After graduating from the University of Saskatchewan (U of S), with his Bachelor of Arts in 1974, Austin joined the U of S staff, first as Special Assistant to the President, then as the University Space Manager, and later as part of the Physical Plant. In 1980 he was recruited by the Saskatchewan Economic Development Corporation to commence operations of Innovation Place, a research and development park adjacent to the U of S.

He moved to British Columbia, and was employed by the Ministry of Environment in Victoria from 1982 to 1986. He returned to Saskatoon in 1986 to resume work with Innovation Place. He oversaw the expansion of Saskatchewan’s research and development park system into the city of Regina, serving as acting General Manager of the Regina Research Park, (now Innovation Place – Regina), from March 1999 to May 2000. He is now the Director of Corporate Relations for Innovation Place.

Representing Innovation Place, Austin has consulted widely including the countries of Chile, Malaysia, Panama and Thailand, as well as several locations in Canada and the U.S., including most recently Ohio State University.

Austin is a member of the International Association of Science Parks (IASP), located in Malaga, Spain and the current President of the Association of University Research Parks (AURP), based in Washington, D.C.

Prior to his current assignment, “salmon biologist gone wrong,” Alex Bielak spent a year as A/Director General, S&T Strategies Directorate in Environment Canada’s new S&T Branch, where he set up the Directorate and led the team developing the Department’s new Science Plan. Before that he spent five years as the first Director of Science Liaison Branch at EC’s National Water Research Institute. There he led a group whose mission was communicating science knowledge and linking water science with policy development. In the past he has also held positions as Executive Director (Canada) of the Atlantic Salmon Federation, Director of Fisheries Management for New Brunswick, and Research Manager with two federal departments. Active in Environment Canada's national Science and Technology Management Community, he spearheaded the development of a pilot Communications Training Workshop for scientists featured at an international conference on "Best Practices for Communication of Science and Technology to the Public." An alumnus of the first-ever Science Communications Residency at the Banff Centre in 2006 (a program led by Jay Ingram), he is co-leading a ground-breaking project on science policy linkages. Alex sits on various boards, including that of the Canadian Science Writers’ Association. How to effectively communicate science has been the common thread throughout his career - and his passion!

Dr. Pierre Coulombe joined the National Research Council as NRC President on 14 February 2005. In announcing his appointment, the Honourable David L. Emerson, Minister of Industry stated, "With a wealth of experience in university, public and private sectors, Dr. Coulombe is well equipped to support the commercialization of science, making Canada more innovative and competitive in the development, deployment and use of new technologies. I look forward to the continued growth of Canada's research base and the success of the NRC under his leadership."

Prior to heading up the federal government's leading science and technology organization, Dr. Coulombe worked as a private industry executive, a consultant, a professor of medicine and a senior official for the Québec government.

His former roles include being Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Centre de recherche industrielle du Québec, as well as President and CEO of both the Centre de recherche informatique de Montréal and Infectio Diagnostic Inc (IDI). During his private sector experience at IDI, he helped showcase Canada's leadership in medical research and diagnostic technology, completing rounds of private equity financing and negotiating major research contracts.

Dr. Coulombe various public service positions with the Québec provincial government culminated in his Assistant Deputy Minister appointments for Technology with the ministère de l'Industrie et du Commerce and for Operations with the ministère du Commerce extérieur et de la Technologie. Earlier in his career he was Director for Technological Innovation with the ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur et de la Science and he was a senior executive with the ministère de la Science et de la Technologie, a department he helped to establish in 1984.

In the academic world, Dr. Coulombe was a Medical Research Council scholar and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Université Laval in Quebec. His educational background includes earning three degrees from that same university: a Ph.D in Experimental Medicine; a B.Sc. in Applied Sciences (Physics Engineering); and a B.A. Dr. Coulombe completed his research training at the Yeshiva University of New York and the University of Minnesota. He has authored numerous publications and communications in the area of endocrinology.

Over the years, Dr. Coulombe has served on numerous boards of directors and committees. He is also a member of l'Ordre des Ingénieurs du Québec, l'Ordre des Administrateurs Agrées du Québec, as well as Associate member of the CFA Institute.

