SPEAKERS

Jane Taber

Senior Vice President | NATIONAL Public Relations, Atlantic

Jane Taber is a former Globe and Mail political journalist who spent more than 25 years covering Parliament Hill and Queen’s Park.

During her tenure on Parliament Hill with the Globe, Jane was also co-host of CTV’s Question Period – and she has spent more hours than she can count on campaign buses and planes following the leaders during federal election campaigns. She’s interviewed the country’s main political players, covered leadership contests, trade deals, international summits and the important issues of the day.

She also worked as communications director to the former Premier of Nova Scotia.

Jane specializes in media training, having coached CEOs of major Canadian companies, the heads of national law firms and senior cabinet ministers and MPs.

In addition to media training and coaching, Jane is also focused on moderating panels and conferences, media relations and speech writing, crisis communications and post-secondary labour issues. Jane is a graduate of Carleton University’s journalism program and was appointed to the Carleton University Board of Governors in June 2019 and re-appointed to another three-year term in 2022. Jane also served as a mentor to the Public Policy Forum’s Action Canada leadership fellows.

Simon Arseneau

Technical Director, Geostructural and Heavy Civil Engineering | GHD

Simon D. Arseneau is Technical Director, Geostructural and Heavy Civil Engineering at GHD in Montreal, Quebec. With more than 18 years of experience, Simon specializes in the planning, design, and delivery of complex civil infrastructure, including dams, hydraulic structures, foundations, tunnels, and major earthworks projects. He is recognized for integrating geotechnical, geostructural, and heavy civil engineering solutions to address complex technical challenges while balancing project risks, constructability, environmental considerations, and stakeholder needs.

Cherie Babineau

Senior Engineer | GHD

Cherie Babineau, P.Eng., PMP is a Senior Engineer, Project Manager, and GHD Associate with more than 14 years of experience leading complex decommissioning, demolition, closure planning, and environmental projects across Canada. She specializes in helping clients transition aging industrial and utility assets through strategic closure planning, environmental assessment, stakeholder engagement, risk management, cost estimating, procurement support, and project delivery.
Cherie has managed multidisciplinary closure projects for clients in the power, mining, industrial, and pulp and paper sectors, including hydroelectric facilities, thermal generating stations, mine sites, industrial plants, and large-scale contaminated sites. Her experience spans the full closure lifecycle, from feasibility studies and closure planning through detailed design, procurement, construction support, and post-construction monitoring.

For the Milltown Dam decommissioning project, Cherie served as GHD’s Project Manager, coordinating GHD’s multidisciplinary team and supporting project planning, design, environmental, regulatory, and construction-phase activities for one of Canada’s most significant recent hydropower decommissioning and river restoration projects.

François Berset

Sales Manager | MC-monitoring SA

François Berset, Dipl. Eng. HES and Executive MBA, is Sales Manager at MC-monitoring SA, a Swiss company developing and manufacturing condition monitoring systems for power-generating machinery. With a career spanning more than 30 years in engineering and technology, he brings a rare combination of deep technical expertise and commercial acumen to the global hydropower market.

Over the last 7 years, François oversees sales across a diverse portfolio of international territories — including India, France, Northen and Eastern Europe, Middle East, Southeast Asia, and recently Canada. Across these markets, he promotes with the help of local partners & distributors integrated condition monitoring solutions encompassing sensors, data acquisition systems, and software for power plant units, with a primary focus on the hydropower segment. He works closely with plant operators and OEMs to bring solutions to protect and optimize turbine-generator units through continuous vibration monitoring and machinery diagnostics.

Carolyn Brown

Environmental Scientist and Toxicologist | Ecoreg Solutions

Carolyn has over 15 years of experience assessing environmental impacts, focusing on aquatic environments. After working for 10 years in environmental consulting, she returned to school to pursue a PhD. Her research focused on the improvements that can be made to the baseline and prediction phases of Environmental Impact Assessments to improve post-development monitoring, using the Mactaquac Hydroelectric Generating Station as a case study. Carolyn joined Ecoreg Solutions over two years ago and serves as a project manager and provides technical expertise to assist mining, nuclear, hydropower, and municipal clients with their projects. Carolyn is on the board for the Laurentian Chapter of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, actively participates in the Environment and Science Committee of the Ontario Mining Association, and recently joined the WaterPower Canada Fisheries and Environmental Affairs Working Group.

