Board of Directors

Randy Brunet is a partner with MLT Aikins LLP (Western Canada’s Law Firm). His practice focuses on technology, privacy and commercialization. He is the head of the firm’s Science and Technology Practice Area that focuses on assisting Clients with their IT projects, protection and commercialization of the their inventions and innovations, protection of their trademarks and trade names, and Privacy and FOI challenges. More information is available at https://www.mltaikins.com/industry-groups/science-technology/

Nevine has a diverse and multi-faceted business background in law, finance, and corporate strategy. She spent several years in the professional services sector with a national Canadian accounting firm, one of Western Canada’s leading law firms, and a local Calgary strategy consulting firm. Over the last 20 years, Nevine has been entrenched in Western Canada’s energy and agriculture sectors. She spent 10 years in Alberta’s electricity industry with two of the province’s largest generators, supporting the development of corporate strategy and driving business development initiatives, including a transition to natural gas from coal-fired generation and development and acquisition of new renewable generation assets. The last 8 years have been spent with Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL) in Saskatchewan serving Western Canadian communities through the supply of food, fuel, and fertilizer. As Director, Growth and Business Development, Nevine leads a mergers and acquisitions team that is driving profitable and sustainable growth of western Canadian communities. She is also an integral part of FCL’s energy transition team, leading their commercial negotiations for carbon capture and sequestration initiatives.

David Butterwick is an accomplished energy professional with over 20 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, specializing in subsurface engineering and reservoir management.  He graduated with a BSc in Oil and Gas Engineering with distinction from the University of Calgary in 2004, receiving the APEGA Gold Medal recognizing the top grade in his graduating class.

His direct experience includes production engineering, completions, and thermal reservoir engineering, with increasing leadership roles and accountability leading multidisciplinary teams of reservoir engineers and geoscientists focused on SAGD development across Alberta and Saskatchewan.  Most recently, David has been leading the development and production team for Conventional Heavy Oil at Cenovus Energy, focused on advancing development and EOR strategies in the Lloydminster region to drive improved performance and long-term sustainability.

Kevin Chung is the Director of Innovation Investments at Innovation Saskatchewan, a provincial government agency responsible for supporting R&D and growing the technology sector. At the agency, Kevin is responsible for various programs and investments that promote industry-driven R&D, including the Saskatchewan Advantage Innovation Fund, the Agtech Growth Fund, and the government’s $15 million investment in an agtech venture capital fund. Kevin works closely with companies and stakeholders in the local innovation ecosystem, developing programs and policies that support the growth of Saskatchewan’s technology and research sectors. Kevin holds a B.A. Honors in Political Science with a minor in Entrepreneurship.

Simon Davies is a pragmatic engineer and team builder with over 37 years of experience working in the petrochemical and oil and gas sectors. As the VP of Technology and Innovation for Canadian Natural Resources Limited, he ensures that existing and upcoming technologies are considered in the company’s strategy, to accelerate technology adoption, collaborations and investment, including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions projects.

Simon’s broad experience includes technology development, pilot operation, and engineering design, commissioning and start up. He has a passion for clean technology and building integrated, collaborative teams. As a member of many collaborative industry alliances, he contributes to improving industry’s environmental performance. He’s also joint author of two patents, and an Expert Reviewer for the Carbon Removal XPRIZE competition to incentivize innovation in carbon removal projects.

Tyler graduated from the University of Alberta with a B. Sc. in Chemical Engineering. He has over two decades of experience in the oil and gas industry, starting as an operator and progressing into a variety of development, production and reservoir engineering roles. Tyler was directly involved in enhanced oil recovery projects across Western Canada for most of his career. He was recently employed as the Chief Petroleum Engineer at Husky and as the Director of EOR, Conventional Heavy Oil at Cenovus, monitoring active low carbon intensity polymer and CO₂ utilization EOR projects.  Tyler is currently the Reservoir Engineering Manager at Tundra Oil and Gas, responsible for EOR projects in the Williston Basin. He joined the PTRC Board in July 2018 to support innovative research and technologies that commercializes environmentally responsible energy production.

Ryan Hill previously served as the Associate Vice-President, Finance, and the Controller for SRC. In addition to corporate management and leadership, Ryan is a Chartered Accountant and has more than 15 years of financial management, audit and tax experience.

Scott Masson is a partner in the Saskatoon office of MLT Aikins LLP.  Scott is an experienced industrial and infrastructure projects lawyer. He is a leader in MLT Aikins’ Industrial and Infrastructure Projects Practice Group, having advised on projects with an estimated value of over $13 billion over his 12 years of experience. He is passionate about working with clients to help ensure their projects are completed on time, on budget and in a manner that achieves their strategic goals.

Scott has extensive experience working with clients to plan, develop and negotiate contractual documentation for major projects in a variety of industries, with a particular emphasis on mining, oil and gas, energy, civil and public infrastructure, green power generation and transmission and carbon capture and sequestration.

Kim Rogers is the Manager of Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) Policy in the Energy Development and Climate Change group at the Government of Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Energy and Resources. Kim grew up in Swift Current, Saskatchewan and holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Saskatchewan. With over 18 years of experience in the oil and gas sector, Kim spent most of her career in exploration and production then transitioned to government policy. Kim has expertise in CCUS and oil and gas emissions policies and regulations. She brings a wealth of oil and gas experience in both the private and public sectors, providing a unique and valuable perspective to the PTRC’s Board.

Joshua Thomas is a proud member of the Kinistin Saulteaux Nation, and a professional in the clean energy sector. With a B. Sc. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Saskatchewan, Joshua bridges Traditional Knowledge with western science and engineering to drive impactful solutions. During his years at the First Nations Power Authority as Business Development Manager and Community Energy Manager, Joshua worked with Indigenous Nations, government, post-secondary institutions, and industry to advance clean energy initiatives.

Utilizing knowledge gained in the clean energy, mining and research, and STEM education sectors, Joshua consults through his Indigenous clean energy and science company, Kawe Consulting. Joshua is committed to accelerating the clean energy and sustainability sector, with Indigenous partnerships at the forefront.
 

Dr. Yost completed a BSc in Microbiology with a CO-OP distinction from the University of Victoria in 1992 and received a PhD in Microbial Genetics from the University of Calgary in 1998.  Prior to coming to the University of Regina in 2003, Dr. Yost was a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada at the Lacombe Research Centre and later worked internationally as a research associate at the University of Aarhus in Denmark. Dr. Yost was the chair of the Council Committee on Academic Mission and the chair of the Council Committee on Research at U of R. He also has national experience in research policy work, and was a member of NSERC’s Committee on Discovery Research while serving as a Group Chair for NSERC’s Discovery Grant program.

Dr. Yost held a Tier II Canada Research Chair in Microbial Ecology and Food Safety from 2007 to 2017 as part of his research program, and he continues to be funded through a variety of granting agencies. He is currently the Vice President, Research at the University of Regina.