Jean Guy d’Entremont was born in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, on March 23, 1961. He currently resides in West Pubnico with his wife and three sons. Jean Guy graduated from St. Anne du Ruisseau High School in 1979 and joined his father, uncle, and three cousins in the fish business. Jean Guy is currently President and owner of Scotia Harvest Seafoods Inc. as well as President and part-owner of Marro Management Inc.

At age 23, Jean Guy skippered an inshore dragger and fished extensively in the Bay of Fundy, Scotian Shelf, and out around Sable Island. He successfully completed his Fishing Masters Class 4 course in 1987. After seven years as skipper, he regained a position on shore to help coordinate the fleet of 5 vessels once the ITQ system was put in place.

In 1994, Jean Guy initiated the work to develop the Joint Industry/DFO ITQ groundfish survey that has been ongoing since 1995.

Jean Guy was one of the original six fishermen that first sat down to develop a Canadian Code of Conduct for Responsible Fishing Operations in which the consensus code was adopted in 1998.

In 1998, he was appointed to the Fisheries Resource Conservation Council by the Federal Minister of Fisheries. In 2002, the Minister appointed Jean Guy vice-Chair of the Council and as President in November 2003.

In 2000, Jean Guy’s peers appointed him Co-Chair of the North Atlantic Responsible Fishing Council Steering Committee. His duties have been co-chairing the 2nd and 3rd North Atlantic Responsible Fishing Conferences; in St. John’s, Newfoundland, in November of 2000, and on June 9-11, 2003 in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. The North Atlantic Responsible Fishing Council Steering Committee has the duty to promote responsible fishing practices across the North Atlantic.

Cassie Doyle was appointed Deputy Minister of Natural Resources Canada in June 2006.
Previously, she had been with Environment Canada — first as Assistant Deputy Minister of Human Resources and Service Innovation, then as Associate Deputy Minister beginning in December 2003.

Ms. Doyle came to the Government of Canada from the British Columbia Assets and Land Corporation, where she was President and CEO. From 1992 to 1999, Ms. Doyle held senior positions in the Government of British Columbia, including Deputy Minister of Environment, Lands and Parks; Small Business, Tourism and Culture; and Housing and Consumer Services, as well as Assistant Deputy Minister of Municipal Affairs.

Earlier in her career, she occupied various positions with the City of Ottawa and, in 1987 she was the Executive Director of the International Year of Shelter for the Homeless.

Ms. Doyle holds a Master of Social Work degree in Public Policy and Administration and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology.

Michael Horgan began his career in the Public Service as an energy economist for the Department of Finance in 1978. Since that time, he has served in a number of positions, including Executive Assistant to the Senior Assistant Deputy Minister (Policy) at Energy, Mines and Resources Canada; Assistant Director, Sales and Excise Tax Division, Department of Finance; Director, Economic Policy and Analysis, Environment Canada; and Director, International Economic Analysis, Department of Finance.

From 1992 to 1996, Mr. Horgan was Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet (Priorities and Planning), Privy Council Office. In August of 1996 he was appointed Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet (Intergovernmental Policy and Communications), Privy Council Office. In March 1998 he was made Executive Vice-President and Associate Deputy Minister, Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA). He became President of ACOA on April 1, 1999.

On September 4, 2001, Mr. Horgan was appointed Senior Associate Deputy Minister of Finance and on June 16, 2003 he assumed the additional responsibility of G-7 Deputy for Canada. He became Deputy Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada on December 12, 2003.

Most recently, Mr. Horgan was appointed Deputy Minister of Environment Canada on May 23, 2006.

Mr. Horgan carried out his undergraduate studies in Economics and Political Science at Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec. He completed graduate degrees in Economics at both Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and Princeton University in New Jersey.

A 30 year veteran in communications, Bob Laliberté’s diverse expertise as an entrepreneur, strategist and public servant give him a unique perspective on communications and its true value to the organization.

Currently Director of Communications and Corporate Relations at the National Research Council Canada (NRC), Mr. Laliberté leads NRC’s corporate-wide communications activities, including communications strategy, planning and policy as well as diverse programs in advertising, media relations, science outreach, public opinion research, corporate branding, internal and Web communications. Throughout his career, Mr. Laliberté has developed and managed numerous major communications campaigns for a number of Departments and Agencies.

