Board of Directors

Pat Worthington

Pat is a life-long educator who has worked with environmental organizations throughout his career.  His passion for education and working with children has provided the foundation for a life of learning and adventure. For most of his career, Pat worked in the public education world with Rocky View Schools and most recently he has been working within Alberta’s independent school network, supporting the amazing community at Calgary Academy.

Pat has been actively involved in the environmental and global education communities within Alberta throughout his career. For many years Pat served with the Global, Environmental and Outdoor Education Council (GEOEC) of the Alberta Teachers Association. Pat has also been actively involved with the Alberta Council for Environmental Education (ACEE), serving as a Board member for many years.

Calgary has been the home base for Pat for much of his life. He and his partner have explored many parts of the world with their two sons (now grown) and currently they love to explore and play in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains. His commitment to the future of our planet continues to fuel his desire to work with Alberta Tomorrow, engaging today’s students and teachers in helping build sustainable pathways toward a brighter future.

Matt Carlson

Matt is an ecologist interested in applying a systems dynamics approach to communicate land use concepts and develop pragmatic solutions to natural resource management challenges. Over the past ten years, Matt has developed and applied simulation tools to explore the future effects of land use in a variety of landscapes from the Mackenzie Watershed in northwestern Canada to the Mbaracayu Biosphere Reserve in Paraguay. Recent projects have focused on applying ALCES to inform the development of land-use plans that appropriately balance ecological and socioeconomic objectives. Matt is also an ecologist for the Canadian Boreal Initiative, and has a Masters of Science in Conservation Biology from the University of Alberta. Matt lives in Ottawa with his wife and two children. When not at work Matt can be found running trails, or after his kids.

Jennifer Janzen

Jennifer Janzen joined the ALCES group in 2008 as the project coordinator for Alberta Tomorrow, a web-based educational land-use simulator. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Land Use & Environmental Studies and Biology, and a Bachelor of Education from the University of Saskatchewan and has worked for various government and non-profit organizations as a plant ecologist and educator in Saskatchewan and Alberta. She taught high school Biology in Alberta for 10 years while at the same time working with the Elbow River Watershed Partnership and Parks Canada to develop lesson plans on various environmental issues. She and her husband now live in Cochrane, raising two wonderful daughters and instilling in them an appreciation for our natural world.

Leanne Juneau

Leanne is a co-founder and Senior Vice President Corporate Development of Cygnet Energy Ltd. and has over 25 years of experience negotiating and executing strategic corporate M&A, exploration, joint venture and commercial agreements within Western Canada. Leanne supports building an environmentally responsible sustainable energy business that prioritizes mutual socioeconomic engagement with Rights Holders and the community.

Toby Heaps

Toby is the chief executive officer and co-founder of Corporate Knights. He spearheaded the first global ranking of the world’s 100 most sustainable corporations in 2005, and in 2007 coined the term “clean capitalism.” Toby has been published in the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal and the Globe and Mail, and is a regular guest speaker on CBC. In 1998, he played centrefield for the Yugoslav National Baseball Team.

Dr Brad Stelfox

Dr. Brad Stelfox established Forem Technologies and the ALCES Group in 1995 and is the architect and developer of the ALCES model. He is an adjunct professor at the Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, and the Department of Environmental Design, University of Calgary. Brad's research and teachings focus on the interface between human land uses and regional landscapes. The major development stream of Forem has been ALCES (A Landscape Cumulative Effects Simulator), a program gaining rapid acceptance by governments, industry, the scientific community, and NGO's to explore issues between landscapes, land uses (agriculture, forestry, oil and gas, mining, human populations, tourism, and transportation sectors), and ecological and economic integrity. Dr. Stelfox has received the Alberta Emerald Foundation Award (2004) and the Alberta Science and Technology Award (2003) for his contributions with the ALCES model in advancing understanding of land use sustainability issues and in seeking solutions that balance economic, social, and ecological indicators.

Brad and his wife Sarah live in Calgary. When Brad is not working on the ALCES model or guest lecturing on land use issues, he is likely on horseback exploring the mountain trails of Alberta's east slopes.

Hugh Pepper

After a 37 year career in education, Hugh has joined his daughter in the flower business. For 12 years he was as Municipal politician where he took a leadership role setting up the Ghost Access Management Plan and was actively involved in regional water issues. He is presently the Chairman of the Upper Bow Basin Cumulative Effects study group, and a Director of the Action For Agriculture.

Kara Vincent

Kara is an elementary school teacher in Cochrane, Alberta. She holds a masters degree in environmental education and communication, and has a passion for getting kids outside, learning in and from the natural world. Her master’s thesis focused on the ways that time spent in nature influences well-being in young people. Kara has taken on many leadership roles around environmental education in the school setting, including community gardens, planting days, and student led recycling and composting programs. Kara loves spending time outside with her own two young children, playing and adventuring whenever they get the chance.

Janelle Phillips

Janelle has been a teacher with the Rocky View School Division for 7 years. She is passionate about Environmental Education and has used Alberta Tomorrow in her classroom to help her students develop a stronger understanding of sustainability and complex challenges surrounding land use. She is currently a Learning Specialist with the division and hopes to facilitate and inspire continual growth and change in the teaching profession.

Matt Besko

Matt is currently the Director of Wildlife Policy for Alberta Environment and Parks, Resource Stewardship Division. During the course of his career, he has worked as a Landscape Ecologist, Wildlife Habitat Biologist, Game Biologist, Species at Risk Specialist, and Director of Fisheries Policy over a period of 27 years in 3 Provinces. He is especially interested in wildlife ecology, forested landscapes, and the management of game species. He dabbles in the philosophy of human-dimensions in wildlife management and the concept of wildness, as well as the practical application of novel approaches to wildlife allocation and use.

Matt lives in Edmonton with his family and Scouty the Longhaired Weimaraner, and when not working he is reading, writing, hunting or eating. Especially eating.

Michael Cody

Michael is a Team Lead and Specialist within the Environment and Regulatory department at Cenovus Energy Inc. where he supports regulatory applications and compliance as well as providing subject matter expertise in response to problems in land and biodiversity. Michael has a background in forestry, soil science and rural development and has worked for both the forest and energy sectors over the last three decades. Michael has a keen interest in continual improvement and evidence-based management, and the development of systems that facilitate concurrent ecological and economic integrity and human well-being.

Shawna Weaver

Tansi! Aba Wathtech! Oki!
Shawna was born and raised in the Rocky Mountains in Invermere, BC. As a proud Métis woman, mother, and teacher, she is a strong believer that Truth must come before Reconciliation, and that teaching Indigenous Resiliency is as important, if not more than teaching about Kanata’s past. In addition, she believes deeply that Indigenous ways of knowing begins in the home, belongs in the classroom and in every boardroom on Turtle Island. Shawna earned her Bachelor of Arts and Education degrees from the University of Lethbridge (2006) with a major in French and a minor in Native American Studies. After university, she began her career as a French language and BC First Nations history teacher in her former high school, working alongside many of the teachers and professionals who taught her. Since 2010, Shawna has been a teacher with Rocky View Schools, where she has found her passion in working with students at the middle school level.