Chidinma Thompson Chair

Dr. Thompson is a lawyer and partner with the law firm of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. Her practice focuses on disputes including regulatory law, environmental & climate change law, and arbitration (domestic and international). She co-chairs the firm's Alberta Environmental and Climate Change Practice Group. Dr. Thompson has experience in dealing with environmental and climate change matters in a broad range of sectors including oil and gas, electricity, petrochemicals, utilities, municipal, real estate, agriculture, automobile and other industrial undertakings. She specializes on all aspects of project licensing and approvals, water license, release of substances, contaminated sites, reclamation, greenhouse gas and methane emissions, renewable fuels and energy alternatives. Dr. Thompson has experience in regulatory hearings before the Alberta Energy Regulator and its predecessors, the Alberta Utilities Commission, the Canadian Energy Regulator and its predecessor, the Natural Resources Conservation Board, and other regulatory boards. She has appeared before all levels of Court in Alberta and the Federal Court of Canada. Dr. Thompson is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators Canada and a member of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Canada Arbitration Committee. She has taught Environmental Law in the Energy Sector at the Haskayne Business School's M.Sc. Program on Sustainable Energy Development at the University of Calgary. She speaks on environmental and climate change matters at seminars and conferences. Dr. Thompson has contributed book chapters in the Canadian Environmental Law (Loose-leaf) and Environmental Law and Policy 4th edition. She was appointed as a member of the Environmental Appeals Board on February 25, 2020 and as the Chair of the Board effective December 15, 2021.

Angela Aalbers Board Member

Ms. Aalbers has a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering. She worked as a reservoir engineer predominantly for Shell in the US, Europe and Africa. She finished her 15 year oil and gas career as the Strategy and Portfolio Manager for Shell in Africa. During her posting with Shell in Gabon, in addition to her technical role, Ms. Aalbers was appointed the business principles focal point and provided bribery and corruption training to Shell staff. She was also a trained Shell talent assessor. She returned to Alberta to support the family farming operation from 2010 to 2015. Ms. Aalbers became an elected official in 2013 for Mountain View County, where she is serving her third term. In 2021, she became the first female Reeve to be appointed as the chief elected official of Mountain View County. Ms. Aalbers has completed Level 1 in the Alberta's National Advanced Certificate in Local Authority Administration. She was appointed to the Provincial Law Enforcement Review Board in June 2021. Ms. Aalbers was appointed as a member of the Environmental Appeals Board on June 24, 2022, and is cross-appointed to the Public Lands Appeal Board.

James Armstrong Board Member

Dr. Armstrong is a hydrogeologist with over 30 years of diverse environmental and hydrogeologic experience. He has a MSc (Hydrogeology, University of Waterloo) and a PhD (Geotechnical Engineering, University of Alberta). Dr. Armstrong provided consulting services for over 20 years, with direct project experience on all phases of contaminated site assessment and remediation. His PhD research focussed on assessing natural attenuation of hydrocarbons at upstream oil and gas sites. He then worked as a water Stewardship Advisor with Encana, where he directed groundwater resource evaluation and permitting to support hydraulic fracturing, including well installations, groundwater flow modeling, groundwater-surface water interaction assessment, and water well complaints and stakeholder disputes. He retired from active practice in 2020, before being appointed as a member of the Environmental Appeals Board on March 29, 2023, and cross-appointed to the Public Lands Appeal Board.

Kurtis Averill Board Member

Mr. Averill has a B.Sc. from the University of Alberta's Environmental and Conservation Science program, specializing in Land Remediation and Reclamation. He works at the intersection where energy development meets rural communities and the natural environment. With over two decades of experience in the natural gas and oil industry, Mr. Averill has extensive knowledge in all stages of project development; from land-use planning, community consultation, exploration and construction, through to closure and reclamation. His holistic understanding of the lifecycle of oil and gas development and its impacts on stakeholders and the environment positions him as a progressive leader in the industry with a proven track record of finding practical solutions to seemingly complex land-use challenges. Mr. Averill is the Manager of Stakeholder Relations, Surface Land and Closure for a medium sized Alberta-based energy producer. He was appointed as a member of the Environmental Appeals Board on February 25, 2020, and is cross-appointed to the Public Lands Appeal Board.

Brenda Ballachey Board Member

Dr. Ballachey is a biologist with expertise in wildlife and marine biology, toxicology, genetics, and animal sciences. Dr. Ballachey received B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Animal Sciences from Colorado State University and a Ph.D. in Animal Breeding from Oregon State University. She did post-doctoral studies at South Dakota State University and then worked as a staff officer at the National Research Council in Washington, DC. Subsequently, Dr. Ballachey took a position in Alaska with the U.S. government, studying long-term effects of petroleum contaminants from the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill on nearshore marine communities, including sea otters and sea ducks. She retired from the U.S. Geological Survey in 2015, but retained emeritus status and participates in several ongoing research projects in Alaska while continuing to manage the family ranch near Millarville, Alberta. Dr. Ballachey was appointed as a member of the Environmental Appeals Board on October 5, 2016, and is cross-appointed to the Public Lands Appeal Board.