A graduate of both Queen’s University and the University of Ottawa, Mr. Laliberté has received numerous awards of excellence from organizations such as the International Association of Business Communicators.

Tim Lougheed has been a full time freelance writer and editor in Ottawa since 1991. Since 2005 he has also been the president of the Canadian Science Writers’ Association, an organization made up of more than 500 members across the country who share an interest in the communication of issues surrounding science, technology, and medicine.

Focusing primarily on science, technology, medicine, and education, he has written hundreds of articles appearing in specialized and general publications, in Canada as well as internationally. Titles include: Arthritis News, Biotechnology Focus, Canadian Consumer, Canada Research Horizons, Canadian Geographic, Canadian Medical Association Journal, Equinox, Family Practice, The Financial Times of Canada, Laboratory Focus, The Medical Post, National Post, New Scientist, Ottawa Business Quarterly, Ottawa Citizen, TIME Magazine, University Affairs, Vanguard.

In addition, he has also done other types of communications work with various organizations, including contract writing and editing for Abitibi Consolidated, AUTO21 Network of Centres of Excellence, Bombardier Aeronautical, the Association of Universities & Colleges of Canada, Canada Foundation for Innovation, Canadian Museum of Nature, Carleton University, CBC Radio, Environment Canada, Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Health Canada, Industry Canada, International Development Research Centre, Natural Resources Canada, National Research Council of Canada, Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council, Nortel Networks, University of Ottawa.

He has also worked as a reporter with the Windsor Star and the Sault Star, and as a science writer for Queen’s University. In 1985 he became the first Canadian to complete the media management and entrepreneurship program at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Petersburg, Florida. He also has degrees from the University of Western Ontario, University of Toronto, and Queen’s University.

Jenny Manzer is a writer and editor in Victoria, B.C., with an interest and expertise in covering health and medical stories.

Her background in science writing includes five years as a writer and editor at the Toronto-based Medical Post, a weekly national newspaper for physicians.

As a freelancer, Manzer has written for some of the country’s best-read newspapers and magazines, from Chatelaine to the Globe and Mail. Her work has been recognized with several awards, including the Law Society of B.C. Award for Excellence in Legal Journalism.

In 2005, she received the prestigious Michener-Deacon Fellowship to write a series of articles on Canada’s drug safety system, which was published in the Ottawa Citizen. She is currently the associate editor at British Columbia Magazine, a travel and geographic quarterly.

Professor Ben Martin was Director of SPRU (Science and Technology Policy Research) at the University of Sussex from 1997 to 2004. He has carried out research for over 25 years in the field of science policy. In the earliest work with John Irvine, he helped to establish techniques for the evaluation of scientific laboratories and of research programmes. A second area in which he has made an impact is empirical comparisons of national scientific performance and in particular work on the relative decline of British science. A third contribution was to produce the first truly comparable international statistics on government funding of academic and related research. The fourth area of activity has been the collaborative work with John Irvine which pioneered the notion of Œforesight‚ as a tool for looking into the longer-term future of science and technology with the aim of identifying areas of strategic research and emerging generic technologies likely to yield the greatest economic or social benefits. He was a member of the Steering Group for the UK Foresight Programme from 1993 to 2000. He led the SPRU team that produced the influential review for HM Treasury on the benefits from government funding of basic research. More recently, he has carried out research on the changing nature and role of the university, and on the impact of the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). In2004-05, he served as Deputy Chair of the EU High-Level Expert Group advising the European Commission on the potential benefits of establishing a European Research Council. He has published seven books, eight monographs and official government reports, and approximately 50 journal articles, and produced 170 other reports and papers. He is an Editor of Research Policy, a former member of the Technical Opportunities Panel (TOP) of EPSRC, and the 1997 winner of the Derek de Solla Price Medal for Science Studies.

Dr. May was born in St. John’s, Nfld, and attended University at Memorial and McGill. He is a marine biologist by profession and spent some 13 years conducting research on haddock, cod and atlantic salmon, spending much time at sea between the Grand Bank and Greenland.

He moved to Ottawa in the early 70’s to direct the National Fisheries Science Program in the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, then became ADM Atlantic Fisheries, and in 1982 Deputy Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. In 1985 he became President of NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council), and in 1990 moved back to St. John’s as President of Memorial University.

