External Advisory Panel on Climate Services

Al Douglas is the President of the Climate Risk Institute. He has been working in the field of climate change impacts and adaptation since 2002 and has partnered with many different organizations in Ontario and Canada to develop and deliver adaptation resources. Al has contributed content to two Canadian National Assessments of climate change impact and adaptation, acted as an expert reviewer for the last two Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment reports and has expertise in climate science; climate change impact, vulnerability and risk assessment; policy development and adaptation planning in natural resource sectors. Al was a member of Canada’s Expert Panel on Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Results and is currently co-leading the Ontario chapter of the next Canadian assessment of climate change impacts and adaptation.

Graham Watt is Sr. Director and Head of Climate Tech Strategy & Innovation at RBC.  He is a co-founder of the bank’s internal capabilities to manage climate risks and opportunities, and is responsible for the function’s continued development and integration into strategic decision-making.  Graham has a diverse background that spans wildfire prediction, customer experience design and clean tech finance, and holds degrees in engineering (Queen’s), a doctorate in forestry (Toronto) and a master’s in business administration (York).  He is passionate about improving the relationship between natural and human systems.

Céline Campagna has been involved in environmental health for over 15 years, primarily in the areas of toxicology and climate change. She has a Ph.D. in Animal Sciences from Université Laval, and has been working at the Institut national de la santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) (the Quebec public health institute) since 2009, where she provides expert advice in the areas of water, zoonoses and climate change. Since 2017, she has been responsible for the scientific coordination of the health component of the Government of Quebec’s Climate Change Action Plan. Dr Campagna is also a researcher at the INSPQ and Associate Professor in the Département de Médecine Sociale et Préventive (Department of social and preventive medicine) at Université Laval, as well as at the Institut national de la recherche scientique’s Centre Terre, Eau et Environnement (Research Centre on Water, Earth, and the Environment) in Quebec.

Sean Capstick, P.Eng. is a Principal with over 25 years of environmental compliance experience in Golder’s GTA Operations, Atmospheric Services Group that provides a full suite of GHG, Climate Change, Permitting and Environmental Assessment services. Sean provides specialized expertise on strategic and regulatory advice to clients regarding the development of Climate Change adaptation services. Sean has provided climate change services for both public sector and private sector clients. He is sought after by industry, municipalities and legal firms for guidance and practical solutions in regulatory and technical matters related to adaptation to climate change. He is Golder’s Global Climate Change Technical Community Leader, an internal knowledge-sharing initiative to promote the use of the latest climate change science and develop Best Practices.

Brian Horton is Manager of the Northern Climate ExChange, the part of Yukon Research Centre that focuses on applied study of climate change impacts and adaptation. Brian grew up in Whitehorse and spent a year as a student at Yukon College before transferring to University of Calgary to complete his studies. In Calgary, Brian completed a Bachelor of Science in Earth Science and a Master’s of Science in Geography focusing in glaciology and climatology. As his professional life has evolved, Brian has found that his personal strengths are in mobilizing research findings in decision-making and enabling others to pursue research excellence in their careers. One of the greatest rewards in his work is learning that research that he helped support has had an impact or solved a problem that a First Nation, industry, or government partners couldn't solve on their own.

Ewa Jackson, Managing Director of ICLEI Canada, has worked with municipal governments for over 16 years in the fields of climate change, sustainability, and engagement. Ewa manages ICLEI Canada’s operational and program activities and has worked on numerous adaptation and resilience projects, including those of local, national and international scope.

Ewa is a leader in the field of municipal climate adaptation and resilience. Since 2007, she has been driving innovation in collaborative community climate action, climate knowledge assessment, communications, and measuring progress on adaptation and resilience.  Her current priorities involve work to build social resilience and protect our communities’ most vulnerable. She continuously works with specialists in the field to keep municipal officials at the forefront and responding to the advancements being made. She often speaks publicly on the state of municipal adaptation planning across Canada and internationally.

Dr. Patricia Manuel is Professor of Planning in the School of Planning at Dalhousie University. She is also a visiting professor with the Coastal and Marine Management Program, University Centre of the West Fjords (Akureyri University, Iceland). She teaches and conducts research in environmental planning with a focus on coastal planning, climate change adaptation planning, wetlands interpretation and management and watershed planning. She also researches community planning and design and health. Recent work includes social vulnerability and climate change impacts, nature-based approaches to coastal and watershed planning and management, land use planning as a tool of climate change adaptation, and community-based marine spatial planning for aquaculture. She is appointed to national advisory committees on climate change adaptation and provides planning expertise to local environmental and community-based planning groups to promote environmentally-responsible, sustainable development.

Ian Pilkington (P.Eng.) is the Chief Engineer for the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation & Infrastructure located in Victoria, BC.  Ian joined the Ministry in 1991 as a Geotechnical Engineer and has held several positions throughout his 30 year career with the Ministry, working on road and bridge designs, natural hazard evaluations and mitigation, highway maintenance and assisting with the creation of the Ministry’s Climate Action Program in 2007.  Ian became the Chief Engineer in 2019 taking over for the now retired Dirk Nyland.

Ian is continuing Dirk’s legacy of climate change adaptation in the Ministry by advancing the requirements for all Ministry designs to consider future climate effects.  Ian and his team are also working with PCIC at the University of Victoria to create tools to help designers determine future climate parameters and working with Engineers and Geoscientists BC to create guidelines for designers to incorporate climate change in their work.

Chris Rol is the Senior Policy Advisor with Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC).  Chris has over 20 years of experience in the public and private sectors. She has served as a political assistant for the Premier of Ontario in addition to various roles for both MPPs and the Progressive Conservative caucus. She has also held a management position with a property and casualty insurance brokerage as well as a government relations role with Co-operators Insurance.

Since 2011, Chris has worked as part of the policy department’s Climate Change and Catastrophic Risk team with a focus on climate change adaptation. She serves as the project manager for research projects for natural catastrophe topics, and is the in-house specialist on the topic of flood. She is a member of CSA technical standard development committees for lot-level and community flood resiliency as well as the CAT IQ and Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction advisory committees.

Jim Vanderwal is the Fraser Basin Council’s Senior Manager responsible for the Climate Change and Air Quality Program.

Jim has held progressively senior roles at the Council since 1999, developing new initiatives related to river management, stakeholder engagement, energy and emissions planning, climate change adaptation, green fleet management and clean energy development. He also has worked extensively with local governments and First Nations across BC to develop and implement plans to reduce emissions and to adapt to changes in climate.

Jim completed a B.A.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of British Columbia, and worked in research and development capacities in the telecommunications sector. He completed a M.Sc. in Resource Management from the University of British Columbia, specializing in the development of public processes that link technical research with broad public engagement.

Christine Zimmer is the Senior Manager of Water and Climate Change Science for Credit Valley Conservation (CVC), in Mississauga, Ontario. She is recognized as an industry expert in watershed management, green infrastructure and stormwater vulnerability analysis. For more than a decade, Christine has worked with private and public sector partners raising over $3.6 million to implement and monitor 30 green infrastructure demonstration sites in southern Ontario. Christine is committed to sharing CVC’s leading-edge research and technologies, presenting at 37 international conferences, appearing in over 40 magazine, journal articles and scientific publications, and conducting 15 radio and television interviews. She authored a chapter in the 2012 Great Lakes Great Responsibilities textbook entitled “Lessons Learned from Implementing Low Impact Development in the Credit River Watershed”. She holds seven awards for achievements in watershed and stormwater management, including Ontario’s Minister of Environment Award for Environmental Excellence.