Jon was born and raised in Alberta, completing a BA at the University of Calgary, an MA from Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, and an MBA from McGill. From 2007 to 2016 Jon worked at the Canadian Energy Research Institute (CERI), wearing a number of hats — including Senior Researcher, Senior Economist, and Manager of Training Services. He was also Editor-in-Chief of the journal, Geopolitics of Energy.  Now running Oak Leaf, Jon continually keeps up to date on the energy industry, researching and writing about energy economics and industry issues, while updating and developing with industry experts Oak Leaf’s course materials.  Jon’s expertise has led to many speaking invitations worldwide.  He has presented at the Woodrow Wilson Institute in Washington, DC, the Munk School in Toronto, KAPSARC in The Hague, and The Windsor Energy Group in London, among other places. He also has considerable classroom experience, teaching for years at international universities and recently brushing up his course development skills by completing a graduate-level course in pedagogical theory at the University of Calgary. Jon has written articles for several industry journals, magazines, and newspapers, including Energy Bridge, Alberta Oil, and the Financial Post. He is co-editor of the Oxford University Press book Energy Poverty: Global Challenges, Local Solutions.  Jon is presently working on a PhD dissertation that considers energy technology development in England during the early modern era; he plans to be done the project by spring 2024 and hopes that somebody, anybody, will read it!

Chris is a California native, completing his BA in International Relations at the University of California at Santa Cruz. While obtaining a master’s degree in Energy Policy at New York University, Chris studied the highly integrated and interdependent relationship between the United States and Canada concerning oil, gas, and electricity. Upon graduation, Chris worked with PIRA on international coal issues and conducted research with Senior Fellow Robert Bryce for the publication, “The High Cost of Renewable-Electricity Mandates”. Chris then returned to North American energy policy and economics and was the Oil & Gas Trade Commissioner for the Canadian Consulate in New York City. At the Consulate, Chris worked closely with upstream Canadian oil producers and U.S. refiners to build new contracts to send heavy crude via heated railcars to East Coast refineries. Chris moved to the Gulf Coast and consulted with Acadian Consulting Group on issues such as US shale development, LNG, petrochemicals, and refining. Chris is an Energy Risk Professional – Certified by the Global Association of Risk Professionals. In his role at Oak Leaf, Chris leads in the development and implementation of Oak Leaf courses in the United States.