Marine Renewables Canada 2023 Board of Directors Election – Voting Open

Mr. Anglin is a Principal and Senior Coastal Engineer with W.F. Baird & Associates Coastal Engineers Ltd., located in Ottawa, Ontario. Mr. Anglin graduated with a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario in 1984. He started his coastal engineering career as an Engineer-in-Training with Baird in the summer of 1984, and has been an integral part of Baird’s growth from six employees to more than 100 over the past 38 years. He obtained his M.Sc. in Coastal Engineering from Queen’s University on a part-time basis from 1987-1990. He also took a four month sabbatical from Baird in the summer of 1989, working with the Water Research Laboratory in Sydney, Australia.Mr. Anglin became a Principal with Baird in 2010. The majority of his time is now spent on project and client service management, business development and providing direction/review to project teams on complex coastal engineering problems. With 38 years of domestic and international experience in coastal engineering, Mr. Anglin is a subject matter expert in the modeling, design, and construction of coastal structures, including rubble mound, pile-supported and gravity-based structures for ports and marine terminals, shoreline protection works, anchoring/protection of marine intakes and outfalls and scour protection for bridges and coastal and offshore structures. In addition, he has acted as project manager and/or technical lead on a wide range of large, multidisciplinary coastal projects. As Baird’s Sector Lead for coastal and marine structures, Mr. Anglin is responsible for the overall management of information, methodologies, and quality control/quality assurance in this area.The attached CV provides an overview of the vast range in experience that Mr. Anglin has in the field of coastal engineering, including some experience with offshore wind (OSW) projects. Although his direct experience with OSW projects is limited, he is intimately familiar with the technical challenges associated with the planning, design and construction of similar marine projects.On a personal note, Mr. Anglin is married and has five children and two grandchildren, with a third grandchild on the way. He enjoys travel and outdoor recreation, in particular hiking and cycling, and is an avid hockey fan, although sadly he had to give up his evening job as a men’s league goaltender ten years ago due to recurring issues with his knees.

Philip S. Bassil is Managing Director and Head of Global Offshore Wind M&A at NORTHGREEN CAPITAL, a Canadian-based financial advisory firm focused on mergers and acquisitions, structuring and strategic advisory in the offshore wind industry, globally.  Mr. Bassil works closely with pension funds, insurance companies, and institutional investors as well as infrastructure funds, strategics, utilities and renewable energy developers.  Mr. Bassil is a sought-after thought leader and speaker recognized for his expertise and experience in accelerating the global energy transition.  Most recently, Mr. Bassil was invited to speak at the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and renewableUK’s Global Offshore Wind 2022 conference in Manchester, UK as well as the GWEC and WindEurope sponsored WindEnergy Hamburg in Germany.  Previously, Mr. Bassil was head of Chicago-based Marathon Capital in Canada for over seven years.  Mr. Bassil has been involved in over $10 billion in renewable energy M&A transactions including: the sale of Vancouver-based wind and hydro developer Alterra Power to Quebec-based Innergex for $1.1 billion creating one of the largest pure-play Canadian renewable energy platforms, the sale of Toronto-based Aypa Power (formerly NRStor C&I) to New York-based Blackstone, one of the largest investors in the world, the sale of a 51% stake in Berlin-based global developer ib vogt to Netherlands-based Dutch Infrastructure Fund (DIF), the sale of Brooklyn-based wind development platform OwnEnergy to Paris-based EDF, as well as deals with TransAlta Renewables and other large renewable energy developers, strategic entities and institutional investors across various markets, globally.Mr. Bassil has worked with reputable Bay Street firms including Scotia Capital at Scotiabank and was a former Utilities Analyst and lived in Canada, the US, and Europe. Mr. Bassil earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Rowe School of Business at Dalhousie University and a Bachelor of Computer Science with the Electrical Engineering Stream from TUNS. He has successfully completed Level 1 and 2 of the globally recognized Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and the Canadian Securities Course (CSC) and the PDO.  Mr. Bassil currently serves on the Board of Governors of the Sacred Heart School of Halifax.NORTHGREEN CAPITAL is a member of the Business Network for Offshore Wind.

