Geoscience BC Welcomes New Technical Advisory Committee Members
Vancouver, BC – October 6, 2022 – The appointment of six new volunteers to Geoscience BC’s Technical Advisory Committees (TACs) will help to further widen the expertise of groups that identify, plan, develop and review our independent, relevant, and public minerals, energy and water research in British Columbia.
Dr. Mary Ann Middleton (EDI Environmental Dynamics Inc.) and Dr. Shawn Hood (GoldSpot Discoveries), Dr. Anelda Van Staden (Teck Metals Ltd.), have joined the Minerals TAC. Sara McPhail (BC Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation), Dr. Steve Rogers (WSP-Golder), and Ron Stefik (British Columbia Oil and Gas Commission) have joined the Oil & Gas TAC.
The new TAC members were approved by Geoscience BC’s volunteer Board of Directors on September 22, 2022. Commenting on the news, Geoscience BC President and CEO, Gavin C. Dirom said: “We are excited to welcome six new members to our Technical Advisory Committees. They bring additional subject matter expertise, experience and skills to these valuable volunteer committees.”
Geoscience BC would also like to thank departing TAC members for their passion, time and contributions to the committees.
Tannis Gibson, formerly of Saguaro Resources Ltd, and Brendan Galloway, formerly of Petronas Canada.
New Minerals TAC Members
Dr. Mary Ann Middleton is a Senior Water Resources Scientist and a registered professional geoscientist (BC/Alberta) with a PhD in Hydrogeology, specializing in groundwater-surface water interactions and vulnerability assessments of groundwater-dependent streams. Mary Ann has over 16 years experience with Water Resource projects. Her diverse portfolio includes successful projects in hydrogeology, hydrology, and water quality within the transportation, urban development, renewable energy and mining sectors in BC, Yukon, and Alberta. She has applied her diverse and specialized experience to mineral exploration and mining projects ranging through advanced-stage exploration, mine operations, post-closure, and legacy projects.
Dr. Shawn Hood is the Chief Technology Officer at GoldSpot Discoveries, a technology company that combines geoscience with Artificial Intelligence to improve ore deposit discovery and characterization. He is also the Chief Operations Officer for Golden Planet Mining, an exploration company with large exploration projects across Canada. Shawn is a Professional Geologist in Economic Geology (PGO and EGBC) with a Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence application for mineral exploration (CODES; University of Tasmania, Australia) and MSc in ore deposit characterization (MDRU; University of British Columbia). He maintains an External Researcher position at CODES where he lectures on the use of AI in mining.
Dr. Anelda Van Staden holds a Ph.D. in geology and is a senior process mineralogist with Teck Metals. She has 20 years experience in the mining industry and began her career at Anglo Research in South Africa in 2003 as a scientist before joining Teck in 2011. She applies her passion for rocks to help with the integration of mineralogical data sets for maximum gains and minimum risk at all levels of the mine life cycle. She has experience in a wide variety of mineralogical and geometallurgical applications pertaining to different ore deposits.
New Oil & Gas TAC Members
Sara McPhail is a petroleum geologist who has been working with the British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation in Victoria for the past fifteen years, focusing on British Columbia’s petroleum and natural gas resources and tenure management. Prior to joining the Ministry full-time, Sara obtained a B.Sc. in Earth and Ocean Sciences and Geography from the University of Victoria.
Dr. Steve Rogers is a Senior Principal Geoscientist and specialist in fractured rock and reservoir characterisation, Discrete Fracture Network (DFN) modelling and reservoir geomechanics with over 30 years of experience in the field. He graduated from Keele University, UK in 1987 with a BA in Geology and from Nottingham University in 1991 with a PhD in Mining Rock Mechanics. From 1991-2000 he worked for the British Geological Survey on fractured rock and reservoir characterization projects. Since 2000 he has worked for Golder (now WSP-Golder), providing fractured reservoir and geomechanics services, on projects around the world.
Ron Stefik is the Supervisor, Reservoir Engineering, at the British Columbia Oil and Gas Commission, based in Victoria. Ron has been with the Commission since inception in 1998, and previously with the BC Ministry of Energy. Ron is a professional engineer and leads a technical team responsible for well and production data, reserves, and reservoir projects including Carbon Capture and Storage.
For more information about the Geoscience BC TAC Committees visit https://www.geosciencebc.com/about-us/technical-advisory-committees/
Membership Program
Geoscience BC’s Corporate, Individual, Student and Associate membership program makes it easier for a wider range of partners to provide more input on, and benefit from, Geoscience BC research priorities and project ideas as the transition to a lower carbon economy increases demand for British Columbia’s natural resources.
About Geoscience BC
Geoscience BC generates independent, public geoscience research and data about British Columbia’s minerals, energy and water resources. This advances knowledge, informs responsible development, encourages investment and stimulates innovation.
Our collaboration with the resource sectors, academia, communities, Indigenous groups and government develops and shares unbiased and credible earth science research and data.
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For more information, please contact
Richard Truman
Geoscience BC
604-662-4147 / 778-929-1662