Billy-Joe Lafortune

Ben's Bio

Ben Cress is a Calgary-based environmental professional with over 15 years of experience in the energy sector. He focuses on finding practical, creative ways to reduce environmental impact while improving performance, bringing a broad perspective shaped by working through a wide range of environmental challenges. While he offers an industry lens, his core passion is environmental stewardship and finding solutions that work in the real world.

 Ben was first introduced to Inside Education at a youth summit and has remained engaged ever since, drawn to its hands-on approach and its focus on curiosity, critical thinking, and the exploration of complex issues from multiple perspectives.

 As a board member, Ben is excited to support Inside Education’s work to help students and educators better understand the connections among energy, the environment, and everyday life.

Amit's Bio

Senior-level environmental scientist with multi-disciplinary knowledge and experience in wildlife, biodiversity, nature, water and land management as well as stakeholder and Aboriginal engagement 20+ years of direct experience in the oil and gas sector, with a variety of development types, resource plays, and geographic regions Detailed knowledge of regulatory compliance and reporting requirements in western and northern Canada and western United States Leadership of multi-stakeholder and committee groups 20 years of direct staff and team building, management, leadership and supervision experience in the oil and gas industry and oil and gas service sectors

Amanda's Bio

Amanda’s spark for science ignited at an early age exploring nature with her family and grew into a flame for space as she followed Canada’s journey skyward. She teaches Junior High Science, Math, Coding, and STEAM classes in both English and French in Beaumont, Alberta.

She believes in creating authentic cross-curricular learning opportunities for her students to apply to real-world problems, fostering a generation of young people armed to build a better future.

Amanda has received numerous A+ for Energy grants, has been recognized provincially by the Alberta Teacher’s Association Science Council and nationally with a Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence in STEM.

Neil's Bio

Neil is a high school teacher at St. Albert High School. Neil is a veteran of many of Inside Education’s adventures, including oil sands and agriculture professional development programs, he’s come with us on A+ for Energy adventures, and as one of Alberta’s leaders in ag-education, really helped us launch our own agriculture education programs in 2016.

In addition to numerous agriculture education projects in his school, Neil also led a group of students from Morinville High to the international Envirothon in North Carolina. Neil’s vast experience and background includes two terms as the youngest-ever Councillor for the City of St. Albert.