I am passionate about the energy transition that will shift Canada’s energy sector’s dependence on fossil-based energy systems and unite the green resources we have across the country.  It is now time to have the courage to act and make it happen. Not just from the federal and provincial government levels but also from the developers and the local supply chain.During my time in Canada the dialogue with friends, colleagues and the local community has changed from not just wanting a reliable energy source during a storm but also having greener energy options and stopping reliance on coal. Now that there’s been a shift in thinking, it’s time to take action.   In Atlantic Canada momentum is building around offshore wind (OSW) and other renewable energies. Floating wind developments on the West Coast will play a key part in balancing their future energy demands. Throughout Canada, decreasing remote communities’ dependency on diesel has to be a key part in not only the energy transition but also in providing energy independence for these communities.I believe in a collaborative approach across the supply chain, educational institutions, and the provinces. As a collective we are in the best position to make the most of our resources, facilities, and sites to support the offshore renewable industry. Together we can maximize this opportunity and make it an industry that inspires a younger generation and provides energy sources for future generations. If elected, I will work with our members to support such an approach to make the most of the opportunity in front of us.

I am a mechanical engineer / naval architect with more than 17 years experience working in the marine renewables sector. I first started my career in the UK performing CFD analysis and physical model testing on renewable energy devices. I moved to Aberdeen and supported clients as owners’ engineer for the installation of subsea turbines and supported OSW developers. I have spent the past five years in Canada as an energy and marine consultant with a focus on supporting Nova Scotia’s tidal energy developers and providing consulting services to OSW developers in the Northeastern USA to gain energy purchase agreements. 

It would be my distinct pleasure to be part of MRC’s efforts to ensure marine renewable energy plays an important role in energy transition and building Canada’s blue economy. Thank you for you consideration.

Ms. Cahill is co-founder and CEO of PanGeo Subsea Inc, a technology and service provider of high-resolution 3D sub-bottom acoustic imaging technology. PanGeo’s technology uses SAS (Synthetic Aperture Sonar) to provide enhanced sub-bottom data, imaging buried geohazards to mitigating risk for offshore installations for the Oil & Gas, Offshore Renewable Energy and Defense sectors. With a vision for a global footprint, Ms Cahill has used her strong multi-sector network to establish offices in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Scotland, USA and Qatar providing PanGeo’s clients with a global service delivery capability. A professional engineer holding a B.Eng. in Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering from Memorial University of Newfoundland, Ms. Cahill has over 30 years experience in the oil & gas sector and more recently in offshore renewables energy sector. Starting her career in the oil and gas sector in the late eighties with Norsk Hydro in Norway, Ms. Cahill returned to Canada in the early ‘90’s and established her own project management and engineering firm MNC Group Inc. which later co-founded Pan Maritime Energy Services Inc. and subsequently PanGeo in 2006.Ms. Cahill received the Canadian Women Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and thereafter was awarded the prestigious “Canada’s Top 40 Under 40”. Most recently she was honored to receive from NOIA (Newfoundland and Labrador Oil and Gas Industry Association) the Outstanding Contribution Award which recognized her role in the development of the offshore industry in Newfoundland and Labrador over the past 20 years.Ms. Cahill has been involved in several community and industry associations. She was Chair of Board of Governors for College of North Atlantic (CNA), a member of the Premier’s Advisory Council on the Economy and Technology, and member of Federal Government’s Sectoral Advisory Group for International Trade. Ms. Cahill is Past-Chair of the Board for Marine Atlantic Inc, Past-Director of Maritime Tel & Tel Co in Nova Scotia, Past-President of Newfoundland Ocean Industry Association (NOIA), and was a member of the Federal Task Force for the Future of Canada’s Financial Sector.Today Ms. Cahill is please to serve on the Board of Directors for Canada’s Ocean Supercluster. She recently completed an appointment to the Premier of Newfoundland & Labrador’s Provincial Economic Recovery Task Force and is currently Commodore of the Royal Newfoundland Yacht Club. Ms. Cahill resides on St. John’s Newfoundland with her two daughters Mia Andrée and Marah.

