Vancouver B.C.
September 20-21, 2022
Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle Downtown Hotel

Mr. Bill Laturnus is a Senior Safety Advisor, Manufacturing at the British Columbia Forest Safety Council (BCFSC). Bill has extensive experience in sawmill operations, and as a proponent of Process Safety Management (PSM), supports the incorporation of practical applications of PSM at wood pellet worksites. Bill has recently conducted key safety activities focusing on risk reduction of hazards in wood pellet operations (WPAC). Bill also has 13 years of experience auditing Safety Management Systems (SMS) in forest products manufacturing.

Dr. Fahimeh Yazdan Panah is the director of research and technical development at the Wood Pellet Association of Canada and a Research Associate at the University of British Columbia. She has been engaged in research and discovery in the emerging area of bioenergy for over 15 years and have managed bioenergy projects for a variety of clients including governments, manufacturers and technology developers. She has led biofuel densification, pretreatment, storage and handling research studies for 10 years and has co-authored more than 80 technical reports and peer-reviewed publications in the field. Fahimeh also serves as the Project Lead within ISO Technical Committee 238 (Solid Biofuels) and served as the Chair within ISO Technical Committee 300 (Solid Recovered Biofuels) for two years. She received her PhD and MASc from Chemical and Biological Engineering Department at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and she holds a bachelor’s degree from Amirkabir University of Technology. She is also a registered Professional Engineer with EGBC and Professional Project Manager with PMI.

Dr. Jamie Stephen is the Managing Director of TorchLight Bioresources, a decarbonization strategy and policy advisor for national, provincial, and municipal governments, First Nations, utilities, airlines, large industrial emitters, property developers, and investment funds. Projects range from the development of energy facilities to national strategies on meeting Net Zero targets. He has two decades of experience in the bioenergy industry, working at the interface of the energy, forestry, agriculture, and waste sectors. Dr. Stephen holds a PhD in Forest and Energy Economics and a Masters in Chemical and Biological Engineering from the University of British Columbia. After growing up in the prairies and spending over a decade in eastern Ontario, he now resides with his wife and three daughters in Nova Scotia.

Having been on the ground in sawmill and woodlands operations, as well as the corporate finance aspect of the industry – working in mergers, acquisitions, and project financing, Gordon Murray joined the Wood Pellet Association of Canada in 2009. Today, 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. Gordon Murray has a bachelor of science in forestry. He is a registered professional forester and a chartered professional accountant.

Jeff Mycroft B.Sc, is a leading expert in explosion protection and the Ontario Regional Sales Manager for Fike Canada.  Fike are world leaders in explosion protection, as well as overpressure protection.  Jeff has been with Fike Canada for over 20 years and is a frequent speaker at industry events, governmental bodies, inspection agencies all across Canada. He has an Honours Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry, and has received various professional certifications and designations.  Jeff is experienced in the design and application of

Explosion Protection Systems, as well as navigating the relevant governing documents, codes, and standards.

Karen Brandt is a communications professional who has a passion for sustainability and for the past 30 years she has held a number of senior positions in the public and private sectors where she has built common positions and partnerships with First Nations, environmental groups, customers and governments. She holds an honours Bachelor of Journalism (minor Political Science) from Carleton University in Ottawa.

Kayleigh has more than 12 years of professional experience working across a range of industries, including wood processing, aerospace, oil and gas, and nuclear. She holds a Master of Applied Science from Dalhousie University in chemical engineering, specializing in process safety and risk management. After graduating, Kayleigh has worked in risk management in a range of sectors, including wood products manufacturing and healthcare.

Kayleigh has provided technical guidance for a range of health and safety, environmental protection, and continuous improvement programs. Kayleigh leverages this diverse experience to provide holistic risk management support across organizations of all sizes. Kayleigh is specialized in process safety and hazard analysis and helps organizations protect their operations and personnel, enhance productivity, and improve health and safety metrics.

Kayleigh is a registered Professional Engineer (NS, BC) and holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical), as well as a Bachelor of Science (Honours) (Chemistry).

