NY SME's Third Thought Leaders in Mining Symposium

Tim Alch is Executive Director (2016-22) and Executive Committee Member (2008-16) of NY SME, and Managing Partner of TAA Advisory. Since 2012, Tim has chaired and organized more than 35 expert panel discussions. He is co-chair of NY SME's annual Current Trends in Mining Finance (CTMF) Conferences. His work history spans equity, management and investment analysis focused on metals, mining and energy, and executive placement. He is a Senior Associate and was a Managing Director of Behre Dolbear; SVP of Anderson & Schwab; Equity Analyst at Paine Webber, Prudential Securities, and Dean Witter Reynolds and Senior Industry Analyst at CRU International (London), World Steel Dynamics (New York) and Resource Strategies (Philadelphia). He is an Honors Geology graduate, and John Mason Clarke fellow of Amherst College; studied Mineral & Energy Economics at Pennsylvania State University; and member of SME, AEMA, PDAC and NCUSCR and was a SME Finance Strategic Committee member (2017-20). In 2020 Tim was selected as the 2020 recipient of the SME President's Citation for Local Section Service Award.

Alan Oshiki is the Executive Vice President of Abernathy MacGregor (New York), one of the world's top corporate, strategic and financial communications consultancies. Alan advises on event-driven stakeholder engagement for initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, crises, activist shareholder defense, litigation, bankruptcy and financial restructuring, as well as innovative, high-impact approaches to ongoing communications with business audiences. Alan helps management teams and boards of directors engage their investors, customers, employees and other important stakeholders to attract capital and deal flow, generate revenue, and build loyalty and support. He works with some of the world's largest corporations, as well as middle-market companies, start-ups, private equity sponsors, professional services firms and industry associations. Alan has over ten years of direct mining industry experience in engineering, management and finance with BHP/Magma Copper. His mining industry clients have included Alpha Natural Resources, Hecla Mining Company, Coeur Mining Inc., and Joy Global Inc. He holds an MBA from the University of Arizona and a BS in Mining Engineering from the University of Idaho. A published author as well as a frequent speaker and workshop leader, Alan is also Chairman and Treasurer of the New York Section of the SME.

Steve Holmes is a mining engineer with over 35 years of experience and is responsible for overseeing all operational functions of the First Majestic's silver mines and projects. Prior to joining First Majestic, Mr. Holmes held the position of Vice President, Joint Venture Portfolio at Barrick Gold Corporation, a global gold mining company, and was responsible for overseeing Barrick's interest in their Global Joint Venture operations and projects. He previously served as the COO for KGHM International, Operations Vice President at the Sierra Gorda copper mine in Chile and has acted in general management roles at Asarco, the Mine Technology Group, Chino Mines Company and Freeport-McMoRan.

Jessica Roberts is Head of Forecasting for Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, leading a team of global analysts responsible for Benchmark's forecast subscription services. She has spent the past 14 years demystifying the opaque world of critical materials, at global research and consultancy organizations including Wood Mackenzie, Roskill, and Fastmarkets. Jessica has worked across a range of critical minerals and metals, including cobalt, graphite, fluorspar, lithium, tantalum, tungsten, titanium and tin, both as an industry consultant and research manager. She is an authoritative voice on critical material supply chain dynamics, featuring in print and broadcast media, and regularly speaks at industry conferences. Jessica has a Master's degree in Geology from the University of Leicester.

Jeff Christian is Managing Partner of CPM Group, a precious metals and commodities research and consulting firm. He founded CPM Group in 1986 when he bought the Commodities Research Group he managed from J. Aron and Goldman Sachs. He is a globally recognized authority on the markets for precious metals and is well known for his application of economics and econometrics across commodities markets. He has written two books, Commodities Rising in 2005 and World Guide To Battery-Powered Road Transportation in 1979. He also is well known for his financial engineering work using commodities derivatives both for hedging and investment purposes and has worked with numerous governments, central banks, mining companies, industrial companies, investment banks, and institutional investors.