Adrienne Downey (B.Eng, MSc.) is the Principal Engineer and Country Manager for pure-play floating offshore wind developer and technology provider Hexicon in the US and Canada.Adrienne most recently was the Principal Engineer and Director for offshore wind for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). During her tenure, Adrienne led NYSERDA’s award-winning offshore wind program in the US with the goal of reaching 9 gigawatts (GW) by 2035. Key accomplishments during her tenure included:

• the successful procurement of an excess of 4.1 GW of offshore wind and 5 associated port infrastructure projects on behalf of New York ratepayers;
• extensive stakeholder collaborations across the Maritime, Fisheries, Environmental, and Jobs/Supply Chain Technical Working Groups (TWGs) and engagement with labor and environmental justice communities;
• transmission policy leadership including development of the novel “mesh-ready” framework and support of the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) and Public Service Commission (PSC) related onshore transmission grid expansion and tariff improvement initiatives; and
• statewide and regional policy planning frameworks such as New York’s 70% renewable by 2030 Clean Energy Standard 85% reduction in statewide greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 under New York’s Climate Action Council.

Previously, Adrienne supported the establishment of wind turbine original equipment manufacturer ENERCON’s operations first in Aurich Germany and then in Montreal where she was part of the foundational team that installed ENERCON’s first 2 GW of onshore wind energy across Canada, including more than 200 megawatts (MW) in Nova Scotia and 100 MW in British Columbia. During this time, Adrienne was elected to the Canadian Wind Energy Association’s (CanWEA) Board of Directors (precursor to its amalgamation into Canadian Renewable Energy Association, CanREA).

Additionally, Adrienne has been engaged in her own energy transition consulting practice and think-tank, ADaptation, which focuses upon climate adaptation and resiliency.

Adrienne holds a degree in Chemical Engineer from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and a Masters in Sustainable Environmental Systems from the Pratt Institute in New York City. She grew up as a Canadian military “base-brat”, with posts ranging from Chilliwack, BC to Happy Valley Goose Bay, Labrador, and overseas in Lahr, Germany.

She currently lives in Brooklyn, NYC with her partner Egbert and their 7-year-old Acker, and 1 year old Labrador Dilly (short for Dill Pickle Chip). She is a voracious reader and consumer of modern art and a bicycle, sailing, running, and swimming nut. When not traveling or advocating for climate and equity issues, she can usually be found dodging traffic somewhere between Brooklyn and Midtown or skiing anywhere there have been more than 3 flakes of snow.

Stephanie is an Environmental Regulatory Consultant working out of the Ontario, Canada office. She previously worked for the Ontario Waterpower Association (OWA) for 8 years specializing in policy, communications, public outreach and industry/government/  stakeholder relations. Stephanie has worked in the environmental and natural resource management field for over 18 years with experience ranging in environmental education, municipal waste management, recreation and forestry.Stephanie has a Bachelor of Science degree with Honours from Trent University in Environmental and Resource Sciences, a Diploma in Recreation and Leisure Studies from Niagara College and is a Certified Association Executive.

Richard MacLellan
Director of Strategic Initiatives, Horizon Maritime
Managing Director, Miawpukek Horizon

An Atlantic Canadian government and marine business leader. Richard’s life is tied to the ocean. He grew up in a coastal community, went to university near the ocean in Halifax and Sackville, NB, led coastal municipal governments and works with a marine services company in the waters throughout Atlantic Canada and around the world.Richard is the Director of Strategic Initiatives for Horizon Maritime, a growing organization dedicated to the development and support of the offshore industry from our local Canadian waters to locations across the globe. Richard is also the Managing Director of Miawpukek Horizon, a partnership between Horizon Maritimes and Miawpukek First Nation focused on advancing Indigenous participation in the ocean economy.

Richard also understands government relations having held senior positions in the municipal governments of Halifax (Manager of Environment and Sustainability) and Region of Queens and Bridgewater (Chief Administrative Officer).

Richard’s skills leading governance and policy discussions around environmental sustainability, Indigenous relationships and business performance is a rare combination in Atlantic Canada. He is widely recognized as a thought leader and more importantly, a practical doer. 

He has also demonstrated that working with local Indigenous partners can lead to commercial success in areas that traditionally excluded both local suppliers and indigenous peoples.

As a business, government and environmental leader, Richard’s perspectives would be well suited to the exciting work ahead for the Marine Renewables Board.

