About

Tyler McCann Managing Director

Bree Jones Director, Business Services and Development

Elise Bigley Director, Strategic Projects

Elisabeta Lika Research Associate

Maya Wiersma Aparicio Project Associate

Margaret Zafiriou Senior Research Fellow

Al Mussell Senior Research Fellow

Claire Citeau Senior Research Fellow

Claire Citeau is an accomplished international trade policy expert and advisor with extensive experience in global relations and public affairs. She is a Fellow at the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI) and the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA), as well as a Fellow of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute (CGAI).

Claire serves as Vice-President at the Canadian Meat Council and senior advisor at the Canada-EU Trade and Investment Association (CEUTIA). As former Executive Director of the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance (CAFTA), Claire worked on numerous bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements including CETA, CPTPP, CUSMA, UKCTA and WTO agreements and contributed to improving the conditions of access for Canadian food around the world. She has held positions with Alberta’s Ministries of Global Affairs and Agriculture, RBC Dominion Securities, and the Historica Foundation of Canada.

Claire holds a double MBA in international business and is pursuing an LLM in international law (2025). She leverages her expertise to manage collaborations with key stakeholders, government officials, and industry leaders in Canada and abroad.

Courtney Anderson Distinguished Fellow

Courtney Anderson owns and operates his own consulting company where he provides consulting services to farmers, agri-business and general business owners. As part of his consulting services, he presently holds the role of Farm Advisor for farm succession planning with Farm Life Financial out of Peterborough Ontario and lead Consultant with the law firm Sicotte Guilbault in Ottawa.

Courtney’s deep agricultural roots include growing up on a family cow-calf farm in Shelburne, Ontario with broader ties to dairy, hog, cash crop and cow-calf farming across Eastern, Central and Southern Ontario. He holds a Bachelors of Science in Agriculture Economics from the University of Guelph and professional designations as a Personal Financial Planner (PFP) and Financial Management Advisor (FMA). His career includes leading TD’s National Agriculture Services product group managing relationships with agricultural industry leaders like Federated Co-Operatives and Cargill where he also received TD’s national leadership award for performance.

Ted Bilyea Distinguished Fellow

Ted Bilyea is an agri-food consultant specializing in innovation with clients in both private and public sector. He most recently served as Chair and Chief Strategy Officer of the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI). He currently acts as a Special Advisor to CAPI. Mr. Bilyea retired in 2005 as Executive Vice-President, Maple Leaf Foods Inc., having spent a very successful 35 years with the company. Prior to becoming Executive Vice President, Maple Leaf Foods Inc., he held the position of President of Maple Leaf Foods International from 1995 to 2004. Earlier in his career with the antecedent company Canada Packers Ltd., Mr. Bilyea led teams that pioneered the export of chilled beef from Canada and was the first in North America to export chilled pork to Asia. Under his leadership Maple Leaf Foods entered the specialized bakery business in Europe and became the largest exporter of food in Canada. He is a member of the board of Paterson Global Foods Inc., and is past Chair and special advisor to the board of the Canadian Agri-food Policy Institute. Previously he has served on a number of other boards including B.H.G. International Trade Inc. (major supermarket in China), Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency, Afexa Life Sciences (Cold-fx), PrioNet Canada, the University of Guelph and chaired the Food Processors of Canada and Metals in the Human Environment NCE. He holds a B.A. (Hons.) and an M.A. in International Relations from York University and is the past recipient of the H.R. MacMillan Laureate in Agriculture from the University of Guelph and was inducted into the Canadian Agriculture Hall of Fame in 2018.

Area of Focus: A Strategic Approach to Trade

As a massive surplus food exporter in a world where rules and institutions are breaking down Canada needs to consider strategies to stop erosion of its global market share while strengthening its share of domestic food consumption. This research will explore Canada’s agri-food trade policy in a shifting geopolitical world. We will try to understand if there is a way to utilize certain competitive advantages to build leverage and soft power.

The work of Ted Bilyea is is supported in part by the Government of Canada through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership.