Barbara Johnston Board Member

Ms. Johnston is a lawyer and chartered professional accountant with expertise in risk management, consumer banking transactions, debt financing, asset acquisition and divestiture, and retail resource product network transactions. She has provided legal and business advice and educational services to numerous client groups as in-house counsel for a large integrated resource company, as well as audit financial preparation services for diverse client groups at a large public accounting firm. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce (accounting) from the University of Calgary and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Alberta. Ms. Johnston was appointed as a member of the Environmental Appeals Board on February 25, 2020, and is cross-appointed to the Public Lands Appeal Board.
 
 

Line Lacasse Board Member

Ms. Lacasse is a lawyer with over 25 years' experience advising clients on regulatory, administrative, indigenous, and environmental matters. She holds a civil law degree from the University of Montreal and a common law degree from McGill University. Ms. Lacasse worked in private practice focusing on aboriginal and environmental matters, followed by several years as Board counsel for the Energy and Utilities Board, and as in-house counsel for a large resource development company. She has represented clients in court cases and regulatory hearings, developed, negotiated and implemented agreements, participated in energy projects development, assessment and implementation, and was involved in developing corporate strategies and policies in Alberta, Quebec, and British Columbia. On October 31, 2017, Ms. Lacasse was appointed as a Board member of the Alberta Land and Property Rights Tribunal (previously the Alberta Surface Rights Board and of the Alberta Land Compensation Board). Ms. Lacasse was appointed as a member of the Environmental Appeals Board on November 26, 2018, and is cross-appointed to the Public Lands Appeal Board.
 
 

Anjum Mullick Board Member

Ms. Mullick is an environmental engineer whose area of focus has been in contaminated site assessment and remediation in the oil and gas industry. She has a M.Sc. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Alberta and a B.A.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the University of Waterloo. Her previous experience includes working in the public, private and clean technology start-up sectors. While working in the private sector, Ms. Mullick was developing and managing oil sands mine reclamation and closure projects, specifically focused on tailings pond reclamation. She has been involved with the management and execution of Site Specific Environmental Liability Assessments for large upstream oil and gas operators and other industrial clients. Throughout her career, she also led the development and implementation of a equity, diversity and inclusion programs, focusing on the advancement of women. As a former member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta Environmental Committee, Ms. Mullick has worked with both industry stakeholders and government organizations to develop environmental policy and guidelines. Ms. Mullick was also a member of the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers' Canadian Engineering Qualifications Board Environment and Sustainability Committee to develop a National Practice Guideline on Environmental Site Remediation. She is a Board Member of Clean Prosperity Canada and was appointed as a member of the Environmental Appeals Board on October 5, 2016, and is cross-appointed to the Public Lands Appeal Board.
 
 

Chris Powter Board Member

Mr. Powter has a B.Sc. in Ecology and a M.Sc. in Plant Ecology from the University of Guelph. He is the owner of Enviro Q&A Services, a consulting firm providing environmental advice and guidance to the resource industry and government regulators since 2015. From April 2010 to December 2014 Mr. Powter was the Executive Director of the Oil Sands Research and Information Network (OSRIN) in the School of Energy and the Environment at the University of Alberta. His work involved identifying research and information gaps related to environmental impacts of oil sands mining, filling those gaps through research, and providing information to regulators, industry and the public. Mr. Powter worked for Alberta Environment for 29 years, including duties in land reclamation from 1981 to 2002, in policy and legislation development from 2002 to 2007 and finally as the head of the provincial environmental assessment program from 2007 to 2010. Mr. Powter was a member of the National Energy Board's Participant Funding Review Committee. Mr. Powter was the recipient of the Canadian Land Reclamation Association's (CLRA) Edward M. Watkin Award in 1988, the Noranda Land Reclamation Award in 2001 and the Alberta Chamber of Resources 2004 Reclamation Citation for lifetime achievement. He was also a longtime editor of the CLRA's Reclamation Newsletter and the International Affiliation of Land Reclamationists' (IALR) Newsletter, and author of Curmudgeon's Corner in the Canadian Reclamation magazine for 10 years. He was appointed as a member of the Environmental Appeals Board on November 27, 2018, and is cross-appointed to the Public Lands Appeal Board.
 
 

Gilbert Van Nes General Counsel and Settlement Officer

Gilbert Van Nes serves as the Board's General Counsel and Settlement Officer for the Environmental Appeals Board and Public Lands Appeal Board.  Mr. Van Nes provides advice to the Boards, coordinates the Boards' alternative dispute resolution activities, and oversees a staff complement of five engaged in the administration of the Board and the appeals.  Mr. Van Nes has been a lawyer with the Government of Alberta since 1992. His employment history includes that of an Environmental Prosecutor with the Special Prosecutions Branch of Alberta Justice.  Mr. Van Nes' experience includes seven years with the Environmental Law Section of Alberta Justice serving his main clients in the Departments of Environment, Infrastructure, and Agriculture, Food and Rural Development.  While with the Environmental Law Section, Mr. Van Nes assisted in drafting legislation such as the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act and the Water Act, developed enforcement programs, appeared before the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, and joint Natural Resources Conservation Board/Canadian Environmental Assessment Act panels.  Mr. Van Nes graduated with a Bachelor of Laws in April 1991 and was admitted to the Bar in July 1992. Mr. Van Nes also has a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and a certificate in Conflict Management from the Alberta Arbitration and Mediation Society.