Board Chair

Director, Environmental Public Health Science, Alberta Health

Merry is currently the Executive Director of Regional and Northern Economic Development within the Alberta Ministry of Jobs, Economy and Trade. Previous to this role, she spent over 20 years working in public health as a public health inspector, the Director of Environmental Public Health Science with Alberta Health as well as playing key leadership and management roles in emergency management, communicable disease and immunization and continuing care. Her knowledge and skills rest in the connection between the natural or man-made environment and humans, and how this intersection point may lead to health impacts for individuals, communities, the province and nation. Her education has focused on environmental assessment, law, risk communication and management and addressing scientific uncertainty and providing opportunities for engagement with all types of stakeholders to enable them to protect their health and quality of life.  Merry’s current portfolio includes strengthening a key determinant of health, namely economic status for all Albertans yet still maintaining a leadership and supporting role to the province’s emergency management agency, teaching and/or mentoring incoming public health inspectors as well as advising on how to strengthen community health via the University of Alberta’s Centre for Healthy Communities. 

Outside of the office, she tries to dash off to dive the deep blue sea as often as she can, and spend summers camping with her four fur-babies and family throughout the western provinces.

Public Health Physician, Environmental and Occupational Health
Public Health Ontario

JinHee obtained her B.Sc in kinesiology at Simon Fraser University and MD at the University of British Columbia. She completed her MPH (Epidemiology), residencies in Family Medicine and Public Health and Preventive Medicine at the University of Toronto.  Following her training, she worked briefly at Toronto Public Health as an Associate Medical Officer of Health, working in communicable disease control. Since 2014, JinHee has been a Public Health Physician with the Environmental and Occupational Health team at Public Health Ontario. She works on a variety of environmental public health issues and projects on the team spanning environmental burden of disease, food safety, environmental exposures and risk communication. In addition, JinHee (co-)supervises the many residents and students who cycle through the team, and is involved more broadly with educational efforts at Public Health Ontario, including offerings to practising public health professionals and resident rotations. She is also active on the program committee of The Ontario Public Health Convention, an annual conference for public health practitioners.

Professor, Conestoga College

Dr. Wendy Pons is a full time professor at Conestoga College in the Bachelor of Environmental Public Health Program in Kitchener, Ontario. She joined Conestoga in 2018. Much of Wendy’s research has been related to small drinking water systems, risk assessment, vector borne disease, climate change and food safety. Previously she worked at the Region of Peel health department in various roles related to environmental health, including food safety, vector borne disease, health hazards and health promotion. Dr. Pons has a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Guelph, a MASc in Environmental Science and Management, a BASc in Environmental Health from Ryerson University and is a certified public health inspector. 

Regional Medical Officer of Health for North Zone, Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness

Cristin Muecke joined the Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness in 2022 as Regional Medical Officer of Health for North Zone.  Prior to this she held the position of Deputy Chief Medical Officer of Health for the New Brunswick Department of Health since 2016 (acting since 2106, appointed in 2018).  Between 2013 and 2018, she held the position of Medical Officer of Health for Provincial Programs.  She was the Regional Medical Officer of Health for Central Region (Fredericton and Upper River Valley) for 8 years (2005-2013). She obtained her medical degree at Dalhousie University and specialized in Public Health and Preventive Medicine (including a Masters degree in Epidemiology and Biostatistics) at McGill University.  She has been actively involved with various professional associations and societies including the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, Public Health Physicians of Canada, the New Brunswick Medical Society, and the Public Health Association of New Brunswick and PEI.  She is a current member of the Advisory Board for the National Collaborating Center for Environmental Health.

Chief Medical Health Officer

Dr Saqib Shahab is Saskatchewan’s Provincial Chief Medical Health Officer. In the past he has worked as a regional Medical Health Officer, as well as internationally as an internist, faculty at a school of public health, and public health expert with multilateral health agencies. He is a past co chair of the Pan Canadian Public Health Network Council, past chair of the Medical Health Officers Council of Saskatchewan and past president of the Saskatchewan Public Health Association.

Dr Shahab is a Fellow in Public Health and Preventive Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada, has a Masters of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University, US, and is a Member of the Royal College of Physicians UK.