Ellen Goddard Distinguished Fellow

Dr. Ellen Goddard has been Professor and Cooperative Chair in Agricultural Marketing and Business at the University of Alberta since December 2000. She was previously National Australia Bank Professor of Agribusiness and Associate Dean, Coursework, at the Institute of Land and Food Resources, the University of Melbourne. Before that, Dr. Goddard worked in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Guelph. Over the past 30 years, Dr. Goddard’s research has been focused on economic modeling of domestic and international markets for food products (particularly meat) for policy analysis purposes. Current research includes various aspects of food behaviour including consumer response to food safety incidents, consumer interest in labels, demand for credence attributes, traceability and certification. She has also been (and remains) a core social science researcher (GE3LS lead) in five large livestock genomics projects (Genome Canada) – on identifying genes related to animal disease resilience, on identifying genes related to feed efficiency and on identifying and undertaking surveillance for animal disease. Dr. Goddard has recently served on the Alberta Local Food Council, on the Council of Canadian Academies Expert Panel on the Potential Socio-Economic Impact of Antimicrobial Resistance in Canada and on the National Steering Committee for Public Trust in Agriculture. She is also a Fellow of the Canadian Agricultural Economics Society and a Distinguished Fellow of the Australasian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.

Area of Focus: One Health

The intersection of animal, plant, human and environmental health has never been more significant. One Health embodies the concept that these are all connected and require a holistic and integrated view of health across plants, animals, humans, and the environment they live in. The project aims to develop a One Health framework which will take a transdisciplinary perspective and integrated view to public and private analysis and decision making

Nicolas Mesly Distinguished Fellow

Nicolas Mesly is an agronomist (agricultural economist), reporter, and photographer specializing in agri-food and ecological issues. He started his career at Le Bulletin des agriculteurs magazine where he is now a freelance reporter and economic columnist. Earlier in his career, Mr. Mesly was Press Secretary to Canada’s former Minister of Agriculture Eugene Whelan, Senior International Marketing Officer at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (China and Latin America offices), and Commercial Secretary at the Canadian Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela. Mr. Mesly then worked as a freelance correspondent for the CBC’s flagship public affairs program, Le Point, based in Santiago, Chile. Since then, he has collaborated with various magazines and newspapers, as well as in the production of documentaries. He has extensive international experience and has been covering U.S. agricultural policy for the past 15 years. The Canadian press associations have rewarded his journalistic and photographic work on more than twenty occasions. He is a speaker and host, as well as a columnist on the CBC radio program Moteur de recherche.

Area of Focus: Water

Water is a source of conflict between countries, but also within nations. Canada, although it has immense natural resources, including 7% of the world’s freshwater reserves, is one of the countries most affected by climate change. The project will explore how Canada’s agri-food system, including the public and private sectors and civil society can turn the challenges of water, such as scarcity, trade of water, and water’s role in food processing, into an opportunity.

The work of Nicolas Mesly is supported in part by the RBC Foundation through RBC Tech For Nature and part of CAPI’s larger environmental initiative, Spearheading Sustainable Solutions. His work was also was funded in part by the Government of Canada under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership’s AgriCompetitiveness Program.

Tom Nudds Distinguished Fellow

Tom Nudds is Professor Emeritus at the University of Guelph where he taught and conducted research in the field of conservation Biology since 1981. He earned BSc. and MSc. degrees from the University of Windsor and a Ph.D. from (then) University of Western Ontario. As a graduate student trapsing across farmland seeking permissions to count ducks on it, he first encountered the challenges of conserving public wildlife on private land. He supervised research and published about at-risk species on northern forested (caribou) and southern settled (bobolink) landscapes. In 2005-6, he was a member of the advisory panel to government about Ontario’s Endangered Species Act. Since retiring in 2012, he has consulted for the forest industry and CAPI on active, adaptive and collaborative management to aid decision-making at the science-policy interface, and continues to serve on the Provincial Forest Technical Committee.

Grace Skogstad Distinguished Fellow

Grace Skogstad grew up on a farm in northern Alberta: an experience that forged her life-long academic interest in Canadian agricultural politics and agriculture and food policy. In addition to several journal articles, she has published two books on Canadian agricultural policy: The Politics of Agricultural Policy-Making in Canada and Internationalization and Canadian Agriculture: Policy and Governing Paradigms. Her research examines how organized interests in the agri-food sector interact with the shared jurisdiction that Canada’s federal and provincial governments enjoy over agriculture to shape policy-making for the agri-food sector. She has written on the politics of the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), as well as the comparative politics of Canadian, US, and EU policies with respect to genetically modified plants and renewable fuels.

Grace Skogstad is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto. She holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of British Columbia and a BA and MA in Political Science from the University of Alberta.

