Camille LeBlanc

Pieter's Bio

Pieter Aukes | Professor, Integrated Water Management Program, SAIT 
Innovation Gallery (Saturday morning)

Pieter has a passion for working with water information in a digital world. With a research background in hydrogeology and arctic biogeochemistry, Pieter has always enjoyed being outside trying to understand how natural water and chemical cycles interact with each other. He looks for ways to create effective and engaging products to share these findings using a number of techniques, ranging from open-access tools to virtual-reality data rooms. When not working as an Instructor at SAIT for the Integrated Water Management Program, he can be found out on the trails (sometimes frantically keeping up with his toddler-on-bike).

SAIT Integrated Water Management Program

Pablo's Bio

Pablo Pina | Academic Chair, MacPhail School of Energy, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology
Innovation Gallery (Saturday morning)

Trained to understand how the earth works and how it supports life in areas of biological, physical, and earth sciences, Pablo Pina has pursued his passion for water and environmental sustainability through a career that has brought together research, consulting and higher education.

With a bioscience undergraduate degree, a master’s in environmental biology and a doctorate in water and land resources, Pablo has worked as a research associate at the University of Calgary and consulted with clients across the non-profit sector, industry and government. His research and presentations on it have taken him from Canada and the United States to Mexico and Central and South America, along with Switzerland and France.

Pablo joined SAIT in 2017, taking a role as the Academic Chair of Water Sustainability — helping SAIT develop and unveil the groundbreaking Integrated Water Management diploma program in 2019. In 2020, his role evolved as he was named the Academic Chair of Sustainability which has him contributing to the development of the sustainability portfolio through innovation, research integration and talent development. 

MacPhail School of Energy, SAIT

Camille's Bio

Camille LeBlanc | National Lake Blitz, Program Manager
Offsite Tours (Saturday afternoon)  

Camille LeBlanc is Living Lakes Canada’s National Lake Blitz Program Manager. In this role Camille, along with the rest of the Lake Blitz team, provides the tools, training and ongoing support to hundreds of volunteer lake monitors across Canada. Prior to managing this national community science and education program, Camille has led projects on habitat restoration, wildlife monitoring, and water quality monitoring.

Camille graduated from Selkirk College with an Associate Degree in Peace and Justice Studies and a diploma in Integrated Environmental Planning in 2018. Her interests bridge both the social and environmental sciences, which reflect her passion for community capacity building and environmental advocacy.

Camille is currently pursuing her Master of Arts in Environment and Management from Royal Roads University. Camille grew up along the Sturgeon River in Alberta on Treaty 6 Territory and the traditional homeland of the Métis Nation of Alberta, where she explored the surrounding wetlands and learned the names of the birds and the plants. After travelling through British Columbia’s Southern Interior, her draw to live in wild spaces brought her to the Kootenay Region in 2013. Camille is now based in Trail, B.C. on the unceded territory of the Ktunaxa, Syilx, and Sinixt Peoples. 

Lake Blitz

Sam's Bio

Sam Effah | Canada Games Gold Medalist, Right to Play Ambassador, Amazing Race Canada Finalist
Keynote Speaker

As a native Albertan, Sam has speed. He represented Canada at 3 World Championships, 3 World University Games, 2 Commonwealth Games and was inducted into the 2021 Canada West Hall of Fame. Most recently, Sam was named co-Chef de Mission for the 2022.

As a volunteer, he’s an athlete ambassador with Right To Play and a past Classroom Champions mentor, where he focuses on using his platform to inspire the next generation of youth around the world.

In 2019 he was cast on The Amazing Race Canada Season 7 and placed second overall. 

Outside of athletics and in-office work, Sam loves to speak. He leads a strong stage presence, developed over the course of a ten-year career as a seminar speaker, workshop facilitator, and motivational presenter.

Learn More About Sam Effah