Mohammad Ali Raza is a corporate lawyer at Cox & Palmer with a specialty in marine and energy related matters. He has worked both in private practice and as in-house counsel in  Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Canada. He has been a partner in the Halifax office of Cox & Palmer since 2019.Mohammad Ali is a thought leader on tidal and offshore wind development. He has written and spoken extensively on Nova Scotia’s Marine Renewable Energy Act and regulations governing autonomous underwater vehicles. Some of his recent articles can be found at https://coxandpalmerlaw.com/people/mohammad-ali-raza/.

His experience includes significant energy infrastructure initiatives in multiple jurisdictions. He chairs the Canadian Bar Association National Section on Environment, Energy and Resources Law. His clients include those involved in tidal and wind energy development, ocean technology, and in merger and acquisitions, equity financings and joint venture projects. He chairs the Cox & Palmer Ocean Innovation Practice Group of lawyers.

He received his LLB, Honours from the University of London in 2004 followed by a Bar Vocational Course Post-Graduate Diploma in Law from the University of the West of England in Bristol. His early career was spent working across Europe and the Middle East for companies and organizations like Pakistan Petroleum Limited and Eni S.p.A.

Mohammad Ali is vice-chair of Feed Nova Scotia, a participant in the Halifax Partnership Connector Program, and serves on the board of the Pakistani Canadian Association of Nova Scotia. He has been involved in the Immigrant Settlement Association of Nova Scotia Workplace Placement Program since 2017 and a global advisor, Nova Scotia Exporters, International Connectors Program.

Mohammad Ali lives in Halifax with his wife and two children.

As a life long Nova Scotian, Gerald has a passion for responsible development of Canada’s offshore energy. Educated at St. Francis Xavier and Dalhousie University, he holds a Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering and is a registered Professional Engineer. Gerald also achieved his Safety Professional designation in 2012.Professionally he has been involved in the offshore energy industry for over 20 years in numerous capacities, starting with the development of the Sable Project. Gerald has also spent 8 years with Canada’s offshore energy regulators. In 2013 he returned to the private sector with SBM Offshore. In the last number of years Gerald lead the SBM Operations team for Deep Panuke to execute the decommissioning, deinstallation and responsible Recycle of Deep Panuke in a Nova Scotia yard, a first for Canada. Today he is Canadian Operations Manager, where he plays a key role in bringing Offshore Renewables to Canada.

Gerald has participated in numerous professional and volunteer boards and committees, including the ISO Committee for Offshore Structures, Program of Energy Research and Development and the CAPP Training and Qualification Standard Practice.

Being raised in rural Guysborough County, Gerald spent years working in and around the fishing industry and is a certified recreational diver, this provided a great appreciation and respect for all aspects of ocean use. His varied experience having worked in Canada, the United States, South America and with a team in Europe, give him the ability to assist with the development and fostering of strategic alliances to pursue the common goals of Marine Renewables Canada.   

As Aon Halifax Office Leader, Senior Vice President, and Marine Manager – Atlantic region within Aon’s National Marine Practice group, Tomas delivers distinctive value to clients through industry leading innovation, client experience and colleague development. He is a member of Aon’s Atlantic region senior leadership group and is responsible for bringing the best of Aon to Atlantic region clients; providing senior account management and broking expertise, reviewing contracts and working with financial lenders to assist clients in successful project delivery.With over 12 years of experience in insurance brokerage and risk management, Tomas has effectively developed and implemented insurance program strategies for medium-to-large and international organizations specifically in Canada and North American. He has spent his entire time with Aon in the Marine practice, either broking and placing risks and/or developing and maintaining client and insurer relationships. Throughout Tomas’s career in marine insurance brokerage, he has successfully advocated on behalf of Aon clients on over 600 marine and non-marine claims. Tomas is regarded as one of Aon’s national marine industry experts.

Tomas has served as a volunteer board member with the Halifax Mission to Seafarers for over 5 years as well as currently serving as an ex-Chair of the Board with Metroworks. Tomas’s primary key interests involve all aspects of marine industries and risks, ranging from tidal energy developers to ocean tech sector or ferry operators. The marine opportunities in Atlantic Canada continue to increase, in particularly around green hydrogen and offshore wind, and as a vivid supporter of this sector, Tomas is keen to be a member of Marine Renewables Canada.

