Board of Directors
President: Janice Zinck, P.Geo.
Janice Zinck is Executive Director, Geosciences and Mines with the Nova Scotia government. Prior to this she was Director, Critical Minerals and Strategic Resources at Natural Resources Canada. Ms. Zinck has over twenty-five years’ experience in the leadership of multidisciplinary programs to address mineral resource development. She was instrumental in the creation of Canada’s Green Mining Initiative, the national program on rare earth elements and chromite development in Canada, the Mining Value from Waste initiative and Critical Minerals R&D program.
She is a Past President of the Canadian Institute of Mining Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), current President of the Metallurgical and Materials Society, and past-Chair of CIM’s Environmental and Social Responsibility Society. In addition, she is Chair of the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame and President Elect of the Canadian Federation of Earth Sciences (CFES).
She is a CIM Fellow and a past CIM Distinguished Lecturer. She was profiled as one of eighteen ‘Women of Impact in Canada’s Mining, Metallurgical and Materials Industry’ and by the Canadian Museum of Science and Technology as a “Superhero of Industry – Lady Chromite”. More recently she was announced as a 2020 Clean50 award winner, recognizing her efforts in green mining.
Ms. Zinck has undergraduate degrees in geology and chemistry, and a master’s degree in metallurgical engineering. She holds two patents, has published extensively and presented widely on aspects relating to mineral resource development.
President Elect: Imad Alainachi, Ph.D., P.Geo.
Dr. Imad Alainachi is the Technical and Strategic Advisor and a Senior Geotechnical Specialist with Paterson Group, and a Part-Time Professor at the University of Ottawa. Prior to this he worked as geologist and geotechnical specialist at different levels with several consulting firms in Canada and the Middle East. He completed a BSc (Geology) and MSc (Engineering Geology) at the University of Basra, Iraq and a PhD in Geotechnical Engineering at the University of Ottawa, Canada. He has over 20 years of experience in geotechnical engineering, engineering geology, site and laboratory testing and supervision. Projects have included transmission lines, light train lines and stations, high- rise/low-rise residential/commercial buildings, and rehabilitation/revitalization of heritage buildings. Area of expertise include geotechnical investigation, material inspection and testing, soil and rock mechanics, design of shallow and deep foundation, cut-off and retaining walls, slope stability and slope stabilization analysis, numerical and physical modelling, geological and geotechnical hazards, ground improvement, mine waste management, blasting geotechnical engineering, and geotechnical earthquake engineering.
Dr. Alainachi is a member of the Canadian Geotechnical Society (CGS), serving as CGS representative in the Canadian Federation of Earth Sciences (CFES) (2020-2023), member of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE), a corresponding member of the Board of the Young Members Presidential Group (YMPG). He served as the student representative (2017-2020), an executive member (2020-2021) and the current Vice-Chair of the Ottawa Geotechnical Group (OGG). He also served as a reviewer for several international peer-reviews journals, a member of the Review Committee of the university of Ottawa Civil Engineering Program, and a member of the accreditation committee of the University of Ottawa. The Ph.D. Thesis of Dr. Alainachi was nominated for the prize of the best Ph.D. Thesis at the university of Ottawa, 2020.
Past President: Beth McLarty Halfkenny, B.Sc. (Hons)
Beth McLarty Halfkenny is a geoscience outreach specialist providing informal geoscience education opportunities for youth, teachers and the public. She is Curator and Outreach Coordinator in the Department of Earth Sciences at Carleton University, has served as Chair, and now past Chair of EdGEO Canadian Earth Science Teacher Workshop Program, is a member of the Ottawa Gatineau Geoheritage Project, and a member of the Canadian Geoscience Education Network (CGEN), assuming the role of President in May of 2019. Beth is a graduate of Western University, with an Honours BSc. in Geology. Past work experience includes mapping with the Ontario Geological Survey in Northern Ontario, geochemical research assistant to Dr. Rob Kerrich at Western University, Earth Science Technician at Acadia University, and High School Science Assistant with the Sooke School Board in BC.
Secretary: Lilian Navarro, Ph.D.
Dr. Lilian Navarro is currently working as a Lab Instructor at Cape Breton University, wherein she is introducing geological subjects through lab exercises to numerous Canadian and international students enrolled in the engineering, petroleum technology, education, and public health programs, who in many cases are attending a geology course for the first time. She completed her B.Sc. in Geological Engineering at the Universidad Central de Venezuela, and subsequently she finished M.Sc., Ph.D., and Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Ottawa. She has conducted extensive geological fieldwork in the world-class exposures of deep-marine siliciclastic- and mixed (siliciclastic-carbonate)- dominated systems of the late Neoproterozoic Windermere Supergroup in the Cariboo Mountains, South-eastern Canadian Cordillera. Her research interests include sedimentological characterization, stratigraphic architecture and evolution of deep-water systems and Ediacaran phosphatic-rich deposits. She is one of the Co-chairs of the SEPM Deep-water Research Group, a co-host of the SedsOnline Coffee Break – Americas Section, and is an active leader in the GeoLatinas ’s initiatives (Education & Outreach, and GeoLatinas por Latin America and Venezuela). She is a member of the International Association of Sedimentologists (IAS), American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) and Atlantic Geoscience Society (AGS).