Grace Skogstad has served as President of the Canadian Political Science Association and President of the International Public Policy Association. Her honours include her appointment as Senior Fernand Braudel Fellow at the European University Institute, Florence, Italy; the JJ Berry Smith Doctoral Supervision Award from the University of Toronto; and the Mildred A. Schwartz Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Political Science Association.

The work of Grace Skogstad is supported in part by the RBC Foundation through RBC Tech For Nature and part of CAPI’s larger environmental initiative, Spearheading Sustainable Solutions.

Susan Wood-Bohm Distinguished Fellow

Susan Wood-Bohm is President and CEO of Wood-Bohm and Associates, offering strategic consulting services to industry and government in the areas of science-based innovation, research and development investment and integrated solutions deployment. Dr. Wood-Bohm’s particular expertise in the role that biological systems can play in climate change mitigation and adaptation has influenced policy and investment decisions at the provincial and national levels through Alberta Innovates Bio Solutions, the Climate Change and Emissions Management Corporation, Emissions Reduction Alberta, the BIOCAP Canada Foundation and BioIndustrial Innovation Canada and within global organizations such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Dr. Wood-Bohm holds a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from the University of Guelph, a Master’s degree in Biology from Queen’s University and an industrial PhD in Molecular Genetics from Queen’s University in collaboration with Performance Plants Inc. She and her husband farm at Hawthorne Ridge Heritage Farm, near Peterborough Ontario.

Area of Focus: On Farm Action and Environmental Sustainability

The intersection of agricultural practice and environmental sustainability is both a challenge and opportunity for the Canadian agri-food industry. The research will explore how to use public and private tools to spur substantial, durable on farm action to optimize long-term positive environmental impacts while maintaining strong international competitiveness. The project will include a review of how agriculture is and can contribute to meeting international obligations.

The work of Susan Wood-Bohm was supported in part by the RBC Foundation through RBC Tech For Nature and part of CAPI’s larger environmental initiative, Spearheading Sustainable Solutions.

Kwaku Twum Doctoral Fellow

Kwaku is a PhD Candidate at the School of Environment, Enterprise, and Development (SEED), at the University of Waterloo. Before this, he spent almost a decade in digital innovations and business strategy, and land management consulting in urban and regional development across Europe and Africa. He has worked in both public and private sectors across food and beverage, mining, and municipalities. He also has research experience in climate adaptation and disaster management, responsible innovations, and transformation pathways in food, water, and land systems. He is an entrepreneur and co-founder of Mapkot Technologies, a tech startup that provides data analytics tools for Agro-value chains and SMEs in Africa and South Asia. He is also co-founder of Huts & Cities, a research advocacy organization supporting local education for underprivileged and indigenous communities through research.

Ehsan Pashanejad Doctoral Fellow

Ehsan is a PhD candidate in Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of British Columbia, Canada, and a research affiliate with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. His research focuses on modeling ecosystem services and optimizing land use in agricultural landscapes, with a particular emphasis on balancing conservation and agricultural productivity in the Canadian Prairies. Ehsan is also engaged in local initiatives using ecosystem service assessments for climate change adaptation, working with the Comox Valley Land Trust and the Okanagan Collaborative Conservation Program (OCCP). He has also worked with federal agencies like Parks Canada as a Climate Change Research Assistant.

Dislène Sossou Doctoral Fellow

Dislène P. Senan Sossou is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Agri-Food Economics and Consumer Sciences at Laval University. She holds a Master’s degree in Mathematics, Economics, and Statistics from the African School of Economics (Benin), and a Bachelor’s degree in Statistics and Econometrics from the University of Abomey-Calavi (Benin).

Before beginning her Ph.D. studies, she spent six years contributing to the evaluation of development programs and policies in West African countries. Her thesis is part of a research project entitled “Conservation and Health of Vegetable-Growing Soils in Quebec.” Her work focuses on the economic impact of soil conservation practices in terms of cost-effectiveness, adoption, and impact on land productivity. Her research interests include data modelling and applied econometrics.

Andu Berha Doctoral Fellow

Andu is a PhD candidate at the University of Alberta, specializing in Development Economics. His research centers on misallocation and productivity, with a particular focus on understanding the roles of market failures, policy interventions, and climate change. His work leverages machine learning and advanced econometric techniques applied to remote sensing and large-scale survey data.

Prior to starting his PhD, Andu holds an MSc in Economics from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and an MSc in Food and Resource Economics from the University of Bonn, under a prestigious Erasmus Mundus scholarship program. He also holds an MSc and a BA degree in Economics from Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia.