GEOVERRA - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- VP, Forestry & Environmental
Job Titles:
- Project Manager at WSP
- VP, Geomatics, Ontario
Aleks has a proven track record of success leading geomatics teams to deliver outstanding service on many of Ontario's premier transport and infrastructure projects. He is dedicated to collaborating with clients to design solutions that overcome the toughest engineering challenges that reshape the way we live and move.
In his previous role as Project Manager at WSP, Aleks also actively led Business Development in the Ontario region and served as a subject matter expert for geodetic control networks and precision surveys. An international career across Australia and Canada has allowed him to develop deep technical knowledge across a variety of market sectors, including above and below-ground railway, linear and vertical utilities, large bore tunneling, environmental mapping, and municipal, commercial, and residential development.
Aleks received his bachelor's degree in Geoinformatics and Surveying from the University of South Australia. He holds a Professional Certificate in Business Communications from Harvard University, as well as certifications from the Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists and the Project Management Institute. He is a member of the Association of Ontario Land Surveyors (currently in Articles, Geodesy branch) and is a certified Joint Health & Safety Committee (JHSC) management representative who is committed to championing a safety-first culture at GeoVerra. Aleks shares his passion for advancing the geomatics industry along with the development of young professionals performing as a speaker and guest lecturer, and has volunteered in Kenya for the Bridging the Gap Africa organization.
Job Titles:
- Leadership Team As Director, Marketing and Communications
Claire Masikewich, joined the GeoVerra leadership team as Director, Marketing and Communications in March 2020, prior to the company launch in June.
Damian Gillis joined GeoVerra in a continued role as the Vice-President of Geomatics. He is an integral part of the company's overall operations, overseeing contract management, large proposals, subcontractor and fleet and equipment procurement, and project delivery. His knowledge of the industry is vast, but he is known for his expertise in the oil and gas sector, specifically in regard to well sites, gathering pipelines, oil sands exploration, transmission pipelines, and pipeline integrity.
Damian began his career as a survey assistant in Vanderhoof, BC, for the Ministry of Highways and then worked as a survey assistant for several small companies in Victoria, BC. After moving to Alberta to start the Engineering program at the University of Calgary, he began working for Focus Corporation as a survey assistant working in the oil and gas sector across the province. Damian joined Focus in a full-time capacity as a Field Crew Chief after graduation. He later went on to hold several other roles at Focus, which was later acquired by WSP, such as Project Manager, Field Crew Coordinator, Vice-President of Pipeline and Integrity Surveys, Vice-President of Business Development.
In addition to completing his B.Sc. in Geomatics Engineering in 1998 from the University of Calgary, he also completed a B.Sc. in Geography from the University of Victoria, received the Alberta Land Surveyors commission in 2001, Canadian Land Surveyors commission and P.Eng designation in 2003 and completed his MBA from the University of Calgary in 2006.
David Gosling, originally from Calgary, now lives in Fort St. John, BC and has been operating in the industry since 1996. In 2004 he obtained his commission as an Alberta Land Surveyor. For the first nine years of his career, David focused on commercial, residential and industrial land and road development projects within southern Alberta.
In 2005 he moved to Fort St. John, British Columbia to expand his portfolio to include oil and gas development and distribution and BC land development. After two years, he earned the designation as a BC Land Surveyor.
Living in northern BC has provided David the opportunity to manage a variety of projects including, but not limited to, wellsites, pipelines, roads, bridges, manned aerial photography, subdivisions, lidar, hydrography, condominiums, deformation, control, UAV, and laser scanning.
David has continued to operate in BC, expanding his project and employee management experience. He has managed production teams, served as a branch manager and most recently held the role of Director of WSP's BC geomatics division. David, who is now GeoVerra's Vice-President for BC, strives to continue to develop mutually beneficial relationships with businesses in the region.
Jen Alain joined GeoVerra from Altus Geomatics, where she held the position of HSE Manager for 15 years and is now leading the safety efforts as Director, HSE.
Jen has a deep passion for occupational health and safety and loves to share the message "safety is a way of life" at every opportunity. During her time at Altus Geomatics, she reduced injuries and cultivated a highly functional safety culture. As a leader of the HSE team, Jen's goal for GeoVerra is to create a strong safety culture based on positive attitudes, proactive mindsets, achievable goals and family values to reduce workplace incidents and injuries and achieve safety excellence.
Jen graduated from Bournemouth University in England with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Protection and continued her studies completing the graduate program of Safety Engineering Technology at the College of the North Atlantic in Newfoundland. In 2010, Jen successfully earned her Canadian Registered Safety Professional (CRSP) designation.
Before being appointed as the Chief Executive Officer at GeoVerra in January 2020, John Nielsen held various roles at EXH, Genivar and WSP over a span of 24 years. Prior to transitioning to his role of Executive Vice-President Geomatics, he was the Senior Vice-President Operations for Infrastructure Canada at WSP. In this role John assembled and mentored a strong team of professionals, and together, achieved continuous improvements and growth across all sectors of the business.
Prior to his role in operations, John held senior positions in finance and owned an accounting practice. He graduated from the University of Lethbridge with a Bachelor of Management degree and has a CMA, CPA designation.
Kathy joined GeoVerra in May of 2020 as Controller and was promoted to Director of Finance in April 2021.
Kathy began her accounting career in 2008 and earned her Chartered Accountant Designation in 2014. She is an experienced problem-solver who was heavily involved in the integration of our legacy firms, processes and systems. Kathy continues to look for ways we can improve the financial side of the business and provide support to internal stakeholders.
