GOOD25 Presenter Bios
Annabelle Austin
Policy Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
Annabelle Austin is a Policy Analyst within the Office of the Chief Information Officer of Canada at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. She has eight years of experience in the federal public service and is passionate about advancing open data as a means to promote transparency, fostering innovation, and enabling better public service delivery across the Government of Canada. Her work focuses on supporting data governance initiatives and developing policies that make government-held data more accessible and usable for Canadians. She is particularly interested in how open data can empower communities, support evidence-based decision-making, and contribute to more equitable outcomes.
Rob Emerson
Manager of Digital Transformation & User Experience, City of Barrie
Rob is an accomplished senior manager with 25 years of experience helping organizations realize their full potential through transformational projects and positive cultural change. After graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce with a major in IT, Rob’s winding career path included multiple manager roles in municipal government and post secondary education, before finally taking his first IT job nearly 20 years after graduation. For the past 7 years Rob has been leading the City of Barrie’s digital transformation efforts and helping the City to build a new relationship with technology.
Sheldon Fernandez
Marilyne Carry
Associate Professor, Environmental Sustainability Research Centre, Brock University
Dr. Marilyne Carrey is an Associate Professor in the Environmental Sustainability Research Centre at Brock University. Dr. Carrey's research applies geospatial technologies within a sustainability science framework to study invasive species, urban forests, wetlands, and grasslands in a changing climate. Committed to community engagement, she collaborates with local organizations to address environmental challenges. She has mapped invasive species like Phragmites in the Long Point Biosphere and is interested in proactive management in the Niagara Region, including ongoing collaborations with the NPCA and other stakeholders
Eugene Chen
Chair, Canadian Open Data Society
Eugene Chen has spent over a decade in the design and development of data visualization tools, and more recently completed his MSc in Computing Science with a published, Top 3 paper on using AI in puzzle games for IEEE’s AAAI conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment. He has been exploring the direct role of AI in software development and data visualization, and built a collaborative generative AI platform that uses different AI models in 2024. Eugene’s public work has been shared in media outlets like the New York Times, CBC, NPR, and CTV. He is a board member of the Canadian Open Data Society and a member of Canada’s Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Open Government. After spending a decade as the CTO of a successful data visualization firm, he has transitioned to contracting on technical management and development work, most recently with Natural Resources Canada and Code for Canada.
Wendy Baldin
Manager of Digital Transformation and IT,
Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority
Wendy Baldin has over 25 years of professional experience in the public, private, and consulting business sectors. Wendy has a BES from the University of Waterloo, obtained her Project Management Professional and Geographic Information System Professional designations, and specializes in geospatial and IT project management. She is currently the Manager - Digital Transformation and Information Technology for Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority. Wendy is also the President of BeSpatial Ontario.
