Our Team – Artisanal Gold Council

FIND OUT HOW WE’RE HELPING PEOPLE WORLDWIDE – AND HOW YOU CAN HELP

Meet Our People

The Artisanal Gold Council (AGC) is a not-for-profit organization based out of Victoria, BC, Canada. We are global experts leading the transformation to an environmentally sound, socially responsible, and formalized artisanal gold mining sector.

Our global team has extensive field knowledge and direct experience with Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining communities worldwide. We have decades of experience in the areas of business, sustainable development, social responsibility, governance, environment, health, geology, geospatial analysis, gold markets, and mercury science. We work with miners, government, and industry. Our diversity is our strength.

Dr. Kevin Telmer, PhD

Executive Director

Rene Roger Tissot, MA, MBA

Deputy Executive Director

Deborah Brougham, BSc

Manager of Finance and Administration

Scott Gryba, P.Eng., MBA

International Finance Specialist

Tegan Holmes, MPH

Project Manager (Peru, Suriname and Guyana)

Douglas Kao, BASc

Project Manager (Philippines)

Abel Ouedraogo, MSc

Exploration Geologist, Project Manager (Burkina Faso)

Ryan Painter, BA

Communications and Media Relations Specialist

Rachelle Maravilla

Accountant

Karina Canevaro, M.Ed., M.P.M.

Senior Administrative Assistant

National Project Managers and Coordinators

Saidou Kabre, MA

National Project Manager
Based in Burkina Faso

Abigail Ocate

National Project Manager
Based in the Philippines

Altanbagana Bayarsaikhan

National Project Manager
Based in Mongolia

Vasquez Ramdas

National Project Coordinator
Based in Guyana

Advisors

Brad Van Den Bussche, PGeol

Business Development Consultant

Anna Bugmann, MSc

Supply Chain Expert

Daniel Merino, MSc

Consultant

Anupama Ariyaratne, PhD

Consultant

Hans Erasmus, MSc

Business Finance Specialist

Shawn Blore

Artisanal Gold Supply Chain Expert
Based in Canada and Brazil

Agni Pratama

Based in Indonesia

Paul Cordy, PhD

Based in Canada and Peru

Mareike Kroll, PhD

Health and Research Consultant

Jennifer O’Neill, MSc

Research Scientist

Peter Rosenbluth, MSc

Project Manager

Jose L. Barillas-Diaz, MSc

Exploration Geologist and Database Scientist

Jennifer O’Neill, MSc – Research Scientist

Jennifer is a Research Scientist with over a decade of experience conducting research for various academic institutions, federal government entities, and not-for-profit agencies. She combines a background in Aquatic Research, Applied Optics, Geomatics, and Communications with experience in the realms of artisanal mining, small- and large-scale fisheries, and habitat management to form a multidisciplinary approach. Prior to joining the AGC in early 2017, Jennifer worked on a broad range of issues, including ecological response to environmental disturbance, the feasibility of natural resource mapping and monitoring using satellite and aerial imagery, and the integration of social and environmental considerations in resource conservation and marine spatial planning.

Jennifer was Project Manager for “Sustainable Development of ASGM in Indonesia” and “Reducing Mercury Use in Papua New Guinea’s ASGM Sector”. As a research scientist and field lead, she carried out mercury inventory and exploration of the formal and informal ASGM sector around the world. She also facilitated workshops for governments, academic groups, and NGOs on the topic, enabling Parties of the Minamata Convention to formulate data-backed mercury reduction strategies. With a specialization and industry experience in remote sensing, she led remote mapping projects, from image acquisition through calibration, analysis, map creation, and on-the-ground validation. Jennifer has worked with miners and stakeholders in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Mongolia, Ecuador, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Philippines, Kenya, and Mozambique.

In a synthesis of these activities, Jennifer is the lead author of “Estimating Mercury Use and Documenting Practices in Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining,” a guidebook and suite of data tools that may be used to explore and understand the sector at a country scale and produce defensible estimates of mercury used, gold produced, and miner population. She was also involved with the AMAP UNEP Global Mercury Assessment 2018, which aims to provide up-to-date information on worldwide atmospheric emissions, aquatic releases, and the transport and fate of mercury in the global environment.

She holds a B.Sc. in Biology and Geography and a M.Sc. in Geomatics from the University of Victoria, Canada.