Since retirement in 1999, he has been active on a number of public sector Boards (Chairman of the ACOA Atlantic Innovation Fund Advisory Board, member of the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation Board, NRC Monograph Editorial Board), as well as Chairman of One Ocean – a consortium of offshore petroleum and fishing industries. He is also a past Board member and current member of the Atlantic Council of World Wildlife Canada.

He has recently engaged in the study and appreciation of wine, including at least one tour annually to the world’s major wine producing regions. He aspires to “play his age” in golf, a game taken up only in recent years, but will need to reach 100+ in order to achieve this goal.

He is an Officer of the Order of Canada (1995), holds Honorary degrees from Memorial, Ottawa and Brock Universities, and is a recipient of the Admirals’ Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Marine Policy.

Véronique Morin is a journalist with 20 years experience and believes strongly that Science should have an important place in a daily newscast. She has 20 years experience as a journalist. She was science reporter and co-host of Panorama on Ontario's public network and has filed more than one hundred current affairs reports on Science, the environment and technologies for television. Her documentary on Hubert Reeves was nominated at the "Festival international des films scientifiques" in 1994. Véronique Morin was elected president of the Canadian Science Writers' Association (CSWA) in 2001 and re-elected in 2003 for a second two-year term, which ended in June of 2005. She was elected the first president of the World Federation of Science Journalists (WFSJ) at its' founding meeting Brazil in November 2002. She also served as a judge for Industry Canada's Science Culture Canada program between 1993-95.

Dr. Gordon Neish is the Director General, Bioproducts and Bioprocesses, in Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) Research Branch where he leads a team of 348 researchers and support staff responsible for the Developing new opportunities for agriculture from bioresources priority. He is also responsible for the implementation of the recently announced $145 million Agricultural Bioproducts Innovation Program which is open to R&D performers in the public and private sectors and academia.

Dr. Neish is a graduate of Acadia University (B.Sc., Honours in Biology) and the University of British Columbia (Ph.D.). He joined AAFC in 1978 as a research scientist responsible for a research program on the biology and taxonomy of toxigenic fungi, and subsequently has had a series of increasingly responsible management positions in Ottawa, ON, Lethbridge, AB, Swift Current, SK, and Summerland, BC. Prior to joining the public service, Dr. Neish was an Assistant Professor in the Botany Department of the University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI.

During his career he has been engaged in a wide range of research or research management activities including biotechnology, bioresources, crop protection, and sustainable agriculture. Currently he has a particular interest in the development of multidisciplinary, multi-sectoral R&D networks as a means of enhancing the effectiveness of S&T delivery aimed at achieving national economic and social objectives.

Marc Saner joined the Council of Canadian Academies as the Executive Vice-President and Director of Assessments in 2006. He has 15 years of experience carrying out assessments and analytical work in the natural sciences and humanities. For the last decade, his primary interest has been the intersection of governance, ethics and science.

After receiving his Ph.D. in applied ecology (University of Basel, Switzerland, 1991), Dr. Saner assessed the environmental risk of biological and chemical pesticides for both Environment Canada and Health Canada. He subsequently obtained an M.A. in philosophy with a specialization in the environmental ethics of biotechnology (Carleton University, 1999). Dr. headed a consultancy specializing in the analytical and practical aspects of risk management and other issues at the interface of science and policy such as the precautionary principle and the integration of science, workplace and policy ethics. During this period, he also taught environmental ethics at Carleton University and managed its Ethics and Policy Issues Centre.

Dr. David W. Schindler holds the Killam Memorial Chair and is Professor of Ecology at the University of Alberta, Edmonton. From 1968 to 1989, as a scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, he founded and directed the Experimental Lakes Project near Kenora, Ontario, conducting experiments on whole ecosystems to directly test the effects of nutrient inputs, acid rain, climate change and other human insults. His work on eutrophication and acid rain has been widely used in formulating ecological management policy in Canada, the USA and in Europe.

Dr. Schindler received his doctorate from Oxford University, where he studied under Charles Elton as a Rhodes Scholar. He has served as President of the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, and as a Canadian National Representative to the International Limnological Society. He is the author of over 280 scientific publications.

