Executives named for Alberta’s new environmental monitoring agency

Edmonton, AB – The Alberta government has named Lorne Taylor and Greg Taylor, respectively, as chair and vice-chair of Alberta’s new arm’s-length environmental monitoring agency.

The new agency, the Alberta Environmental Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Agency (AEMERA), was created by the Alberta government last fall to coordinate province-wide environmental monitoring and evaluation. It will also oversee work currently done through the Joint Oil Sands Monitoring project. It is charged with providing open access to scientific data and information on the condition of Alberta’s environment for policymakers, regulators, planners, researchers, communities, stakeholder groups, industries, and the general public. The agency is expected to begin its monitoring operations this month.

Dr. Lorne Taylor is a consultant and businessman based in Medicine Hat. He was the founding chair of the Alberta Water Research Institute and is currently the special advisor to Alberta WaterSMART. He has held tenured positions at several universities.

Dr. Greg Taylor is the former dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Alberta and a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. As an environmental toxicologist, his research focuses on understanding the mechanisms plants use to tolerate stresses in the soil environment, such as metal toxicity and nutrient deficiency. Dr. Taylor served on the Alberta Environmental Monitoring Management Board which provided advice on the creation of the Alberta Environmental Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Agency.

“With Lorne and Greg at the helm, I am confident that AEMERA will take Alberta’s environmental monitoring to even greater levels of reliability, credibility and transparency. This is fundamental to responsible resource development in our province,” says Robin Campbell, the province’s minister of environment and sustainable resource development.