Roger Keery joined Skeena Sawmills in 2014 as VP Operations and moved to the President’s role in Nov 2018.   He is also the President of Skeena Bioenergy, a standalone company incorporated to operate the wood pellet plant built by Skeena in 2019.    Born and raised in an entrepreneurial  sawmilling and logging family in British Columbia, he has over 40 years of forest industry experience.   This includes working around the province in various areas of the industry with a strong focus on Northern B.C.  Starting work as a Mechanical Designer for Ainsworth Lumber in 100 Mile House and them moving to B.C. Forest Products Mackenzie Division for 15 years.   He has also managed remanufacturing plants, engineered wood plants, a sawmill equipment design and manufacturing business, specialty sawmills as well as consulting for Forest companies in Canada and New Zealand.    A UBC graduate in Mechanical Engineering, he is a registered Professional Engineer and has held positions on several industry committees.

Away from work at Skeena he enjoys golf, building furniture, painting and taking long trekking holidays with his wife.

For more than 25 years, Scott has worked across the forest products industry in diverse leadership roles in mill operations, residual based renewable energy production (wood pellets), and major capital projects execution and commissioning.

As the Chief Executive Officer for Peak Renewables, Scott is responsible for the people, culture, and operational execution of all aspects of Peak’s business. Scott is passionate about Team, believes in leading with empathy and fostering a strong performance management culture that is based on candor, respect, and accountability.

Prior to joining Peak, Scott served as the Chief Operating Officer at Pinnacle Renewable Energy. During his tenure, Scott’s leadership led Pinnacle’s growth from a 800,000 MT of annual production wood pellet producer to becoming the world’s second largest wood pellet producer with production capacity of 2.8 MM MT/yr with annual revenue exceeding $400MM.  A champion of safety driven culture and enthusiastic leader, Scott was deeply involved the planning, construction, marketing, and commissioning of 5 green field pellet facilities across North America.

Scott holds an MBA from the University of Alberta, a Master of Forestry from the University of Alberta and a B.Sc. (Env) from the University of Guelph.  Scott sits on the Board of BC Forest Safety Council and the Executive Health and Safety Council of BC. Scott is also the CEO of One Sky Forest Products and the VP Fibre for Hydrogen Naturally.

Vaughan Bassett is a senior vice-president of Pinnacle Renewable Energy Inc. based in Vancouver, B.C., where he is responsible for the commercial, logistics and sustainability activities of the company.

Vaughan is a director for the Wood Pellet Association of Canada and is currently serving as president. He is also a director for the London-based Sustainable Biomass Program Ltd (SBP). Vaughan is past chairman of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters association, BC Division. Vaughan has an extensive career in international business, particularly in the forest products industry.

Previously, he spent almost 20 years with Sappi, a global pulp and paper company. As their executive in charge of their world-wide pulp sales, he was stationed in Hong Kong for 10 years before moving to Canada in 2007. He joined Pinnacle in 2011. Vaughan earned his BSc. from the University of Natal and his MBA from the University of the Witwatersrand, both located in South Africa.

Vaughn Palmer’s hard-hitting columns have seen him cover the feats and follies of B.C.’s premiers for almost 40 years. An award-winning journalist, Palmer is the Vancouver Sun’s provincial political columnist, based in Victoria. Palmer is a regular commentator on radio station CKNW in Vancouver.

Palmer is the recipient of the Bruce Hutchison Lifetime Achievement Award from the Jack Webster foundation, a co-winner of the Jack Webster award for reporting, and a recipient of the Hyman Solomon award for excellence in public policy journalism from the Canadian Public Policy Forum. Since 1984, Palmer has examined an extensive range of issues, personalities and scandals that have come to define B.C.’s political scene.

William Strauss is the president and founder of FutureMetrics, LLC. Bill and his FutureMetrics team are globally recognized as the leading experts 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 director of Maine Energy Systems, the largest manufacturer of European style automatic pellet fuelled central heating systems in North America. Bill is the 2012 recipient of the International Excellence in Bioenergy award and was named as one of the most influential leaders in the biomass sector in 2016 and 2017 by Argus Media. Bill has more than 40 years of strategic and policy planning, project management, data analysis, operations, and modeling experience in the renewable energy sector. He has an MBA (specializing in Finance) and a Ph.D. (Economics, Earth Systems Science).