Dr. Schindler has received numerous national and international research awards, including the the first Rigler Medal of the Canadian Society of Limnologists (1984), the 1984 Outstanding Achievement Award of the Institute of American Fisheries Biologists, 1985 G.E. Hutchinson Medal of the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, the 1988 Naumann-Thienemann Medal of the International Limnological Society, the first (1991) Stockholm Water Prize, the Volvo International Environment Prize (1998), the Queen’s Jubilee Medal (2003) the 2003 Killam Prize for Natural Sciences (2003) and the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement (2006). In 2001 he was awarded Canada’s highest scientific honor, the NSERC Gerhard Herzberg Gold Medal for Science and Engineering. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Royal Society of London (UK), a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, and a member of the U. S. National Academy of Sciences. He has received ten honorary doctorates from Canadian and US universities. In January 2004 he was appointed an Officer in the Order of Canada.

In Alberta, Dr. Schindler was a federal member of the Alberta Pacific Review Panel (1989-90). He chaired Alberta Environment’s 2005 review of Lake Wabamun. He was a member of the Alberta Government’s Environmental Protection Committee (2006), and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the provincial Safety, Security and Environment Institute. From 2000 until 2003 he was a member of Environment Canada’s Science and Technology Advisory Board.

As President of the CFIA, Ms. Swan is responsible for carrying out the Agency’s mandate to safeguard Canada’s food supply and the plants and animals upon which safe and high quality food depends.

Prior to joining the CFIA, Ms. Swan served as Senior Associate Deputy Minister, Industry Canada, a position she was appointed to in June 2006.

During her career in the federal public service, Ms. Swan held other senior positions within Industry Canada and the Treasury Board, and has worked in a number of departments and agencies including the Privy Council Office, the Office of Privatization and Regulatory Affairs, the Department of Regional and Industrial Expansion, the Ministry of State for Economic Development, Status of Women Canada and the Department of Communications.

Carole Swan was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba and holds a Masters degree in Economics and a Bachelors Honours degree in Economics, both from the University of Manitoba.

John Vines is the Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers, Australia (APESMA). Mr. Vines was appointed Executive Director of the Association of Professional Engineers Australia (APEA), one of the organizations that through successive mergers became APESMA, in 1984. He has played a central role in creating novel and highly successful membership services, including a standard-setting Management Education Program. He is currently the World President of the Professional and Managerial Staff Committee of the Union Network International.

Dr. Wendy Watson-Wright is the Assistant Deputy Minister (ADM), Science Sector, in Fisheries and Oceans Canada. In this role, she is responsible for providing the leadership and policy and scientific direction for science activities in the department, including oceanography, hydrography, and fisheries, aquaculture, habitat, climate and aquatic ecosystem science. She is currently co-chair of the federal ADM S&T Integration Board as well as of the Industry Canada-led ADM committee on S&T.

Dr. Watson-Wright joined the federal public service in 1989 as a research scientist and Head of the Shellfish Toxin section of Inspection Services branch of DFO (now part of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency). Since then she has held various other positions, including Director of the DFO St. Andrews (NB) Biological Station, Director General of DFO Audit and Evaluation, and Director General of Strategic Policy and later Associate ADM of Health Canada’s Population and Public Health Branch (now the Public Health Agency of Canada).

Dr. Watson-Wright holds a Ph.D. in Physiology and a M.Sc. in Exercise Physiology from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She is or has been a member of several boards including the Networks of Centres of Excellence ArcticNet and GEOIDE, the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Science, and the Ocean Sciences Board of the University of Victoria. She is also head of the Canadian delegation for the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.

Janice Zinck is Manager of Natural Resources Canada’s Mine Waste Management Program, a position she has held since 2001. In her role, she directs and manages multi-disciplinary research teams to deliver sound science in support of policy and industrial needs particularly in the area of mine site reclamation and decommissioning, water management and waste minimization.

Janice Zinck has over sixteen years experience in mine waste management research. She has written over 40 papers and holds patents for mine water treatment processes. Her area of expertise includes mine sludge management, acidic drainage treatment, waste reuse/recovery and impurity control. She also has considerable experience in matters relating to mining waste stabilities and disposal, environmental site impact statements and assessments for mines.

She holds a Masters of Engineering (Metallurgy), and two Bachelors of Science (Earth Sciences and Chemistry).