In these messy times, new-found attention is being placed on materials supply chains as stresses develop around energy, non-energy and defense priorities collide with market and geopolitical realities. Public antipathy in the US, Europe and even countries where minerals production is a primary activity encumbers both expansions and green field projects. The industry must deal with ‘ESG' pressures that are influencing capital markets heavily and for which many operational and commercially acceptable solutions do not yet exist. Broad lack of coordination within and among governments and societies over conflicting priorities are disrupting commodity markets and contributing to inflation pressures. Will the industry be able to respond in effective ways to opportunities and challenges?

Michelle Michot Foss, Ph.D., has more than 45 years of professional consulting, investment banking and university leadership research experience in oil, natural gas, LNG, power with early career involvement in the mining industry. She has led USG and other assignments in more than 20 countries.

Sven-Uwe Schulz is Deputy Head of the German Mineral Resources Agency (DERA) in the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), the Federal Geological Survey of Germany, that is a subsidiary organization of the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Change. Sven serves as head of the unit Evaluation of Mineral Resources of DERA. He has more than 20 years experience in the fields of mining engineering, consulting, project management and project evaluation. Mr. Schulz has worked for two engineering consultants and a university before he joined DERA in 2013. He holds a doctoral degree from the Technical University of Berlin, Germany (2008) as well as a master's degree in mining engineering (2001) from the same university.

Chair: Cynthia Urda Kassis is Partner, Head of Project Development & Finance and Lead Industry Coordinator for Mining & Metals. Cynthia has decades of experience representing sponsors/borrowers as well as providers of finance in project, finance and joint-venture transactions worldwide, with extensive experience in the mining industry, as well as in infrastructure and energy. For her impact in the space she has been a three-time recipient of the “Project Finance Lawyer of the Year” award by Who's Who Legal. Cynthia's notable work in the mining space includes the representation of: (i) Orion and Blackstone in the financing of Lundin Gold's $1B+ Fruta Del Norte Project in Ecuador; (ii) Orion Mine Finance on its acquisition of Occidental Petroleum's Wyoming, Colorado and Utah Land Grant assets for about $1.33 billion and the financing thereof; (iii) Société Générale and ING on the structured acquisition financing of Cobalt 27 and (iv) Nevada Copper on the development and financing of its Pumpkin Hollow Underground Copper Project.

Alice England joined Ecora Resources PLC in March 2019. She has over 15 years’ experience in the natural resources sector, and a detailed understanding of the legal terms and structures of royalty and streams. In 2021 and 2022, Alice played a key part in the successful completion of two of the largest deals in Ecora Resources’ history, totaling nearly $400 million. The transactions successfully pivoted the Company away from its coal heritage towards the commodities required to support a more sustainable future. Prior to joining the Group, Alice began her legal career at Herbert Smith Freehills. She qualified as a lawyer at Dentons and during that time worked in the Middle East on hydropower and carbon capture storage projects. Subsequently Alice worked as a senior legal and commercial adviser at a FTSE 250 oil and gas company, where she provided advice on a wide range of transactional and operational matters with a particular focus on corporate M&A, fundraising, acquisitions and disposals, corporate governance and dispute resolution. Alice has a BA (Hons) in English Literature and Diploma in Law from Exeter University and Legal Practice Certificate from Oxford University, College of Law.

Kate Southwell is General Counsel of Pala Investments, a private investment fund based in Zug, Switzerland. She has been with Pala for over 9 years. Pala is a thematic fund focused on value creation along the mining and metals supply chain and facilitating the sustainable supply of commodities for the green transition. Kate has led several transformative M&A and innovative financing transactions in nickel, copper, cobalt and other battery metals. Kate manages all legal, commercial and strategic matters for Pala and its hedge fund, Pala Assets and is co-head of ESG. As a qualified lawyer in both the US and UK, Kate brings a strong commercial focus to drive excellence, communicate complex legal problems in an accessible way, and minimize risk. Kate is a director of Nevada Copper (TSX:NCU) and Kasbah Resources Ltd. Kate is a regular speaker on ESG and decarbonization at industry events, and is passionate about improving diversity, sustainability and safety in the mining sector. Prior to joining Pala, Kate was with Nyrstar NV, and worked on numerous transformative projects including the Breakwater acquisition and the redevelopment of the Port Pirie smelter in South Australia.