Dean is an accomplished professional with superb multinational operations, business development, and management experience in the oil and gas industry. Expertise in operations, strategic planning, financial management, sales, and organizational development. Demonstrated success in improving bottom-line profitability through strategic quality-driven process improvements. Exceptional hiring skills with reputation of building high performance management teams with succession planning, and driving cooperation among internal and external business partners. Built from a foundation of technical engineering in drilling environment and field operations internationally. Fluent in English, Portuguese, and communicational Spanish and French.Dean graduated with an Engineering degree from Memorial University of Newfoundland and then pursued an expatriate career in Oil & Gas, living abroad on several continents with almost 2 decades building and operating business in USA, Mexico, Indonesia, Thailand, UAE, India and Brazil.

A passion to return to Newfoundland and expand his career in different energy sectors brought Dean and Family to Dovre Group. Dovre Group helps leading organizations to successfully plan, manage and execute their projects. Providing advisory services and project management solutions to owners of Mega projects. Dean is now the VP of North America headquartered in St, John’s. He has continued to support Oil & Gas activities but in 5 years has converted 50% of the Dovre’s portfolio to the renewables sector. Experience collected from Hydro Power of Muskrat Falls and Offshore installations of Hebron and WWREP and the project skillsets developed in Transmission, Subsea cables, HVDC, substations, and offshore installation transitioned to USA’s Offshore Wind Power segment.

Dovre group has also made huge strides at the Corporate level to shift activity to the renewable sector via organic growth and acquisitions. Deans focus has been to continue the strategic market development of land base wind infrastructure, Offshore wind, Carbon capture, and green hydrogen sectors in North America. His experience abroad in Oil & Gas has secured his conviction that Canada needs to be a leading clean energy provider.

Dean prides himself on the extensive international training in code of Business conduct; Anti-corruption, bribery, antitrust, compliance, and conflicts of interest. He enjoys travelling and is an avid golfer. He is currently the VP of Golf Newfoundland & Labrador and has volunteered on the Board of Directors for 4 years.

Greg Trowse is an Oceanographer, Professional Engineer, and Entrepreneur who has studied and worked primarily in the tidal energy industry since 2009. He has significant experience conducting research activities and marine operations in Grand Passage, Petit Passage, and the Minas Passage including projects led by Net Zero Atlantic, Dalhousie University, Acadia University, OpenHydro, Sustainable Marine Energy, Nova Innovation, Ocean Renewable Power Company, and Big Moon Power.Greg and his family spent much of the last decade living on Long Island, situated between Grand Passage and Petit Passage working to help establish these locations as world class opportunities for tidal energy research, demonstration, and commercialization. He still helps to maintain a research station there, and recently moved to Lunenburg where he is involved in an initiative to establish an Ocean Centre as part of this historic working waterfront.Through Luna Sea Solutions Inc., Greg leads a team who provide oceanographic services and develop technical innovations to address industry challenges, including the recent release of the LunaOcean web application that provides access to ocean data including accurate tidal current forecasting for the entire Bay of Fundy.

Greg is also a Founding Director of Sustainable Oceans Applied Research Ltd.  Through SOAR he has participated in broad research collaborations focused on evaluating interactions between tidal turbines and marine animals, turbine induced turbulence, and advancing tools for site assessments by remote Indigenous communities.

Ben Wheeler is a marine biologist, expert witness, regulatory specialist, strategy builder, and operational leader based out of Vancouver, BC. After spending over two decades working with national environmental consulting firms Ben recently co-founded BlueDot Environmental with a mission of supporting the energy transition to renewable marine sources.For over 25 years Ben has provided strategic, innovative, and pragmatic environmental consulting services across multiple sectors from infrastructure to mining to energy and has worked on several of Canada’s largest and most complex environmental assessments. As a skilled facilitator and team-player, Ben excels at forging relationships based on trust and has extensive experience working with Indigenous groups, provincial and federal regulators, academia, and non-profits. Ben’s technical area of expertise is marine mammals: he sat on the Eastern Arctic Bowhead Whale Recovery Team (under the Species at Risk Act) and was a founding contributor to, and member of, the Advisory Working Group on the Port of Vancouver’s award-winning ECHO program (focused on the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whale).Ben is a Registered Professional Biologist (R.P.Bio), holds a Master’s Degree in Biology from McGill University in Montreal, Canada and is currently working for a tidal energy company in British Columbia. Prior to co-founding BlueDot, Ben created the New Energy Marine Organization (NEMO Ltd.), an MRC member.