Meet the team
Carbon Removal Canada is an independent non-profit accelerating the responsible scale-up of carbon removal technologies through advocating for policy grounded in rigorous research, shaping market development, and connecting the right people to the right information.
Na’im Merchant
CO-FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Na’im Merchant is passionate about the potential for carbon removal to meet climate goals while driving economic and social change.
He previously founded Carbon Curve, a consulting practice focused on equitably scaling up carbon removal. Na’im is an advisor to Terraset and the Carbon Removal Standards Initiative, and was previously an Elemental Impact Policy Fellow. He brings 10+ years of leadership experience in non-profits that expanded access to health innovations around the world.
Emma Kerr
CHIEF OF STAFF
Emma is passionate about building effective, mission-driven organizations that advance social and environmental goals.
She has worked across operations, governance, HR, project management, and fundraising to enable cross-sector initiatives in Canada focused on climate, mental health, equity, housing, and Indigenous innovation. She loves building relationships and creating the conditions for meaningful, sustainable change.
Daniel Kelter
SENIOR DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Daniel specializes in bringing policy and politics together, resulting in advocacy strategies that build relationships and deliver results.
Daniel has previously worked for Members of Parliament as well as hard-to-decarbonize industries like fertilizer and steel. He has played a key role in improving multiple industries’ reach with the federal government while also successfully negotiating policy frameworks that improve competitiveness.
Catie O’Neal
DIRECTOR OF WESTERN CANADA
Catie is dedicated to connecting governments and stakeholders with diverse viewpoints to realize win-win outcomes.
For over a decade, she has held various roles in Government Relations and Stakeholder Engagement across the energy and telecommunications sectors. Catie has led advocacy campaigns in Alberta and British Columbia, focused on creating coalitions to achieve common objectives. She continues to embrace this collaborative approach as she works to drive investment and climate policy in Western Canada.
Carson Fong
Director of Research
Carson leads our analysis to inform policy, drive high-integrity carbon removal deployment, and support Canada’s climate goals.
He brings deep expertise in climate and clean energy policy, having previously worked on market solutions and regulatory frameworks at the Business Renewables Centre Canada. His previous work also spans sustainable finance, process optimization and mechanical engineering.
Corey Black
DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS
Corey is passionate about translating complex climate policy into narratives that move decision-makers and the public.
For over a decade he has led climate communications and engagement, including as Director of Climate Communications and Climate Transformation at RBC, and at MaRS Discovery District, where he focused his efforts on thought leadership and the cleantech sector. He also helped launch Toronto Climate Week as its programming and partnerships lead. Outside of work, Corey and his partner are starting to transform a farm near Port Hope into a regenerative, net-zero property.
Kedar Kelkar
SENIOR MANAGER OF INDUSTRIAL INTEGRATION
Kedar is passionate about accelerating the deployment of carbon removal solutions by connecting technical innovation, industry, and policy.
He has worked across carbon removal technologies, carbon markets, and climate strategy at organizations including Carbon Engineering and ClearBlue Markets, supporting engineering scale up and advising organizations on project development, procurement and market opportunities. He is committed to advancing collaborative approaches that help scale carbon removal and strengthen Canada’s climate leadership.
Renata Yasmine
RESEARCH SUPPORT OFFICER
Renata is a graduate planning student at the University of Toronto with an background in environmental management from the University of Guelph.
Her interests focus on environmental and social policy planning, particularly city climate action planning and equitable transitions. Before beginning her graduate studies, she worked as an analyst at the Indonesia Carbon Capture and Storage Center and Advocate Carbon, where she supported market and policy research on carbon capture and storage and decarbonization initiatives for industry and government stakeholders.
Natasha Bernardi
SENIOR MANAGER OF PARTNERSHIPS & IMPACT
Natasha is passionate about integrating equity and inclusivity into climate policies, driving better environmental, economic and social outcomes.
Prior to joining our team, Natasha was an Impact Officer at FinDev Canada, Canada’s Development Finance institution, where she assisted portfolio companies to set and achieve positive impact objectives related to climate change mitigation and adaptation and women’s economic empowerment.
By 2050, we envision a Canada that proves, scales, and exports the world’s most credible permanent carbon removal solutions – catalyzing over one billion tonnes of global removals to restore a stable climate and ensure prosperity for generations to come
How we believe we will get there
Building Trust by equipping decision makers with clear, credible information on how carbon removal strengthens the economy and serves the public good
Lowering Costs by shaping policies that improve commercial viability and accelerate deployment
Creating Demand by helping establish reliable public and private markets for high-integrity carbon removal
Board of Directors
Michael Bernstein
CO-FOUNDER & BOARD CHAIR
Michael is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Clean Prosperity, a Canadian non-profit that works toward practical climate solutions that reduce emissions and grow the economy. He serves on the C.D. Howe Institute’s Energy Policy Council, as a member of the Public Policy Forum’s Energy Future Forum, and as a MaRS Cleantech Volunteer Advisor.
Stacy Kauk
BOARD MEMBER
Stacy is the Head of Science at Isometric. She is responsible for ensuring that rigorous science underpins all of Isometric’s carbon crediting decisions and that the Protocols and Modules are in line with the Isometric Standard.Stacy was previously Head Of Sustainability at Shopify where she led Shopify’s Sustainability Fund, which has committed more than $55 million to date across 39 companies, to accelerate carbon removal solutions globally. She was behind Shopify’s decision to co-launch Frontier, an advance market commitment to buy $925M of permanent carbon removal alongside key partners.
Frances Wang
BOARD MEMBER
Frances is the Program Lead at Quadrature Climate Foundation. Previously, Frances was the Associate Director for Carbon Dioxide Removal at ClimateWorks Foundation, leading a multi-million dollar philanthropic initiative to remove excess CO2 from the atmosphere and the ocean using catalytic innovations and policy. Frances also serves in an advisory capacity on several projects including the University of California Santa Cruz, the GHG Protocol, and Frontier Climate.
Marcius Extavour, Ph.D.
BOARD MEMBER
Dr. Marcius Extavour is a communicator and creative technologist building climate and energy solutions, and helps others do the same. As Senior Partner at Ode, he develops solutions by combining data science, digital design, and storytelling. He established the TIME Climate 100 at TIME, after building the energy, climate, and carbon innovation practice at XPRIZE as Chief Scientist and Executive VP for nearly a decade. Marcius is a native of Toronto, and lives in California with his family.
Geoff Holmes
BOARD Member
Geoff currently covers government relations and policy engagement as a director at Calcarea and as a senior advisor at Captura. He has worked exclusively on carbon dioxide removal since 2008, both within academia and industry. Geoff was a part of the core team which grew leading Canadian direct air capture firm Carbon Engineering from start-up stage to 150+ employees, and which matured the technology from lab-scale to mega-tonne commercial scale projects. Geoff joined CRC to help Canada seize the opportunity – both economic, and environmental – in this important field.
Grégoire Baillargeon
BOARD MEMBER
Appointed President of BMO, Quebec and Vice Chair, BMO Capital Markets in November 2022, Grégoire has been with the Bank of Montreal since 2004.Passionate about the energy transition and the fight against climate change, Mr. Baillargeon also sits on the advisory board of Volt-age: Electrifying Society, a research program at Concordia University. Under his leadership, BMO became the first bank to join the Montréal Climate Partnership and co-initiated ConVERTgence, a private sector initiative aimed at accelerating decarbonization and integrating sustainable business practices in the city.
Ken Paul
BOARD MEMBER
Ken Paul is a member of the Wolastoqey First Nation at Neqotkuk, located in the Tobique First Nation community in New Brunswick. Among his current roles, he is the principle/owner of Pokiok Associates and serves as the Lead Fisheries Negotiator and Research Coordinator for the Wolastoqey Nation of New Brunswick. He has worked directly for First Nations Chiefs, starting with the Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nations Chiefs as Regional Director of Fisheries, and with the Assembly of First Nations as their first National Fisheries Director.
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Michael Solberg
BOARD MEMBER
Michael is a Partner at New West Public Affairs, a national government relations firm, where he provides counsel to organizations across all sectors of the economy, particularly in energy, innovation, climate and decarbonization. He is also a Partner and Founder at Shift Media Strategies, a digital and creative agency specializing in public campaigns. Outside of these roles, Michael serves on the Board of Directors for the Non-Profit Vote Coalition and is a frequent political pundit, appearing weekly on CBC’s flagship political program Power and Politics.
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