Kai Hoffmann is the CEO of the Soar Financial Group, a diverse group of companies focused on the mining sector. Part of the Soar Financial Group, Oreninc is North America's leading provider of relevant financing information in the junior commodities space. Tracking over 1,350 companies on the TSX, TSX-V and CSE gives him valuable insight into the current state of the markets. Kai frequently presents his groups' findings at leading industry conferences worldwide. He recently presented and opened the capital markets program at the world's largest mining conference PDAC in Toronto. Follow Kai on Twitter @soarfinancial and @oreninc for up-to-date market commentary, live interviews and more.

Marc LeVier is a minerals industry consultant with over 50 years of experience in the mining industry. He has worked in mining operations and the development of new mining projects from exploration to operation. He has worked for mining companies as well as engineered equipment companies in support of the mining industry. Mr. LeVier most recently worked as the Senior Director of Metallurgical R&D for Newmont Mining Corporation. In 2011 Mr. LeVier started a minerals industry consulting company, providing metallurgical and analytical expertise to the industry. He has been the CEO and Director of several rare earth junior mining companies, leading efforts to develop new rare earth deposits. Mr. LeVier's experience covers base metals, precious metals, industrial minerals, iron ore, rare earth minerals, and energy minerals.

Chair: Jonathan Lafontaine is a Geologist with degrees from both Laval University and the University of New Brunswick. He has worked in the field of exploration and mining development since 2001 in a vast array of commodities and deposit types, throughout numerous Canadian provinces. He is the Mining Exploration Activity Monitor for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests, a role which he has held since 2020.

Patrick Beauchesne, President, CEO, Managing Director, Société du Plan Nord is a holder of a Bachelor's degree in Forest Resource Management and a Master's degree in Forest Sciences, Mr. Beauchesne was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of the Société du Plan Nord in 2019. Previously, the same year, he was Associate Secretary General of the Minister of the Executive Council and Secretary of the Ministerial Committee for the Economy and the Environment. Previously, Patrick held various positions within the Ministry of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change, starting in 1992. As Director General of Ecology and Conservation, he contributes to the preparation of territory protection objectives as part of the development of the Plan Nord in 2010 and 2015. He was appointed Assistant Deputy Minister for Sustainable Development and Environmental Quality in 2014, then Deputy Minister in 2017. Mr. Beauchesne sits on the boards of directors of the Pointe-Noire Rail and Port Company S.E.C., and of the Qc Rail S.E.C. Railway Company, as well as on the steering committee of the Institut Nordique du Québec.

Amyot Choquette is a Senior Director Investments since 2012 at Ressources Québec, a division of Investissement Québec that invests and finances projects in the mining, forestry and energy sectors. Prior to occupying these functions, Mr. Choquette has held a number of functions at the Société Générale de Financement du Québec in the mining and forestry sectors. Mr. Choquette has also worked at the Fonds regional de Solidarité FTQ, a labor sponsored fund, and at Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton. Mr. Choquette earned is business degree from Université Laval in 1991 and is a CPA CA since 1993.

Jocelyn Douhéret joined the Société du Plan Nord in April 2016 as Director of the Marketing Office. Previously, he worked for more than 10 years in the mining sector as General Manager of an environmental services company, then as Director and Vice President of Business Development for a company offering services and equipment. From 1998 to 2006, he worked for Québec companies on industrial development projects in Eastern Europe, Latin America as well as Canada, particularly in the fields of natural resources, energy and environment. Mr. Douhéret began his career in 1996 as a scientific attaché at the Embassy of France in Slovakia. He is a graduate of ENESAD (Dijon, 1994) and holds a master's degree in science from Université Laval (1996).

Donald Olivier, an accomplished engineer, holds a Bachelor's degree, Engineering and Construction Management from the école de Technologie Supérieure, earned in 1994, and serves as President & Chief Executive Officer for the Société du Parc Industriel et Portuaire de Bécancour (SPIPB) since May 2022. SPIPB plays a pivotal role in the battery industry's deployment strategy by hosting numerous large companies specialized in the production of battery materials and by assisting future investors in their efforts. Director at Hydro-Québec from 2015 to 2020, Mr. Olivier was responsible for the closure and decommissioning of the Gentilly-2 nuclear power plant, a very sensitive project for the state-owned corporation and for the Bécancour region. As regional director from 2005 to 2014, still for Hydro-Québec, Mr. Olivier was responsible for the operation of 60 dams and 14 hydroelectric power plants in the Mauricie/ Centre-du-Québec region, in addition to leading numerous dam and spillway dismantling, reconstruction and rehabilitation projects.

