Andrew Hyett is a geologist and rock mechanics specialist with decades of experience at the intersection of subsurface engineering and applied research. He held a research position in the Department of Mining Engineering at Queen’s University, where his work focused on the mechanical behaviour of rock and ground support systems.

He later founded YieldPoint Inc., a Kingston-based instrumentation company developing fibre-optic sensing technology for monitoring deformation in rock, soil, and civil infrastructure — the kind of monitoring that underpins safe design of tunnels, foundations, and major linear infrastructure. He is now retired.

His contributions to this research draw on direct expertise in the geological and geomechanical conditions of the Canadian Shield and the engineering challenges they present for large-scale construction, including the particular challenges facing high-speed rail subgrade design in the Eastern Ontario corridor.

Lindsay Davidson is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada (Orthopaedic Surgery) and Professor Emerita at Queen’s University, where she also served as Chair of Teaching and Learning.

Her academic career combined clinical practice with a sustained focus on evidence-based education, research methodology, and the rigorous evaluation of complex systems — skills as applicable to the analysis of public policy and infrastructure governance as to medicine.

Her contributions to this research reflect a commitment to asking hard questions of the evidence, and to making technical and procedural arguments accessible to a general public audience.

Liz Crawford is a retired industrial designer, professional gardener, and amateur naturalist. She lives in Toronto and enjoys frequent visits to her in-laws’ property in the core of the Frontenac Arch Biosphere, where she has hiked extensively through the largely wild property and adjoining Cataraqui and Rideau trails, studying the local flora and fauna.

In her gardening work, she regularly battles invasive species and has read extensively on their best management practices. She is currently completing the Pollinator Stewardship program with the Pollinator Partnership — an online, science-based training program that educates individuals and organisations on how to protect pollinators through habitat creation and conservation.

She has volunteered with the Turtle Protectors, an Indigenous-led, non-profit stewardship group in Toronto dedicated to protecting local at-risk turtle populations and their habitats, and with the City of Toronto Park Stewards, a program that restores and maintains public natural areas, ravines, and parks. Her most recent project with them was their annual prescribed burn in High Park.

Her contributions to this research bring direct field knowledge of the Frontenac Arch landscape and hands-on experience with invasive species management — the practical dimension of the ecological risks documented in the invasive species policy brief.

Kurt Hennige is a shrike biologist with direct, hands-on experience monitoring and supporting the recovery of the Eastern Loggerhead Shrike in the Napanee Plain — one of only two remaining regular breeding locations for the species in Canada. He serves as the Habitat Stewardship and Recovery Action Group Coordinator for the Napanee Plain, leading on-the-ground conservation efforts in the precise landscape at the centre of the southern corridor environmental risk assessment.

He is a Director of the Lennox and Addington Stewardship Council, contributing to the stewardship of land and water resources across the L&A region, and a Past President of the Kingston Field Naturalists, one of eastern Ontario’s foremost naturalist organizations.

His standing as an eBird Reviewer for three regions in Eastern Ontario reflects a level of ornithological expertise recognized by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, responsible for validating bird observation records across a broad sweep of the landscape directly affected by the proposed Alto southern corridor.

His contributions to this research bring unmatched field knowledge of the Eastern Loggerhead Shrike and the alvar ecosystems it depends on — the specialist perspective that grounds the Species at Risk analysis in direct, documented experience of this landscape.

Steven Moore is a retired Assistant Professor who held appointments in both the Smith School of Business and the School of Environmental Studies at Queen’s University, where he taught at the intersection of sustainability, ecological economics, and business and environmental strategy. His international teaching has spanned the Bader International Study Centre at Herstmonceux Castle in the U.K. and field-based courses in Environmental Policy in Costa Rica.

He was voted Student’s Choice Professor of the Year in Environmental Studies for both Sustainability and Ecological Economics, and has been nominated for the W.J. Barnes Teaching Award — the Arts & Science Undergraduate Society’s highest tribute to an individual for teaching excellence. He currently teaches in MBA programmes for Ducere Business School at the University of Valencia / Rome Business School and Torrens University in Australia, where he has received the Teaching Merit Certificate.

Beyond the classroom, Moore has put sustainability principles directly into practice: he has run an off-grid organic farm on solar power, designed and built an earth-sheltered home incorporating a wide range of sustainable features, and owns and operates Moore Partners, a 20 kW microFIT solar photovoltaic energy producer. He has over 100 popular publications to his credit in the fields of environment and energy.

His contributions to this research bring expertise in the economics of large-scale environmental decisions, the long-run costs of infrastructure development, and the integration of ecological and financial perspectives — the analytical lens applied in the cost and lifecycle assessments on this site.

Susan Moore is a writer and editor with more than twenty years of experience working with regional community groups across Eastern Ontario. Her work has supported organisations engaged in environmental stewardship, community advocacy, and public communication — translating complex issues into clear, accessible language for general audiences.

She serves as Secretary of the Lennox and Addington Stewardship Council, contributing to land and water stewardship across the L&A region, and as President of Friends of Salmon River — a community organisation dedicated to the protection and restoration of the Salmon River watershed, one of the waterways directly within the footprint of the Alto southern corridor.

Her contributions to this research bring deep roots in the communities and landscapes that the proposed southern corridor would cross, alongside two decades of practical experience helping community organisations communicate effectively with the public, government, and media.

Lawrence O’Keeffe is the Founder and Past Chair of Friends of the Napanee River, a community organisation dedicated to the protection, restoration, and advocacy for the Napanee River watershed — precisely the waterway at the centre of the southern corridor environmental risk assessment. His leadership of this organisation has given him direct, long-standing knowledge of the river’s ecology, hydrology, and the communities that depend on it.

He has served as a Past Director with the Lennox and Addington Stewardship Council, working on land and water stewardship across the broader L&A region, and is a member of Water Rangers Canada, a national network of citizen water monitors committed to collecting and sharing water quality data for rivers and lakes across the country.

Before his environmental community work, Lawrence served as a Retired Canadian Military Training Development Officer, and brings to this initiative fifteen years of experience in international consulting and project management — skills in structured analysis, documentation, and large-scale project oversight that inform his contributions to this research.

His contributions bring direct, first-hand knowledge of the Napanee River watershed and decades of practical experience in watershed stewardship, stakeholder engagement, and community-based environmental advocacy — a perspective grounded in the landscape that Alto’s southern corridor would cross.

Rena Upitis is a retired professor of education and environmental studies at Queen’s University, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada — one of the country’s highest academic honours, recognising sustained and distinguished contribution to research and public life.

She is a Founding Director of Wintergreen Studios, an off-grid environmental arts centre in South Frontenac — located directly within the area affected by the proposed ALTO southern corridor. Her work at Wintergreen has long integrated ecological stewardship, community engagement, and a deep commitment to the particular landscape of the Frontenac Arch.

Her contributions to this research bring first-hand knowledge of the communities, landscapes, and values at stake in the southern corridor debate, alongside an academic career dedicated to evidence-informed inquiry and public engagement.