Pierre-Olivier Côté

Biologist | BBA Consultants

Pierre-Olivier Côté is a biologist with more than 20 years of experience in environmental consulting. As an environmental professional at BBA, his work has focused on aquatic ecosystems, environmental assessments, habitat compensation, and environmental monitoring. He has supported all phases of project development, from baseline studies and environmental impact assessment, to permitting and regulatory compliance.

As Aquatic Team Lead, Pierre-Olivier works closely with environmental specialists involved in projects throughout Québec while continuing to support projects as a project manager, director, and technical advisor.

His experience spans numerous small-scale dike and dam projects, as well as the three community-led hydropower projects developed in partnership with Indigenous communities in Québec in recent years: Onzième Chute (Mistassini), Val-Jalbert (Ouiatchouan), and Matawak (Matawin). He has also worked on a wide range of initiatives involving First Nations, including mining baseline studies, aquatic habitat compensation projects, and environmental monitoring programs.

Drawing on both his own experience and the collective expertise of multidisciplinary teams at BBA, Pierre-Olivier helps advance collaborative approaches to environmental management and First Nation participation. His work across different sectors has provided opportunities to work alongside First Nations in a variety of contexts, helping to broaden his perspective on effective engagement and knowledge sharing.

Daniel Giesbrecht

Senior Mechanical Engineer | KGS Group

Mr. Giesbrecht is a Mechanical Engineer at KGS Group. He has over 15 years of experience providing mechanical design for gates, hoists, balance of plant and turbine systems for hydroelectric and industrial projects. His experience includes the installation and commissioning of turbine, generator and gate systems, as well as overhauls, dam safety reviews and turbine performance testing.

James “Jake” Heron

Chief Negotiator | Northwest Territory Métis Nation

James A (Jake) Heron is an Indigenous Metis born and raised in Fort Smith, NWT. He has a wide range of project and economic development experience includes appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of the first Pan-Territorial birthright economic development corporation, the NWT Metis Development Corporation. Some the early joint venture activities included being a 25% shareholder with the Denedeh Development Corporation that acquired a 50% interest in Shehta Drilling Ltd with ESSO Resources on the expansion of the Norman Wells oilfield. He also had a long career in senior management with the Government of Northwest Territories (GNWT), where he held various senior-level positions including President of the NWT Housing Corporation, Deputy Minister of the Department of Personnel and Assistant Deputy Minister in the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations. For the past decade he has assisted the Northwest Territory Métis Nation on a variety of important files, including as Chief Negotiator for Land and Resource and Self Government Negotiations, and technical advisor for the advancement of the Taltson Hydro Expansion Project.

Melissa Holland

Senior Vice-President of Capital Infrastructure Project Delivery | BC Hydro

Melissa Holland is BC Hydro’s Senior Vice-President of Capital Infrastructure Project Delivery. This portfolio is comprised of Indigenous Relations, Environment, Properties and Project Delivery and is responsible for delivering $23B in capital investment projects including properties, dam safety, generation and transmission stations, lines, telecom and interconnection projects.

Melissa has more than 23 years of experience in the energy and utilities sector including strategy, regulatory, environmental assessment, aboriginal consultation, project and program management, large capital project development and contractor claims defence. She believes how we work and communicate is as important as what we work on.

Melissa holds an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario and currently serves as Chair of the Powertech Board of Directors. She lives in Vancouver with her family.

Terence Hubbard

President | Impact Assessment Agency of Canada

Terence Hubbard was appointed President of the Impact Assessment Agency (IAAC) on November 28, 2021. In his role, he is responsible for leading all reviews of major projects under the Impact Assessment Act, in cooperation with other Government of Canada regulatory agencies, as well as provinces and territories and Indigenous groups.

Prior to joining IAAC in 2018, Terence was Director General of the Petroleum Resources Branch with Natural Resources Canada. In this role, he had responsibility for Canada’s oil and gas policy, including overseeing the development and implementation of Canada’s pipeline safety and offshore oil and gas regulatory regimes as well as serving as Canada’s representative on the Governing Board of the International Energy Agency.
He is a graduate of the University of Saskatchewan where he obtained both his Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees in economics and now lives in Ottawa.

Patrick Jeandroz

Head, Research & Development, Data Science and AI | Hydro-Québec

Patrick Jeandroz holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Computer Science and a Master’s degree in Operations Research. He has been with Hydro-Québec since 2002, serving in various optimization and mathematical modeling leadership roles before becoming R&D Manager for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at Hydro-Québec’s Research Institute (IREQ) in 2018. He leads a team of 25 researchers specializing in machine learning and operations research. Their work focuses on developing advanced decision-support solutions to support asset management and the planning and operation of modern energy systems.

Michael Ladha

Vice-President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary | Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro

Michael Ladha is the Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary at Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro. He is responsible for oversight of our legal, governance and supply chain matters. After graduating from Memorial University in 2006 with a Bachelor of Business Administration, Michael went on to receive his Bachelor of Laws from the University of New Brunswick in 2009. Michael is currently an elected Bencher of the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador and a member of the Executive of the Newfoundland and Labrador Chapter of the Institute of Corporate Directors. He currently serves on the Canadian Law Awards Advisory Panel and was appointed King’s Counsel in 2022. Michael is a strong advocate for the advancement of diversity, equity and inclusion through his governance and volunteer work and has extensive experience serving on boards of non-profit, member-based, community-based and professional organizations. Michael’s hard work and passion were recognized as the 2020 recipient of the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association’s Up and Comer Award and as an Honoree of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 in 2021.

Drew Leyburne

Assistant Deputy Minister, Energy Systems | Natural Resources Canada (NRCan)

Drew Leyburne is Assistant Deputy Minister for Energy Systems at Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). Prior to this, he served in various senior executive roles at NRCan, worked at the Privy Council Office, and was an Associate with McKinsey & Co. in Toronto. Drew holds degrees from Oxford University and Bishop’s University.

Albert Mikhail

Turbine Performance Testing Specialist | KGS Group

Albert Mikhail has over 48 years of experience in the hydropower sector and has performed over 600 turbine operational and performance acceptance tests. He specializes in pre- and post-unit rehabilitation performance comparisons, applying a range of analytical methods – many of which he developed himself – to assess hydroelectric unit performance.  Albert was also involved in developing the testing methods for the International Water Sharing Agreement between Canada and the United States at Niagara Falls.

Liam Nazar

Mechanical Engineer | KGS Group

Mr. Nazar is a Mechanical Engineer at KGS Group. He has 5 years of experience providing mechanical engineering support for gates, hoists, balance of plant, turbine systems, and energy dissipation systems on hydroelectric projects, including design reviews, owner’s engineering, and site support. His experience includes factory acceptance testing of turbines, as well as factory acceptance testing, installation, and commissioning of gates and hoists, along with supporting dam safety reviews.

Emmanuel Ngue

CEO and Principal Engineer | EN Solutions Hydro

Emmanuel Ngue is a licensed engineer in Quebec with a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering applied to Hydropower from École Polytechnique Montréal and a Maintenance Management Professional certificate from PEMAC. With over a decade in the energy industry, including roles at Andritz Hydro and GE Vernova, he has led major refurbishment and installation projects in Canada and the U.S. He is the founder of EN Solutions Hydro, a Canadian firm pioneering AI-powered maintenance solutions for the hydroelectric sector.

Abe Schneider

Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer | Natel Energy

Abe Schneider is co-founder and CTO of Natel Energy. He leads the hydraulic design of Natel’s FishSafe turbines, in addition to contributing to R&D and external affairs. Before starting Natel in 2009 with his sister, Gia, he was a mechanical engineer at The Timken Company and Makani Power. He earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from MIT. In his free time Abe enjoys surfing, climbing, fly fishing, and beekeeping with his wife and children in San Francisco.