Chris Galbraith is a Toronto-based mining professional. With a career spanning nearly two decades, Chris began as a geologist investigating a variety of exploration projects for most commodities and across most Canadian jurisdictions. In 2014, he transitioned to market research with SNL Metals & Mining (later a division of S&P Global), regularly publishing research on mine supply, exploration and mine financing trends and speaking at international conferences. In 2021 he joined Teck's marketing division as part of the company's Base Metals Market Research team.

Chair: Michael Stine is a mineral economist with Stantec and focuses on valuation, risk analysis, and economic modelling. He previously served as an intelligence analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency where he helped senior policy makers understand the national security risks related to his area of expertise. He enjoys using his technical and economic background to enable decision makers to understand and apply both economic and technical principles to strategic decision making. He has an MS in Mineral and Energy Economics from the Colorado School of Mines and a BS in Mining Engineering from the University of Utah.

Graham Davis is a Professor Emeritus in the Division of Economics and Business at the Colorado School of Mines and consults in mine and project valuation for several large mining companies. Professor Davis also has significant experience as an expert witness in litigation involving mine valuations and damages from temporary takings. At the Colorado School of Mines, Professor Davis taught a range of courses including applied microeconomics, mineral and energy asset valuation, and research methodology. He has a PhD in Mineral Economics from Pennsylvania State University, an MBA from the University of Cape Town, and a BS in Metallurgical Engineering from Queen's University.

Jay Okey enjoys working with people to better understand risk assessment challenges in a messy world. He served as an intelligence analyst with the CIA and the National Intelligence Council for 35 years, helping senior US decision makers grapple with national security risks and opportunities on a wide variety of issues and regions across an arc of history running from the Cold War to COVID. Among various roles, he has worked high-priority country accounts, helped produce the US Intelligence Community's 20-year strategic assessment known as “Global Trends,” led analysis for an innovative open-source analytic startup, and served as the chief of CIA's alternative analytic unit challenging key assumptions to hunt for strategic surprises. He currently engages with SAIC's simulation exercise group, teaches sessions at the University of Washington Jackson School of International Relations, and offers his own services through Three Think consulting on risk assessment, strategic surprise, alternative analysis, scenarios, and effective writing for decision makers.

Patrick Sobecke is a senior mining consultant at Stantec with a diverse background spanning operations, engineering, corporate strategy, and change management. He has 20 years of experience in underground and surface coal, surface metals, and equipment sales and maintenance. He enjoys the challenge of continuous improvement and understanding and attacking the root cause of any problem, over treating the symptoms. Before joining Stantec, Patrick held roles at Accenture, RPM Global, and various mining companies. He has a BS in Mining Engineering from Virginia Tech.

Greg McNab is a Senior Partner at Dentons, an international law firm with experience advising on a variety of global mining issues. Greg's practice focus is on assisting resource and energy companies in penetrating and expanding new markets. He has acted for a number of Asian, European and Australian resource companies. Greg provides advice on many aspects of corporate legal matters, including the negotiation and drafting of purchase and sale agreements, joint venture arrangements, earn-in agreements, private and public investment structures, shareholder agreements, opinion letters, applications for regulatory relief and related transaction documents. Greg regularly speaks, writes published articles and appears in the media with respect to a variety of corporate, securities, mining and climate change matters. He is a director and chair of the Canadian Chapter of the Canadian Australian Chamber of Commerce.

Samm Gillard is a technical project manager for the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) and a supply chain manager in the newly established Manufacturing Energy and Supply Chains Office, where he leads research, development, and deployment projects aimed to advance low cost, secure, and clean energy technologies for transportation and increase the U.S. footprint in the battery supply chain. Within VTO, he manages several projects for the Battery R&D team, and in MESC leads the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law programs. His areas of responsibility include lithium ion battery recycling, extreme fast charging, and leads multiple initiatives for the Federal Consortium for Advanced Batteries. Most recently, Samm served as the first author on the Biden administration's 100 Day Supply Chain Review for High Capacity Batteries. Prior to DOE, he worked in battery design and supply chain for the Department of Defense, worked for the U.S. Patent and Trademark office as a patent examiner in batteries and fuel cells, and served in the military. He has a degree in Materials Science from the University of Maryland.

Rick Lambert is Technical Director, U.S. Mining Advisory for SLR Consulting and is responsible for operations of the company's U.S. mining consulting practice. He is a senior mining executive with more than 40 years experience in all aspects of mine development from permitting to closure. His experience includes development and operation of open pit mines, start-ups, preparation and implementation of feasibility studies, due diligence, M&A, and management consulting. He was employed by Fortune 500 mining companies for the first 17 years of his career including Phelps Dodge, Kennecott, NERCO and Exxon Minerals. Since then he has been providing mining contracting and consulting services. He's been involved with over 120 mining properties around the world. He's lead teams of mining experts in reserve audits for major mining companies and been involved as the independent engineer on many large mining project financings over US$1 billion (Esperanza, Antucoya, Caserones, Quebrada Blanca, and Constancia).

Robert W. Schafer is a Registered Professional Geologist with +30 years international experience exploring for mineral deposits and identifying, evaluating and structuring business transactions globally having worked in more than 80 countries on all continents. Mr. Schafer is an active member of SME (President 2020-2021), the PDAC (President 2015-2016), the CIM (President 2013-2014) and the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America (MMSA – President 2005-20066). He was a member of the Board of Governors for the US National Mining Hall of Fame and the Board of Directors of the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame. He is the only person to hold such leadership roles in both the USA and Canada. Mr. Schafer is the recipient of the William Lawrence Saunders Gold Medal from AIME, as well as the Daniel C. Jackling Award and Robert A. Dreyer Award from SME for technical achievements and leadership in the mining industry during his career. He earned his BSc and MSc degrees in Geology and in Mineral Economics and completed studies toward a PhD in Economic Geology. In addition, he completed the Executive Management program at Stanford University. Mr. Schafer is a Certified Corporate Director (ICD.D) and a Registered Professional Geologist in the States of Wyoming and Utah. He is founder and CEO of Eagle Mines Management and is a member of the Board of Directors of select mining companies.

Brad Terhune is a senior geologist and cost analyst at Costmine, where he estimates the costs and analyzes the economic potential of proposed mineral development projects from early exploration through prefeasibility stage. He is also responsible for key mine equipment and supply cost databases. Prior to joining Costmine, Brad supervised and carried out mineral exploration efforts for numerous clients in a variety of geological settings in North America and Africa. Brad holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Geology and Geophysics from the University of Missouri – Rolla and a Masters of Science Degree in Geology and Geological Engineering from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.

Jeff Parshley has more than 35 years of environmental and closure experience in the mining industry. Jeff specializes in closure planning and closure cost estimation. In addition to doing planning and analysis work for mines, he has been involved in the management of abandoned mines and the implementation of closure works at several mines in the western United States. Having worked with legal and policy aspects of mining projects since his early career, Jeff regularly contributes to World Bank and IFC compliance projects and is one of SRK's most experienced mine closure strategists and regulatory specialists. He has helped develop regulatory guidelines for mine closure and closure cost estimating and has also helped clients develop corporate standards and guidance documents for closure planning, implementation, and cost estimating. Jeff is a regular mine closure and closure cost estimating instructor for in-house workshops conducted for mining companies and US government agencies. He served as SRK's global group chairman from 2016 to 2021.

Dr. Hutchison has over 45 years of experience in technical and financial risk management, mining environmental and remediation engineering, mine closures and in value contracting. He has a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering and has been responsible for permitting, planning, design, and construction management of mining waste and water management, environmental and infrastructure projects. He has planned and developed mining waste and water management, infrastructure, closure projects, ground and surface water supplies, groundwater remediation, directed environmental assessment and permitting activities, and dealt extensively with flood studies and flood control projects.

Michael Nahir, P.Eng., M.Eng., is a civil and environmental engineer with extensive experience in project management, design, and execution of mine site closure projects in Canada. Michael is Parsons’ Director of Mining Environmental Management responsible for the various mining programs for Parsons. Parsons is the construction manager for two of the largest abandoned mine closure projects in Canada. Previously he worked for the Canadian federal government as Engineering Principal and Oversight of all Closure Design, which provided technical oversight and direction to all federal abandoned mine closure projects. Michael has led the closure planning and executing of numerous closure projects throughout Canada. He was the international project manager in the development of the International Standards Organization (ISO) Mine Closure and Reclamation Standard.

Dr. Björn Weeks, P.Eng is the Senior Advisor for Mine Closure at Teck Resources Ltd, where he provides strategic leadership and technical direction on all closure related matters. Prior to joining Teck in 2022, Björn was the global lead for mine closure services at WSP/Golder. With over 28 years of professional experience, he has dedicated his career to mine closure. He has worked on the development and execution of mine closure plans around the world, working with many of the world’s leading mining companies. He has also developed international mine closure guidance documents, including the ICMM’s 2019 Closure Good Practice Guide, and APEC’s 2018 Mine Closure Checklist for Governments. He is the current Co-Chair of ICMM’s Mine Closure Working Group.

Chair: Allison F. Zuniga, NASA Ames Research Center, Strategic Partnerships Office. Allison Zuniga presently serves as Project Development Manager for Commercial Space Initiatives at NASA Ames Research Center's Strategic Partnerships Office. During her tenure of over 30 years at NASA, she has worked as Aerospace Engineer and Project Manager on several Space Transportation and Space Science missions including NASA's Artemis Space Launch System and Orion Spacecraft, Space Shuttle Program, International Space Station, Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) mission, NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) and Commercial Crew Programs. She has a BS in Aerospace Engineering from Syracuse University; an MS in Aerospace Engineering from USC and an advanced graduate degree from Stanford University.

Anthony Colaprete is a Planetary Scientist at the NASA Ames Research Center. Dr. Colaprete has led or participated in several flight projects, including being PI and Payload Manager for the LCROSS mission and the PI and Instrument Manager for the LADEE UVS instrument. Currently Dr. Colaprete is the PI for the NIRVSS instrument, an instrument manifested on the Astrobotic Peregrine lunar lander Mission-1, a Co-I on the LunaH-Map EM-1 cubesat mission and the Mastcam-Z Mars 2020 instrument, and the lead Mission Scientist for the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) lunar rover mission. Over the last decade Dr. Colaprete has worked to migrate terrestrial resource exploration techniques and principles to lunar and Mars resource exploration, developing an “applied planetary science” framework that bridges the gap between science, exploration, and technology.

Bruce Pittman is the V.P. of Development at Skycorp, Inc. and is a co-founder of the Space Portal Office at the NASA Ames Research Center. He is also a co-founder and CEO of the not-for-profit, Future Frontiers Institute, and a member of the Board of Directors of the National Space Society. Bruce has over four decades of experience in aerospace and high technology system development. He served as a civil servant at NASA Ames for the first 11 years of his career (working in planetary exploration and airborne and space based infrared astronomy). He then transitioned to the private sector where he worked as a system engineering and project management consultant on large complex systems with clients both in government and industry including NASA. Bruce helped launch several startups including SpaceHab and Kistler Aerospace and is a regularly invited speaker at numerous conferences, often giving keynote addresses on space development in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Bruce returned to NASA Ames in 2005 as a contractor to help found the Space Portal. Bruce has a BS in Mechanical/ Aerospace Engineering from U. C. Davis and a MS in Engineering Management from Santa Clara University. He has authored or co-authored over 50 papers on technology, management, and business topics in aerospace and high technology. Bruce has also been a member of the adjunct faculty in the Graduate Engineering School at Santa Clara University for 35 years. His numerous career awards include the NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal in 2011 for “exceptional leadership in pioneering the development of commercial space for public benefit.”

Dan Rasky, Ph.D. is a NASA Senior Scientist and the current Chief of the Space Portal Office he co-founded in 2005. From 2005-2006, Dan was a core member of the NASA HQ Team that established the NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. He was awarded the Exceptional Achievement medal for promotion of partnerships with the emerging and non-traditional space industry in 2006. President George W. Bush conferred on Dr. Rasky the rank of Meritorious Senior Professional in 2007 for sustained superior accomplishment in public service. Dan was also awarded NASA's most distinguished recognition for innovators or the “Inventor of the Year” award in 2007 and the “Government Invention of the Year” award in 2009 for his SIRCA and PICA heat shield innovations. PICA enabled the NASA Stardust comet sample return mission, the fastest entry ever at Earth of a human-made object, and is currently on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. PICA also enabled the Mars Science Laboratory and the Mars 2020 missions which put the Opportunity and Perseverance Rovers on Mars, as well as the current NASA Osiris-Rex asteroid sample return mission. In 2008-2009, Dan worked with SpaceX to develop the thermal protection systems for their Dragon capsule which is flying PICA as its primary heat shield. Formerly Chief for the Thermal Protections Materials and Systems Branch at NASA Ames, Dan is an internationally recognized expert for space thermal protection and entry systems. He was selected for a series of interviews for his “…breakthrough innovations and answers to complex challenges” viewable on NASA's official Knowledge@NASA YouTube Channel. Prior to NASA, Dan worked for a small aerospace company, Acurex, conducting R & D contracting work for the Air Force.

Colin Williams is Acting USGS Mineral Resources Program Coordinator, on detail from his position as Director of the Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics (GMEG) Science Center at the USGS Moffett Field, California campus. The USGS Mineral Resources Program provides objective, credible, and reliable scientific information on the origin, distribution, quantity, and quality of nonfuel mineral resources, assesses mineral potential, informs the nation on global mineral supply-demand and materials flows, and characterizes the environmental impact of development. The GMEG Science Center pursues geologic mapping, energy and mineral resource assessments, landslide and earthquake hazards studies, and climate change investigations throughout the western United States. Previously he served as Chief of the Geothermal Resource Investigations Project, with responsibility for leading a team of USGS employees in assessing the geothermal energy resources of the United States and conducting research on improved methods for characterizing and evaluating geothermal resources. His primary research interest is in measuring and modeling the flow of heat and fluids through the Earth's crust and using those measurements to understand hydrothermal processes, earthquakes, and groundwater flow. Colin has a BS in Engineering from Harvey Mudd College, an MS in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley, and an MPhil and PhD in Geophysics from Columbia University.

Anne Williamson is an industry leader in the development and implementation of sustainability and environmental programs in the global engineering and mining businesses. Currently with WSP USA, Anne's career has spanned from greenfield exploration to compliance and mine permitting, to executive leadership. She has created and managed environment, sustainability, and enterprise risk management programs, and held sustainability and technical leadership positions with mining companies and technical consultancies, including Phelps Dodge, Twin Metals Minnesota, URS, and Wood. She has created trusting working relationships with communities, indigenous groups, labor organizations and regulatory agencies. She served as a part of MMSD, the precursor to ICMM. Anne currently has the honor of serving as an SME director-at-large. She has served on the board of directors and as Vice President of the Mining Minnesota trade association, and as board advisor to Jobs for Minnesotans, a coalition of industry, labor, and municipalities. She holds a Bachelor's and Master's degrees in geology.

Prior to co-founding Skarn in 2016, Mark Fellows led the metals & mining consulting business at SNL Financial/S&P Global. Skarn is a mining sector data and research business, quantifying and benchmarking ESG impacts across the sector at the asset level. Mark's career started in 1987 as an exploration geologist with Anglo American Corporation in Southern Africa. He went on to work for junior diamond and gold explorers in Africa. He subsequently spent 13 years at Brook Hunt (now Wood Mackenzie). From 2009 Mark was Managing Director of GFMS Mine Economics Limited, a business co-founded with GFMS Limited, which was sold to Thomson Reuters in 2011.

Sandra Gogal is a partner in the Aboriginal Law Group at Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP. A strategic thinker and trusted advisor on matters relating to Aboriginal and environmental law, Sandra offers a combined 25+ years of experience – both in-house with the Government of Ontario and in private practice - providing legal advice to clients in the resource sector across Canada. An astute negotiator, she has navigated several successful commercial arrangements, settlements, impact and benefit agreements, and partnerships between industry and First Nations. For her work, Sandra is ranked as a leader in her field by Best Lawyers and Chambers.