The Montreal, Québec office of Future Earth hosts the Executive Director.
The founding of Future Earth in Montreal was a collaboration between Montréal International, the Fonds de recherche du Québec and Montreal’s academic institutions (Concordia University, McGill University, Université de Montréal, UQAM, INRS, ÉTS, Polytechnique), and the Ouranos climate research consortium.
Canadian Hub Staff
Alyson Surveyer
Hub Manager and Head of Global Operations, Canada
Alyson Surveyer is the Future Earth Montreal Hub Manager and Head of Global Operations. Prior to this role, Alyson worked at Future Earth on urban issues. She holds a Bachelor’s degree with honours and Masters degree in chemical engineering from École Polytechnique de Montréal. Her Masters was completed at the International Reference Center for Life Cycle of Products, Processes and Services (CIRAIG), in collaboration with Rolls-Royce Canada. The thesis investigated alternative fuels for gas turbines in a 2020 global electricity generation perspective. Before joining Future Earth she worked as a consultant in sustainable development for clients in the private and public sectors and was coordinator of the Inter-university Research Center in High Performance Polymers and Composites (CREPEC), where she had diverse mandates such as to heighten industry-university collaborations as well as the reach and visibility of its members. Alyson was also a course lecturer from 2014-2016 at HEC Montréal in sustainability and operations management. Alyson’s career objective is to build a strong and diverse community of researchers, government officials, and industries that will develop and put in motion production systems and policies to achieve global sustainable patterns. She truly believes that Future Earth will pave the way.
Andréa Ventimiglia
Science Editor
Andréa currently employs her wide complement of skills in research, analysis, editing and evaluation as the Staff Writer for Future Earth. Her approach to writing is rooted in her diverse professional experience spanning scientific laboratory research, freelance science writing, program evaluation and international community development. Prior to joining Future Earth, Ms. Ventimiglia worked as an evaluator for a Montreal-based research evaluation firm, and as a medical writer for a pharmaceutical education company. She holds a B.Sc. in Biology from the University of Waterloo, and a Masters in Journalism from Carleton University.
Marie d'Acremont
Administrative Officer, Montreal
Marie d’Acremont is responsible for the administration and coordination of the daily operations of the Montreal Global Hub of Future Earth. She joined the team in 2015 to support the development and implementation of the processes related to Human Resources, Finance and Communication of the hub. She holds a BSc in Sociology from Kingston University London, UK and an MSc in Environmental Sciences from the University of Quebec, Montreal (UQAM).
Jennifer Garard
Science Officer & Manager, Sustainability in the Digital Age
Jennifer Garard is a Science Officers at the Future Earth Montreal Hub. She coordinates Futures CoLab, a joint initiative with the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence which brings together a network of diverse experts to engage on a platform for online collaboration through bespoke processes for facilitated and asynchronous dialogue. In this role, Jennifer works with partner organizations and the team at MIT to design custom dialogue processes, organizes participant recruitment, acts as a facilitator, and produces outcome documents from the online dialogues. Jennifer is also the Advisory Council (AC) Liaison, acting as the contact point between the AC and the Future Earth community and organizing AC inputs to the work of the Secretariat. Jennifer holds a BSc in Environmental Science from McGill University, specializing in Biodiversity and Conservation (2008), a Master of Environmental Assessment from Concordia University (2013), and a PhD from the Technische Universität Berlin (“Stakeholder Engagement at the Science-Policy Interface,” 2018). Jennifer was previously employed as a doctoral researcher with the working group Scientific Assessments, Ethics, and Public Policy at Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change in Berlin, Germany. In 2012, Jennifer served as an intern with the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, working with the Health and Biodiversity Cross-Cutting Initiative.
Paula Monroy
Communications Coordinator
Paula Monroy has been a staff member since 2017. As Communications Coordinator of the Canadian Hub, she also works with the Global Communications team. Paula is formally educated in sustainability and urbanism, specialising in indigenous methodologies and holistic planning. Moreover, she has over two years of practical experience in multimedia communication—including media production as a video journalist and graphic design. For now, Paula is based in Montreal, Quebec, caring for her houseplants and practising Environmental Wellness.
Sylvia Wood
Science Officer
Sylvia Wood is a Science Officer at Future Earth’s Montreal Hub working on the Science-based Pathways for Sustainability initiative and Our Future on Earth report. Previously, Sylvia was employed as a postdoctoral researcher with Bioversity International and Columbia University’s Earth Institute working on agro-conservation initiatives and mapping ecosystem services to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). She also held a postdoctoral position in the Ecological Economics lab at the Université de Québec en Outaouis where she worked on scenario approaches to design agro-environmental programs to address water quality and urban ecosystem services. Sylvia holds a BSc. in Biology from Queen’s University, specializing in ecology and international development, and a Masters in Forest Ecology from the University of British Columbia, Canada. In her PhD at McGill University, Sylvia worked on the multi-generational sustainability of agroforestry production systems and its impacts on peasant livelihoods in Peru. From 2007 through 2009, Sylvia served as an assistant and later advisor to the Natural Resource Management unit at the Aga Khan Foundation in Tajikistan where she worked on emerging technologies for energy and water management with smallholder farmers.
Executive Director’s Office
Amy Luers
Executive Director, Future Earth
Amy Luers comes to Future Earth from the Skoll Global Threats Fund (SGTF) where she was Director of Climate. Previously, she was the Assistant Director for Climate Resilience and Information at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Dr. Luers spent a number of years at Google as the Senior Environment Program Manager. Prior to Google she led the climate program at the Union of Concerned Sciences California office. Luers started her career in Latin America as co-founder and the first executive director of Agua Para La Vida (Water for Life), working with rural communities to enhance access to potable water. She has published in both academic and the popular media on issues related to vulnerability to global environmental change, data, sustainability, climate policy, and science communication. A respected scientist and data innovator, Luers has been recognised as a PopTech fellow, a Switzer Environmental Fellow, Heinz Environmental Scholar, and has advised the California state government, the White House, and the United Nations. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and has served on committees of the National Academies of Sciences. Luers holds a Ph.D. in environmental science and an M.A. in international policy studies, from Stanford University; a B.S. and M.S. in environmental systems engineering from Humboldt State University; and a B.A. in philosophy from Middlebury College.
Nilufar Sabet-Kassouf
Executive Assistant, Canada
Nilu supports Future Earth's Executive Director, as well as the Executive team. She holds a BSc in Cell and Molecular Biology from Concordia University and a MSc in Biochemistry from McGill University, specializing in structural studies on antibiotic resistance mechanisms. Nilu is also a musician (singer-songwriter), a yoga instructor and an avid rock climber who boulders competitively in her free time. She is particularly passionate about mindfulness and music, and occasionally collaborates on research projects investigating the relationship between the two. She has a deep appreciation for the importance of biocultural heritage, as well as the protection and conservation of mountain areas.