Camilo Serna

Senior Vice President, Strategy and External Engagement | NERC

Camilo Serna serves as senior vice president of Strategy and External Engagement. In this role, he oversees NERC’s external engagement and communications activities, including outreach to and engagement with federal, state, and provincial agencies and associations in the United States and Canada, NERC’s Member Representatives Committee, and the broader industry stakeholder community. He also leads the Reliability Analysis and Performance Analysis program area. Finally, Mr. Serna leads the development of multi-year strategies—working with the NERC Board of Trustees, chief executive officer, and the Executive team—to ensure NERC meets its reliability and security vision and mission.

Prior to joining NERC in 2024, Mr. Serna served as vice president of Rates and Regulatory Affairs for FirstEnergy, leading the development and implementation of federal and state regulatory strategies across the company’s five-state footprint. Prior to that, Mr. Serna worked for DTE Energy, first as vice president of Corporate Strategy and then as vice president of Regulatory Affairs. Before DTE, he also worked at Eversource Energy as vice president of Strategy and Policy. In his prior roles, he led the development and implementation of strategic, corporate development, and energy policy initiatives.

Mr. Serna began his career in management consulting firms—primarily with Oliver Wyman—where he helped utilities and energy companies in Europe, Latin America, and North America with the development of strategic and operational initiatives. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Los Andes University (Bogotá, Colombia) and a master’s degree in Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Peggy Trousseau

Hydraulic Engineer | Hydro-Quebec

Peggy Trousseau is a hydraulic engineer who has been working at Hydro-Quebec for over 25 years. After spending several years working on dam safety studies, she transitioned to river management where she discovered the fascinating world of production planning.

Since the early 2000s, the energy sector has undergone significant transformation, and Hydro-Québec has evolved along with it. Actively involved in the energy transition, Peggy set up a working group to better understand the implications of integrating large volumes of wind energy into the power system. With this multidisciplinary team, experts examined issues related to the electrical grid, capacity expansion, and wind generation, while Peggy and her colleagues focused on the operational challenges facing Hydro-Quebec’s hydroelectric generation fleet.

Alex Truby

Solutions Strategy Lead, North America, HydroForecast | Upstream Tech

Alex is the Solutions Strategy Lead for HydroForecast in North America, bringing over a decade of experience at the intersection of water resources, energy, and climate technology. She works with utilities, hydropower operators, and public agencies to apply advanced hydrologic forecasting to complex water management and operational challenges. Before joining Upstream Tech, Alex held data science and product-focused roles across climate technology startups and nonprofits, collaborating with organizations ranging from international NGOs to enterprise clients. Earlier in her career, she worked in water resources and engineering roles within the energy sector. Alex holds a B.S. from the Colorado School of Mines and an M.S. in Water Engineering and Management from the University of Colorado Boulder.

Christian Winkler

Senior Sales and Business Development Manager | Bridge Executive Renewable Solutions Ltd

Christian Winkler is a senior industrial engineer, having graduated from the University of Applied Sciences Munich, Germany in 2008. He started working at Fella Maschinenbau GmbH in 2007, focusing on the DIVE-Turbine for his final thesis. He has been involved in the sales, project management and realization of more than 70 projects with DIVE-Turbines globally ever since. He played a major role in the establishment of DIVE Turbinen GmbH & Co. KG in 2012, since then he has held the position of Senior Sales and Business Development Manager.

Dr. Ronald Yaworsky

Technical Advisor | Northwest Territory Métis Nation

Dr. Yaworsky is a seasoned and innovative engineer, researcher, project manager and specialist in infrastructure planning and development. He has worked for close to five decades in under-developed and challenging remote regions, with indigenous communities, and in diverse cross-cultural settings across Canada’s north and around the world. He is currently providing technical advice and negotiations support to Indigenous communities in the NWT, including, on behalf of the Northwest Territory Métis Nation, actively working for the advancement of the Taltson Hydro Expansion Project amongst other major initiatives.