Senior Environmental Scientist, Principal

Guy Gilron, MSc, RPBio, ICD.D

Guy is a senior environmental scientist, registered professional biologist and accredited Board Director with extensive experience in various industry sectors, with a focus on aquatic ecology, environmental toxicology and water and sediment quality assessment in freshwater and marine systems. Prior to establishing Borealis Environmental Consulting, he served as Vice President Environmental/Regulatory Affairs at Cardero Coal; during his 2.5-year tenure, Guy oversaw and directed all pre-application Environmental Assessment activities associated with Cardero's Carbon Creek Metallurgical Coal project in northeastern BC, including: baseline studies, permitting activities, regulatory liaison, and community relations and consultations. Prior to that, Guy was Director, Environmental Science at Teck Resources; at Teck, he had primary responsibility for ecological risk and environmental impact assessments at numerous Teck sites, development of the corporate biodiversity conservation program, and dormant properties and contaminated sites assessment/management.

Guy currently focuses his efforts on the integration of science into policy and management decisions, scientific communication, and sustainability assurance for the mining sector in Canada and beyond. Guy is also an accredited independent Board Director, with experience in governance, finance and human resources.

Education

Professional Development

Directors Education Program, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, 2016.
Zinc College, International Zinc Association, Townsville, Australia, 2008

Post-Secondary / University Education

M.Sc., Marine Ecology; University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, 1988
B.Sc. (Honours), Biology/Chemistry; University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, 1984
Field Marine Science, Cornell University, Shoals Marine Laboratory, Isles of Shoals, Maine, USA 1981

Professional Experience

Guy has 30 years’ experience in ecotoxicology and ecological and human health risk assessment, relating specifically to anthropogenic effects on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. He has expertise in the development, evaluation and application of water quality guidelines and criteria in numerous jurisdictions in North America and beyond. Guy joined the mining industry in October of 2006, after a 19-year career in environmental consulting. Prior to his work as Principal of Borealis Environmental, he was Vice President, Environmental and Regulatory Affairs for Cardero Coal Ltd., and Director, Environmental Science for Teck Resources, both based in Vancouver, BC Canada. In the latter position, Guy contributed scientific advice to the Elk Valley Selenium Task Force (EVSTF), a government/industry forum that addressed water quality issues and research in the Elk Valley; this included parameters such as selenium, nitrate, sulphate and cadmium.

Guy is a Verification Service Provider (VSP) with the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) for the Sustainability Assurance Program, Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM). He is also qualified to conduct sustainability assurance under the Responsible Gold Mining Principles (RGMP), administered by the World Gold Council (WGC). Guy is also a Certified Lead Auditor for ISO 14001 (Environmental Management Systems) (QMI), and ISO 17025 (Environmental Laboratory Accreditation) (RABSQA).

In addition to contributing to various research initiatives and several publications related to risk assessment of coal mining effluent (including the 2010 SETAC Pellston book: “Ecological Assessment of Selenium in the Aquatic Environment”), Guy has played a key role in a number of multi-stakeholder working groups related to regulation, assessment, management, and treatment of selenium, specifically:

The Elk Valley Selenium Task Force (EVSTF);
The Canadian and Alberta Industry Selenium Working Groups (CISWG, ABSWG);
The Metal Mining Effluent Regulations 10-year Review, Selenium Sub-Group (as co-chair); and, most recently,
The North American Metal Council - Selenium Working Group (NAMC-SWG) (as Executive Secretariat).

Professional Affiliations

Guy maintains memberships and involvement in various professional and academic societies and organizations, all of which enhance his knowledge base, awareness, participation, on-going learning, and professional networking in both the disciplines and the industry sectors in which he works. These include:

The Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC)(Member and Past-President of Laurentian Chapter) (Senior Editor, Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management journal);
The College of Applied Biology (accredited as a Registered Professional Biologist; former Vice-President);
The Coal Association of Canada (Member); and,
The Canadian Ecotoxicity Workshop (Member and former Board Director).

Accreditations & Appointments

Guy maintains accreditations and appointments under the auspices of various professional and academic organizations, including:

The Institute of Corporate Directors; Toronto, ON Canada (accredited as an ICD.D);
The World Gold Council (Assurance Provider for Responsible Gold Mining Principles (RGMPs));
Mining Association of Canada; Ottawa, ON Canada (Verification Service Provider, Towards Sustainable Mining); and,
Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management journal (Senior Editorial Board Member).
The North American Metal Council - Selenium Working Group (NAMC-SWG) (as Executive Secretariat).

Intermediate Environmental Scientist

Hima Gurupalli

Hima Gurupalli is a biologist with research experience in cell biology, immunology, microbiology and environmental toxicology. Graduated from the University of Alberta, she earned a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences from the Faculty of Science in 2017 and a Master of Science degree in Physiology, Cell and Developmental Biology in 2020. Her research interests include water management, environmental impacts of industry, zebrafish aquaculture, and the toxicological effects of chemical substances on aquatic organisms. She has research experience in the monitoring of the immune system in zebrafish during exposures to various pathogens, the effects of oil sands process-affected water (OSPW) on zebrafish development, and effects of industry on aquatic ecosystems.
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Hima is passionate about science and considers herself to be a lifelong student. She advocates for sustainability, expansion of educational opportunities in environmental responsibility and maintaining the balance between environmental conservation and industrial development.

Senior Environmental Scientist, Associate

Roger Breton, M.Sc., B.Sc.

Roger is a senior environmental scientist with extensive experience in the pesticide and industrial sectors, with a focus on ecological risk assessment, and environmental toxicology for aquatic and wildlife species.

Prior to joining as an Associate with Borealis, Roger was a Senior Scientist at Intrinsik Corp.; during his 15-year tenure, Roger led and managed hundreds of projects on the ecological risk assessment of pesticides, including: screening-level and detailed/refined risk assessments, data quality evaluations and regulatory liaison. Prior to that, Roger was a Section Head at Environment Canada, with primary responsibility for conducting environmental risk assessments of priority substances and leading and directing the Categorization and Screening of the Domestic Substances List (DSL), as mandated under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA).

Education

Post-Secondary / University Education

1990 - M.Sc., Organic Chemistry, University of Ottawa
‍1987 - B.Sc., Organic Chemistry, Summa cum Laude, University of Ottawa
1984 - Collegial Diploma, Pure and Applied Sciences, Collège de l’Outaouais

Professional Experience

Roger has 30 years of experience in ecological risk assessment (ERA) including exposure and effects assessments for aquatic and wildlife species exposed to pesticides, commercial chemicals and other environmental contaminants. He led, managed and participated in refined ecological risk assessments for numerous pesticides. These assessments were carried out in support of registrant submissions to the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) in Canada and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
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Prior to his work as a Senior Scientist at Intrinsik Corp., Roger worked in the Existing Substances Branch of Environment Canada for 11 years where he managed or led assessments for commercial chemicals that were included on the Priority Substances List (PSL) and the Categorization and Screening of the Domestic Substances List (DSL). The CSDSL involved assessing the persistence, bioaccumulation and the toxicity of nearly 23,000 substances on the DSL.

Roger has developed criteria for government and industry for assessing the quality and relevance of ecotoxicity studies for fish, aquatic invertebrates and plants, birds and mammals. He has evaluated thousands of studies with these criteria. Moreover, he has chaired and participated in several workshops including the SETAC Pellston Workshop: “Improving the usability of ecotoxicity studies in regulatory decision-making”.

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