Her goal is to build a solid accounting function that will support GeoVerra's rise as the leading surveying and geomatics firm in Canada.
Job Titles:
- Leader
- National Manager of Business Support
Latisha Huculak is an experienced leader with a history of working within the geomatics and engineering industries. At GeoVerra, Latisha provides national leadership of administrative and business support functions and resources. She optimizes the business support model, balances project utilization and people performance of the business support team across Canada.
Latisha's goal at GeoVerra is to continuously improve the way we deliver with speed, agility, consistency and accuracy, as well as streamline information sharing to contribute to efficient and consistent work.
Job Titles:
- Vice - President for Alberta
- VP, Geomatics, Alberta
Leo Edwards joined GeoVerra as Vice-President for Alberta, where he oversees a team of professionals dedicated to the growth of geomatics for the region. After graduating in 2002 from the College of the North Atlantic in the Geomatics Engineering Training Program, Leo held several different positions in the industry, including Senior Field Surveyor, Survey Coordinator, Branch Manager and Director.
Leo's knowledge of survey services is extensive. From pipelines to site surveys, road surveys to subdivision surveys and everything in between, he's continually encouraging others to push the envelop, while providing operational leadership that extends far beyond his own team. His decisive nature leads to expedient and cost-effective survey solutions providing noticeable advantages to the clients he works with.
What sets Leo apart is his genuine love for the business and the family-feel he hopes to instill in his team. This people-focused leader thrives on celebrating differences and working together as one team, focused on one goal - to achieve client objectives through safe teamwork.
Job Titles:
- Director, Information Technology
With over 20 years of experience in the IT industry, Michael has an impressive portfolio working in roles that have taken him all the way to the UK. His well-rounded background includes being the Senior Manager for business and technology for Calgary's largest restaurant group and working for a large IT service company in the UK managing new virtualized environments for large financial and airline companies. He brings extensive knowledge to GeoVerra with expertise working in service desks, desktops, servers, networks, cloud applications and management.
A SAIT graduate from Business Administration and Network Engineering, Michael also holds certificates from VMware, Cisco and Microsoft. He has proven the ability to train many technical and non-technical teams together to function independently.
Michael brings an undeniable passion for technology and continues to propose new ideas that transform how we do business. With the support of his team, his goal is to simplify IT and implement cost-effective solutions at GeoVerra.
Prior to becoming the Chief Operating Officer at GeoVerra, Mitch Ettinger was the President of Geomatics at Altus Group. Before his role as President, he was the Operational Vice-President of Geomatics and oversaw the Electric Power, Infrastructure, and Pipeline divisions.
As Chief Operating Officer, Mitch oversees the Company's operations across Canada, adhering to superb quality and rigid technical standards. In addition, he supports GeoVerra's regional leaders in their commitment to growth, and unparalleled client service, positioning GeoVerra as Canada's industry-leading geomatics firm. In collaboration with the leadership team, Mitch is also responsible for the development of the organization's strategic goals, leading several short and long-term business initiatives.
Mitch received his Alberta Land Surveyor commission in 2006. He obtained his P.Eng designation in 2007, earned his Canada Lands Surveyor commission in 2008, and his Nova Scotia Land Surveyor commission in 2012. Mitch is currently a member of the Professional Surveyors Canada (PSC) Liability Insurance Committee, has served on the Alberta Land Surveyors' (ALSA) Discipline Committee (2018-2021), the ALSA Standards Committee (2006-2008), the ALSA Practice Review Board (2013-2016) and as Chair for the Practice Review Board (2016-2017).
As a Professional Geomatics Engineer with over 18 years of professional experience, Mohamed has a diverse international industrial portfolio. His broad expertise includes managing and supervising major geomatics projects, operations management, geospatial projects and technology, data modeling, management and analysis, and business development. His past work experience includes significant pipeline projects, integrity and construction, geodetic control networks and map production.
Job Titles:
- Formerly the Geomatics Director, Quality
Having started his career with The Focus Corporation, Pat transitioned to an Autodesk reseller organization and spent over 10 years as a technical expert before moving into a consultative sales role. Those 10+ years allowed Pat to consult with several municipalities and land surveying organizations in Western Canada and the Yukon. Re-entering the industry with Stewart Weir Group in 2012, Pat managed the Corporate Technical Development department and then added the Corporate Communications and Marketing department to his portfolio. Throughout the subsequent transitions to Opus Stewart Weir, WSP, and ultimately now as GeoVerra, Pat filled multiple roles, including Project Manager, Marketing Manager and Client Relations. The culmination of all these experiences has provided Pat with skills as a strategic thinker and planner with the ability to communicate with all levels of an organization.
Now responsible for leading GeoVerra's corporate business development strategy and initiatives, client engagement, and Indigenous relationships, Pat uses his skillset to discover and analyze business needs, recommend solutions, and put them into action. He thrives on working closely with operational and corporate business line leaders and department managers to implement solutions or corporate-wide initiatives and programs.
Job Titles:
- Director, Human Resources
Sonia comes to GeoVerra with over 12 years of experience in different industries, working on organizational-wide programs, defining and implementing foundational HR processes and functions, and applying change management strategies.
Her areas of expertise in strategic planning, employee relations, process development, leadership, and project management make her a great addition to the team.
She is dedicated to providing strategic business partnering to senior leadership teams and leading HR professionals to successfully support managers and their employees, while realizing their own personal and professional goals.
Along with the rest of our fantastic, talented HR team, Sonia will be instrumental in supporting our continued growth by leading org-wide HR initiatives and achieving ongoing retention and recruitment efforts.