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.

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.
 
 

Chris Powter Acting Chair & 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.