Michael has worked in the field of environmental engineering for over 15 years. His consulting career has included managing projects in the areas of rural development approvals, on-site wastewater, and hydrogeological studies for clients from the private, industrial, commercial, and municipal sectors.
Michael’s expertise includes design, inspection, and monitoring of large on-site wastewater disposal systems for residential, commercial, and industrial applications; completion of rural development approval studies; hydrogeological investigations for rural water supplies and water balance studies; and compliance reporting for regulated activities.
Darren Weiner is the manager at the Canada Revenue Agency responsible for the implementation of the excise duty tax framework on cannabis. He has been leading the CRA cannabis program since it began over a year ago. Darren has over 25 years of committee tax experience at the CRA working with various industries that include tobacco, fuel, and softwood lumber.
As a pediatric ICU nurse, Jeannette knows first-hand the power of therapies that work for patients. After the death of her daughter Breanne in 2003, from a childhood form of epilepsy, her journey to relieve suffering through medical cannabis began. Jeannette co-founded The Green Organic Dutchman (TSE: TGOD), one of the first licensed producers in Canada. She is also co-founder of Good & Green, former co-CEO of 48 North (TSX.V: NRTH.V), and holds many advisory and board appointments across the Canadian cannabis industry.
“Hardworking, humble, collaborative teams will make the difference to patients and partners, from soil to sale. We are at a crucial point in the Canadian medical cannabis industry.”
Jonathan Bloom is founding partner and CEO of McGrath/Power Public Relations, an integrated communications agency with a profoundly diverse history of crafting communications with conviction for brands. Jon develops and directs over-arching strategy for clients and is regularly recognized for his strategies that drive outcomes in the form of increased sales, corporate acquisitions, competitive de-positioning and creating new market segments.
Three years ago, McGrath/Power was approached by an integrated medicinal cannabis company and took on the challenge to develop and implement all phases of external communications on their behalf. Since then, M/P has become a driving force behind cannabis communications. Jon has been featured in communications and cannabis trade pubs on the topic of cannabis PR and conceived the first study involving ex-NFL players to illustrate the pain relieving qualities of cannabis versus opioids.
Prior to joining M/P, Jon worked as a reporter for the San Jose Mercury News and the Associated Press.
Mark Doherty serves as the Vice President of Cultivation Technologies at urban-gro, a leading cultivation technologies company delivering best-in-class systems, solutions, and technologies to large-scale Cannabis cultivators throughout North America.
Mark combines his extensive background in commercial-scale aquaponic farming with a personally-inspired passion for Cannabis advocacy and access to further urban-gro’s mission to helping cultivators achieve sustained scalability with innovative technologies that drive down cost, increase economic yield, and reduce environmental impact.
Mark customizes unique solutions using the most advanced cultivation technologies with large-scale cultivators in both the U.S. and around the world.
Mark earned his BS in Business Administration from SUNY Polytechnic Institute and holds an MBA from the State University of New York.
Having majored in Food science, Mehdi worked in food industry for more than a decade in various roles and disciplines from process control to quality assurance. He also directed regulatory affairs consulting firm serving food processing companies. Then he pursued his Master and PhD programs in Chemical Engineering at the University of Toronto (2018). His focus of research revolves around designing and developing lipid-based delivery systems for pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals. He has presented his findings in several domestic and international conferences. His works has led to creating novel IP-protected nano-encapsulated and micro-encapsulated drug delivery systems in liquid, gel and powder forms. These microemulsion-based delivery systems can be used for producing highly bio-available, water-soluble medical and edible cannabis.
John A. MacKay earned a B.A. in Chemistry from St. Lawrence University (SLU), and Ph.D. from the University of Vermont (UVM), in Inorganic Chemistry focused on the synthesis of cancer-fighting compounds. After positions teaching at Davidson College, Lyndon State College and University of Vermont (UVM), John joined Waters Corporation in 1983 and retired in 2017. His career has included many roles in innovative product development and marketing. John is widely recognized as scientific expert extraction with an emphasis on the sub and supercritical fluid for extraction and chromatography in the botanical space; he is bringing the synergy from what were disparate technologies together to optimize workflow.
Synergistic Technologies Associates, LLC works with botanical companies to help maximize their total operations based on Six Sigma principles and practices.
With the expertise and desire to spread the science throughout the industry, John has taken on roles as contributing journalist and science editor for Terpenes and Testing Magazine and was the editor of the early issues of Extraction Magazine and now is contributing journalist and scientific advisor. He has also been appointed the Educator Assistant Professor on the Volunteer Pathway,
Wendy Hulton has over 25 years of experience solving product related regulatory challenges for her clients. Wendy has been providing cannabis related advice since the late 1990’s when the Industrial Hemp Regulations were introduced in Canada. As the Canadian leader of Dickinson Wright’s cross-border cannabis practice group, http://www.dickinson-wright.com/practice-areas/cannabis, Wendy is uniquely qualified to assist participants in the cannabis industry. At Dickinson Wright, we recognize that doing business in the cannabis industry involves more than the regulatory issues surrounding the product itself. Wendy and her colleagues provide specialized corporate, financing, real estate, investing, employment, lobbying and intellectual property advice.
Myrna Gillis is the CEO and co-founder of Aqualitas, a vertically integrated multi-cannabis license holder, having the distinction of being the world’s first organic cannabis company with EU-GMP and DEL licenses. Myrna’s dedication extends beyond her role in the cannabis industry. With 25 years of legal practice in the vulnerable services sector, she has championed disability rights and advocacy. In 2014, she transitioned her career to the cannabis sector, driven by her passion to expand access to medical cannabis through research, innovation, and sustainability.
Under her leadership, Aqualitas has achieved notable accomplishments, including numerous awards in cultivation, branding, innovation, clean technology, and inclusivity. Most recently, receiving the LP Brand of the Year for the Reef Organic brand, and the Best Flower of the Year for Queen Sangria, a multiple Cannabis Cup winner. Myrna has earned the prestigious Kings Counsel designation for her commitment to excellence and integrity the practice of law. Additionally, she received the Halifax Chamber of Commerce Bronze Business Leader Award in 2019.
Myrna actively contributes to the cannabis industry and community as the founding Chair of the Scotia Cannabis Alliance, a past board member of the Cannabis Council of Canada, and a board advisor for the Council for Federal Cannabis Regulation. She also served as Board Trustee for Dalhousie Legal Aid, and an Advisory Board member of the Wallace MacCain Institute. Her dedication to social justice and disabilities is further reflected in her three-decade history of volunteering with various vulnerable sector-based organizations.
Through his expertise in organic synthesis, biochemistry, assay development, proteomics, and analytical chemistry, Dr. Jonathan Vaught, Founder and CEO of Front Range Biosciences, brings widely used agriculture and biotech methods to cannabis cultivation through tissue culture cloning. Prior to founding Front Range Biosciences, Dr. Vaught served as the Director of Assay Development for Velocity Sciences, and Senior Scientist for Beacon Biotechnology and SomaLogic.
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