In this role Dennis has gained extensive experience on the development and commercialization of several bio-based products and services. Renewable and clean energy systems are one of Dennis's key areas of expertise. Dennis is a Certified Measurement and Verification Performance Professional (CMVP) and a Distributed Generation Certified Professional (DGCP); two designations recognized to evaluate and lead energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.

Todd Eastman joined the Ontario Public Service as a Trade and Investment Specialist with the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines' Trade, Investment and Marketing Unit in 2010. Prior to joining government he worked for a prominent forestry consulting firm in northwestern Ontario and a long-running provincial tourism advocacy association. Since joining the ministry, he has led several trade missions, engaged leading sector companies and represented the Province at international mining and bioproduct events including MINExpo in Las Vegas, World Bio Markets in the Netherlands and Interpellets in Germany. Todd is currently leading his ministry's trade and investment attraction efforts for Ontario's forest bioeconomy and northern Ontario's agri-food sector. He resides in North Bay and is passionate about the people and places of Northern Ontario and opportunities to grow the economy. He holds a Master of Forest Conservation degree from the Faculty of Forestry, University of Toronto.

Dr.-Ing. Thomas Echterhof is a senior engineer at the Department for Industrial Furnaces and Heat Engineering at RWTH Aachen University (Germany). He studied metallurgical and materials engineering at RWTH Aachen University and received his diploma in 2005 and his PhD in 2010. Since 2009 he is leading the research group on mass and energy balances with a special emphasis on the resource and energy efficiency of electric arc furnace and heat treatment processes. Since 2011 he is also senior engineer and deputy head of the department.

Thomas was project manager in charge of the RWTH contribution to the EU RFCS GreenEAF and GreenEAF2 projects and several other national and EU projects. His main research interests include the optimisation of energy and resource intensive processes with regard to energy and resource efficiency and environmental impact. Thomas has authored or co-authored more than 40 journal and conference papers as well as numerous industrial project reports, poster and conference presentations.

Rob McMonagle has been in the environmental industries sector since 1979 when he founded one of Canada's first solar companies, Prometheus Energy. Rob was the Executive Director of the Canadian Solar Industries Association from 2002-2006. In 2007 Rob was hired by the City of Toronto to develop the City's Sustainable Energy Plan and was responsible for many of Toronto's renewable energy initiatives such as the Toronto Solar Neighbourhoods Initiative and the Renewable Energy Bylaw.

Rob received the Solar Leader Award from CanSIA for his pioneering work in founding and growing the solar industry in Canada, the Urban Power Leader award from OSEA in 2010 for work on creating the City's energy plan and the Forests Ontario Builder's Award for work done in developing the urban wood industry in Toronto.

He is currently the manager of sector development in Toronto's Economic Development & Culture division where he is also the lead in developing the green economy.

Thierry is a 29-year veteran at CN and has held various positions in Operations as well as Sales and Marketing. Over the past 15 years, he focused on Sales and Marketing functions within Intermodal, Petroleum and Chemicals, Metals and Minerals, and more recently, Forest Products. Currently, he manages all Marketing aspects for CN's network pertaining to the Forest Products business unit. Thierry has a Bachelor degree in Operations Management and an Executive MBA.

As the Director of Forestry, Etienne provides FPAC members with informed advice on forest management issues, and leadership on the aboriginal affairs file. He took part in the creation and implementation efforts on the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement. He continues to contribute to the CBFA file and works on consensus building by seeking creative solutions.

Before joining FPAC in 2008, Etienne has worked in the domains of academic research and representation.

John Marrone joined BioFuelNet Canada (BFN) in April, 2016. His experience spans over 30 years in science and technology (S&T), in both the private and public sectors.

Prior to joining BFN, he was the Director General of CanmetENERGY, one of Canada's largest clean energy R, D and D centres, where he provided strategic and operational leadership to the centre, as well as to the various science funding programs and the policymakers at Natural Resources Canada.

Before that, he worked at the Canadian Space Agency, where he managed complex, international space science projects and supported Canada's space science community.

Dan has been the Chief Executive of COSIA (Canada's Oil Sands Innovation Alliance) since March 2012.

Prior to joining COSIA, Dan occupied various senior positions for Environment Canada and Natural Resources Canada including Director General of Wildlife and Landscape Science, Director General of Water Science and Technology, and Director of Strategic Alliances. Dan has a vast range of experience in sustainable development. He was a Senior Policy Advisor to the Canadian Federal Minister of Natural Resources and the Government House Leader, and he launched and was the Executive Director of The Canadian Forest Innovation Council.

Dan has a BSc. in Biology (University of Guelph, 1990), a MSc. in Aquatic Ecology (University of Calgary, 1994) and a Ph.D. in Aquatic Ecology (University of Montana, 1998). After completing his graduate education, Dan took a faculty position as a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Montana. Dan is a Board member of the Canada Water Network (NCE) and the Climate Change and Emissions Management Corporation, and serves on the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producer Responsible Canadian Energy Advisory Committee.

Sandy Ferguson is VP, Corporate Development, Conifex Timber Inc., one of Canada's leading forest products companies where she is responsible for evaluating and developing new bio-products opportunities, leading corporate marketing activities, human resource development, and special projects.

Jason Linkewich, FCPA – FCMA, has been in the resource sector over 20 years with extensive management experience in the forest products industry. He has experience in finance, forest operations, sawmills, and business development. In particular, he served as an operations controller, manager of finance, and director of business development & planning with Domtar Inc. Forest Products Division. After Domtar, Jason provided senior leadership as the VP of Fibre Supply Strategy at Tembec where he managed the integrated fibre supply for Tembec's Pulp & Paper mills. Recently, Jason has been President of Linksedge Ltd. a company providing strategic advisory services to clients throughout North America. As well, he currently serves on several private and not for profit boards.

Jason Linkewich has an Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree from Lakehead University and he is a FCPA – FCMA.

Patrick Guidera is the Forest Technology Director with Alberta Innovates where he has been for 5 years. He has 30 years extensive experience in the forest sector primarily with the Alberta Forest Service. Pat works in diligently in the development of the bioeconomy using forest and agriculture biomass in Alberta.