Shannon Ros is the Director of the Transformation, Innovation and Engineering Division within the Monitoring and Data Services Directorate of the Meteorological Service of Canada at Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC).  Shannon has over 25 years of experience in Earth observation and is responsible for overseeing the operations of ECCC’s geostationary and polar-orbiting satellite receptions networks that deliver essential data to Canadian weather and environmental services.  Shannon also provides ongoing leadership in the development and implementation of the Government of Canada’s strategy on satellite Earth Observation, which was publically released in 2022. Shannon holds a Master’s degree from Carleton University and is an alumnus of the International Space University.

Having done his graduate studies in collaboration with Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), Joel has been working at the Canadian Meteorological Center in Dorval (QC) for 15 years now. More specifically, he did his master and PhD on the assimilation and prediction of near-surface winds in complex terrain. Then, he spent some time doing R&D work at NCAR before returning to ECCC to pursue his scientific research career working on high resolution satellite data assimilation. Since 2019, he’s involved in management: initially as acting manager of the “data assimilation and quality control development section” and as acting executive director of the Met Service of Canada (MSC) National Prediction Development Division. He is now the permanent research manager of the “data assimilation and satellite meteorology” research section within the Meteorological Research Division (MRD) of ECCC.

As a McGill alumna, Sarah has completed a bachelor degree in atmospheric science and a master degree in oceanography. After a short passage at the Weather Network as a meteorologist briefer, she was hired at Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). Sarah was lucky enough to spend 12 years as an operational meteorologist specializing in aviation forecasting. Since 2022, Sarah is now an instructor for the Meteorological Operational Internship Program where she can share my passion for the weather to the new interns and prepare them for an exciting career.

In his current role, Alexandre provides leadership in base mapping (Core Geospatial Data), the Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation’s (CCMEO) award-winning Geospatial Artificial Intelligence Initiative, and the Flood Hazard Identification and Mapping Program (FHIMP). He also leads the GeoBase Steering Committee of the Canadian Council on Geomatics. His expertise lies in extensive information technology management, data science, and everything related to geospatial and national mapping agencies. He has contributed to many ongoing national mapping projects including but not limited to advancing Land Cover and the National Elevation Strategy. 

GeoBase is leading the way nationally and internationally by revolutionizing the way we do mapping in CCMEO, developing novel and effective approaches in artificial intelligence, computer vision, and deep learning, and successfully implementing the GeoAI data pipeline for mapping on demand, when and where it matters the most.

Taryn Tomlinson has spent her career committed to exploring and discovering space, from roles in academics to industry and now in government. Taryn worked as an engineer in a number of California and German firms, co-founded a high-tech space startup in 2003, and subsequently joined the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) in 2008 to work on the robot “Dextre” for the International Space Station.  Over the past 12 years, Taryn has served as a senior project manager and systems engineer at the CSA, has served as the Chief of Staff to the President.  She is now a Director in the branch that uses Earth Observation (EO) data in an effort to help solve the greatest challenges of our planet today, including climate change. Taryn gravitates to discussions on innovation, on leadership, and the contribution of the diverse players in the space sector ecosystem.  Taryn holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from McGill University and a Master’s Degree in Space Science from the University of California, San Diego.

Helena van Mierlo has more than 28 years of experience in the space sector, with the majority of her time spent in Earth Observation and some years in robotics and payload management as part of the International Space Station Program. She spent seven years of her career in The Netherlands, holding positions at the National Aerospace Laboratory (NLR) and the European Space Agency. During her time at the Canadian Space Agency, Helena transitioned from a technical role, into a programmatic role in which she investigated the need for new Canadian satellite missions such as QEYSSat and WildFireSat, and built the necessary collaborations and strategic cases to obtain federal funding to develop those missions. She spent the last few years as Sun-Earth System Sciences Program Manager and recently changed to the role of acting Director of the EO Utilization and Services Directorate.

Over the length of her career Helena participated in 25+ space projects, with leadership functions in more than half of these. As part of these projects she collaborated with government, industry and academic organizations in more than 12 countries. Helena holds a Masters of Science degree in aerospace engineering from Delft University of Technology, in the Netherlands, and is a 1997 alumna of the International Space University (ISU). 

Before being appointed human resources advisor to the Canadian Space Agency in May 2023, Roméo Nkembe, a Canadian of African origin with undergraduate university training in human resources management, has gained more than ten years of experience in human resources management in the private sector. Passionate about human beings, history, culture, technology, gastronomy and several other fields, he combines both a good mix of an extrovert and an introvert profile. In his free time, Roméo likes to play sports, listen to music, read and also think and philosophize on different themes.