Regional Manager, Environmental Public Health Services
Indigenous Services Canada, First Nations and Inuit Health, Alberta Region

Simon is the Regional Manager for Environmental Public Services with the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch (FNIHB) of Indigenous Services Canada in the Alberta Region. Simon is a Certified Public Health Inspector with a Master Degree in Public Health from the University of Alberta, School of Public Health (Environmental and Occupational Health). Simon has been with FNIHB for over 19 years at field level and in the regional management role for over 15 years. As the Regional Manager, Simon is responsible for overseeing the service delivery of Environmental Public Health services to Alberta First Nations with a dedicated team of public health professionals. Prior to joining FNIHB, Simon worked with the provincial health authorities in both Calgary and Edmonton.

Simon has over 20 years of experience in dealing with various emergency management events, including wildfires, industrial releases, floods and various outbreaks, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Most recently, Simon was covering a dual role as the Regional Manager for Environmental Public Health, as well being the Operations lead for the FNIHB COVID-19 response in Alberta First Nations.

Simon has a passion for public health surveillance data and evidence based practice and has lead numerous initiatives and developed information systems to improve environmental public health related data collection, analysis and reporting to support evidence based decision-making and improving health outcomes. Simon continues to collaborate with various agencies and departments to further enhance public health information systems and ultimately, health outcomes. Simon remains actively involved in prompting the field through ongoing activities with the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors, as a member of the Concordia University of Edmonton Professional Advisory Committee, and as a mentor to upcoming public health professionals .

While outside work, Simon spends as much time outdoors with his wife and two children. Simon enjoys down hill skiing, camping and more adventurous activities such as white water rafting and any zipline he can find.

National President of the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors

Kevin assumed the position of National President of the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors on January 1, 2020. Kevin has been a valuable, dedicated and outspoken member of the NEC since May 2017. In spring 2007, he obtained his BASc in Environmental Health and Science at the First Nations University of Canada/University of Regina and obtained his CPHI(C) in the fall that same year. Since then, he has worked with the Saskatchewan Health Authority as a Public Health Officer, a Primary Care Manager and is currently a Clinical Integration Manager covering rural Saskatchewan.

Kevin became interested in CIPHI after he attended the Annual Education Conference in Regina in 2006 and the provincial conference in 2007, both organized by the Saskatchewan Branch. Inspired by the dedicated volunteers working hard to put on two great events, Kevin got involved, and was a part of the CIPHI Saskatchewan Branch executive from 2011-2019 and served as branch president from 2017 to 2019.

Kevin currently lives in Saskatoon, SK with his wife Amanda and son Aiden. When he’s not working, he coaches both hockey and baseball, plays recreational hockey and golf, travels, and spends time at the family cabin.

Director of Population Health, Department of Health and Social Services
Government of Northwest Territories

Peter’s focus has been working in and supporting communities through Environmental and Public Health (EPH) by encouraging practitioners and contributing to improving legislation, systems, resources, and tools by advocating for rural and remote areas of Canada.

With 26 years of experience in EPH, Peter has grown in a variety of EPH roles over the years. He began his career as a Public Health Inspector in Ontario, delivering general EPH programs in both rural and urban areas for 8 years. He then moved North for “the experience” and has enjoyed living and working in Canada’s Arctic ever since. Peter spent 10 years in Iqaluit, Nunavut working for the Department of Health as an EH Officer, an EH Consultant and a Health Emergency Planner. He then spent 8 years in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories (NWT) as Chief Environmental Health Officer in the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS).

As a territorial representative, Peter has been a member of the Canadian Drinking Water Committee for most of the last 18 years (a Federal/Provincial/Territorial group), as well as a past member of Committee on Health and Environment and other FPT committees.

During the state of public health emergency in the NWT during the COVID-19 pandemic, Peter played a significant role in the response in collaboration with the NWT’s Office of the Chief Public Health Officer. In August 2022, Peter became the Director of Population Health for DHSS. He is eager to fulfill the responsibilities that come with this new leadership role.

Dr. Caroline Huot  is a physician specialized in public health and preventive medicine. She has been practicing at the « Direction de la santé environnementale, au travail et de la toxicologie » of the « Institut national de santé publique du Québec » since 2018. Her areas of interest are water and indoor air hazards as well as environmental health surveillance and emergencies. Previously, she practiced for 8 years at the “Direction de la santé publique de la Capitale-Nationale” in infectious diseases and environmental health. She is also a clinical professor at Laval University and in this capacity she supervises medical students in environmental health. She also collaborates in research initiatives conducted by researchers in environmental health and other related fields.