Financial Director: Keith Delaney, Ph.D.
Keith Delaney is currently a Lecturer in the Earth and Environmental Sciences department at the University of Waterloo. He obtained his MES from Wilfrid Laurier University in 2006 and his PhD from the University of Waterloo in 2014. Keith was awarded the prestigious W.B. Pearson Medal at convocation. This award is dedicated to graduate students who have had large contributions to both teaching and new creative research during their PhD. Keith’s doctoral research focused on the utilization of geographic information systems and remote sensing techniques to analyze, model, and quantify
large-scale catastrophic natural hazards (e.g. landslides, earthquakes, and outburst floods), and their secondary processes (e.g. tsunamis, river damming, building destruction), including their geospatial impacts to both the human and natural landscape. After completing his PhD, Keith continued in academia undertaking three individual 1-year Post-Doctoral positions at the University of Waterloo, funded by the Canadian Space Agency and the Department of National Defence.
In 2017, Keith was hired as a Lecturer in the Earth and Environmental Sciences department and currently teaches introductory lecture and lab courses in physical geology, physical hydrology, and environmental science. He was awarded the Jane Lang Excellence in Teaching award in 2021 and the AMC Award for Exceptional Teaching by a Student in 2012. Keith is also very engaged in orientation, outreach, and recruitment, and is the main organizer of the first-year field trip to the Elora Gorge Conservation Area each September, helping to welcome new students into his department while introducing them to some exciting local geology.
Communications Director: Fiona D'Arcy
Hi, I'm Fiona (she/her/elle), a settler in Ottawa on Anishinaabe Algonquin lands which I'm lucky to share with the people, plants, rocks, and animals living around the rideau river. I love nature and that's what drew me to study earth science.
I study volcanology and am currently completing my PhD at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. I hail from Toronto, Ontario where I was lucky to attend the Ontario Science Centre Science School and learned how to share my scientific curiosity with others. I completed my BSc with honours specialization in Geology at the University of Ottawa in 2015 and my MSc at McGill in 2018. In my PhD, I examine the geochemistry of gases, trees, and minerals in order to forecast magmatic changes at highly dynamic volcanoes. I use a variety of instrumentation in the field and in the lab to follow the life cycle of gases from their deep roots in the very minerals grown in a volcano to their far-reaching impact on the surrounding vegetation.
Outreach Director: presently vacant.
International Director: Katherine Boggs, Ph.D.
Katherine is passionate about the geosciences because she is fascinated by the processes that form the “Earth beneath our feet”. She has been a geology professor at Mount Royal University in Calgary since 2003 and was part of the team that lead the transition from a two-year university transfer to a four-year BSc Geology Major Program. Her PhD was completed at the University of Calgary constraining the offset
and timing of displacement along the Purcell Thrust Fault that cuts across the Rocky Mountain Trench in southern BC. Katherine did her MSc at the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi determining the P-T-t trajectories for a granulite dome in the Grenville Province. She completed her BSc (Honurs in Biology-Geology) at Carleton University in Ottawa. While trained as a field based metamorphic petrologist through graduate school, Katherine has found herself promoting EON-ROSE as the next mega-
geosciences project in Canada. She is also the Director for the Community Science Liaison program embeds place- and curriculum-based citizen science projects in Canadian K-12 classrooms. Teachers appreciate these projects because they bring the real world into their classrooms, students feel empowered because they feel as though they are contributing towards understanding their backyards and scientists get rejuvenated about their disciplines through these student’s enthusiasm for understanding their “backyard laboratories”.
Special Projects Director: held open for appropriate special project.
External Engagement Director: Tom Sneddon
Tom retired recently as Director of Geoscience for APEGA. He has broad geoscience experience, with over 30 years practicing experimental watershed research, hydrology, hydrogeology, environmental geology, oil and gas prospect development, drilling programs, and extensive field work in minerals exploration and development – in both government and industry. Using this diverse background, he applied it to the promotion of professionalism within the geosciences, through his role at APEGA. He is currently Editor for the CSPG Reservoir and President of Marmot Research Inc. in Calgary and continues to volunteer with APEGA. He is a Professional Geologist and a Member of both APEGA and EGBC.