Senior Experts You Can Rely On

Dr. Petr Komers has led ecological assessments in Canada, USA, Europe, Asia and Africa. His experience includes multi-million dollar industry and research projects, leadership of international and multidisciplinary teams, and development of environmental standards. As part of his 20+ years of working experience he resided in 6 countries, is fluent in 6 languages, worked with proponents, governments, stakeholders and NGOs. He routinely acts as an expert witness, a referee of scientific manuscripts, and as an examiner at university thesis defenses.

Ms. Gargus is a scientist with MSES, specializing in research, project administration, and client communications. She has been actively involved in key environmental projects, including the Arctic Grayling fish habitat study and the Slave Lake fish health study in Kinuso, AB. Kaitlin has also recently consulted with the Town of Canmore on their downtown redevelopment strategy, ensuring that sustainability and ecosystem health remain at the forefront of the planning process. In addition to her fieldwork, Ms. Gargus supports First Nations communities through Environmental Consultation Committees, collaborating with oil and gas industry partners to ensure compliance with long-standing agreements and working towards more meaningful consultation and involvement in upcoming projects.

Dr. Sheri Gutsell is a plant ecologist with interests in plant population and community ecology. She earned a PhD. from the University of Calgary, where her research focused on understanding the mechanisms that drive ecological patterns at individual, population, and community scales. Over the past 17 years, she has worked as a scientific advisor and technical reviewer for various Indigenous communities across Canada on a wide variety of industrial and infrastructure development applications. She has reviewed, advised, and testified at hearings on assessments of project impacts on vegetation components (wetlands, forestry, old-growth forests, rare and sensitive plant species and communities, and plant species of traditional importance) and on cumulative effects, mitigation, monitoring, and reclamation. She also reviews and advises on vegetation, wetland, and reclamation research plans.

Dr. Brian Kopach is a broadly trained ecologist with over ten years of academic research and resource management experience in ecosystems across western and northern Canada. He has extensive experience designing ecological field studies, and in the collection and analysis of data for both vegetation and wildlife studies. He has led, or assisted with, research and conservation related projects for public and private sector organizations in Canada and the United States, including the Canadian Wildlife Service, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Ducks Unlimited. Mr. Brian Kopach earned a Master’s degree in Biogeography from the University of Victoria (Canada), and a PhD at the University of Calgary (Canada) examining the ecological and evolutionary consequences of species interactions among alpine plants.

Dr. Annie Loosen is a wildlife ecologist specializing in research and conservation. She earned her PhD in Applied Ecology from Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, where she studied moose spatial ecology. She also holds an MSc in Ecology from the University of Alberta, focusing on black bear and grizzly bear interactions, and a BA in Biology from Macalester College, Minnesota. Currently, Dr. Loosen is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, studying the effects of sea ice changes on marine mammals. She previously held a post-doctoral position at the University of Northern British Columbia, where she led research on recreation impacts on wildlife, collaborating with government partners and scientists. Dr. Loosen’s earlier roles include research on large herbivores at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and fieldwork in Canada and the USA. She has contributed to numerous peer-reviewed publications, enhancing the understanding of wildlife ecology and conservation.

Ms. Dickson is an environmental scientist who specializes in river geomorphology and hydrology. She earned an MSc from Concordia University in Quebec, where she studied river erosion and meander formation using drones and acoustic doppler technology to quantify erosion and deposition. She has worked in academia, researching erosion, glaciers and debris flows using photogrammetry software, GIS and statistical analysis. Prior to her work in hydrology, she worked in incentives and proposal writing in the field of sustainability.

Ms. McCallum is a hydrogeochemist with over 13 years of experience as a Hydrogeochemistry / Hydrogeology consultant in the environmental field, with a focus on aqueous geochemical data interpretation, aquifer characterization and water supply studies.  She has earned a Master’s degree in Hydrogeology from the University of Calgary (Canada).  Ms. McCallum has provided technical guidance and expertise in the interpretation of physical, chemical, stable isotope and hydrogeological data for various projects in the sectors of Oil and Gas Industry, Agriculture, Environmental Firms, Government Agencies and Private Landowners.  She has worked as a lead scientist in the development of local to regional scale hydrological/hydrogeological assessments, water management plans, groundwater monitoring and water sourcing studies.

Dr. Dersch has over 15 years of experience working with Indigenous communities in the fields of traditional land and resource use, archaeology, and community-based monitoring of traditional lands and resources. She worked with Indigenous communities in 2002 while conducting ethno-archaeological research for her M.A. and while completing her Ph.D. in archaeology and biological sciences from the University of Calgary documenting past and present traditional land and resource use. Dr. Dersch has worked with First Nations in Alberta, B.C., New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia to complete traditional land and resource use studies and has completed technical peer reviews on behalf of various Indigenous groups across Canada. She currently sits on Alberta’s Oil Sands Monitoring Indigenous Community-Based Monitoring and Science and Indigenous Knowledge Integration Committees as a representative for First Nations in the region. She is an adjunct professor in the department of Anthropology at the University of Alberta and part of the advisory circle for the Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology.