Celesa Horvath is owner and principal consultant with Ventus Development Services Inc., providing strategic consulting services in Impact Assessment, Regulatory Affairs, Corporate Responsibility, and Sustainable Development.  She has been involved in IA and regulatory processes across Canada for 35 years, guiding public and private sector proponents through the often-complex interplay of legal requirements, stakeholder and participant expectations, practical challenges of science and consultation, resourcing constraints, and other factors to build robust strategies and defensible documentation that will stand up to intense public and legal scrutiny. Ms. Horvath is also recognized as one of Canada’s Clean50 sustainability leaders. She founded the Canadian IA Practitioners Network, the Canadian CSR and SD Practitioners Network, and most recently the Atlantic Canada Association for Impact Assessment.

Denis Marquis, P.Eng. is a Principal and Impact Assessment (IA) Specialist with SLR Consulting (Canada) Ltd., where he carries out IA and permitting assignments for clients in the mining, energy, and other sectors.  With Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of New Brunswick, and with an industrial background in the pulp and paper and thermal power generation sectors, he has advanced federal and provincial environmental and social impact assessment studies for a wide variety of sectors for over 25 years of his career, after shaping his formative years with the New Brunswick Environment Department as an Industrial Approvals Engineer and later as Director of Approvals.  His professional interests have been focused on smart IA scoping, IA execution with multidisciplinary teams, and fostering relationships with local and Indigenous communities.  He has practiced extensively in air quality management and air pollution control, and has co-authored publications relating to establishing good practices for significance thresholds for IAs of development proposals.

Don Maynard is owner and principal consultant of Granville Ridge Consulting, in Prince Edward Island.  Don's 38 years of experience working as a biologist and environmental assessment practitioner on Atlantic Canadian and national projects provides him with a holistic perspective, the understanding, and the working relationships to move projects successfully through environmental data collection, assessment and permitting processes. This experience has been gained while working in both the public and private sectors and has required Don to work with a wide variety of multi-discipline and multi-jurisdictional teams.

Mike Atkinson is Director, Atlantic Region, for the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada. 

Steve Bonnell is with the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, where he leads an ongoing research and planning initiative aimed at defining key principles and best practice for the future planning and conduct of regional and strategic assessments under the Impact Assessment Act.  He is an experienced impact assessment (IA) practitioner, researcher, and teacher, with over 25 years’ experience working in IA in industry, government, and academia. This includes leading the planning, management, and conduct of IAs (project, regional, and strategic) and associated study programs, public and Indigenous engagement initiatives, permitting, and follow-up for proposed development projects in a variety of sectors and jurisdictions. He holds a PhD in IA from the University of Dundee, Scotland, as well as Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Geography from Memorial University of Newfoundland, where he is currently an Adjunct Professor. Dr. Bonnell has published and presented extensively on IA theory and practice, with a focus on improving the efficacy of IA processes and methods, including the associated use of strategic and regional assessments.