Kaush Rakhit, M.Sc., P.Geol. – President

Kaush graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Bachelor of Science in Earth Sciences in 1983, and in 1986 became the first person to complete a post-graduate degree (M.Sc.) in Petroleum Hydrogeology at the University of Alberta. After some extensive travel, Kaush moved to Calgary in 1988 and started doing consulting work. Recognizing the need in the industry for hydrodynamics, he incorporated Rakhit Petroleum Consulting Ltd. (RPCL) in 1989.

During this period, RPCL became one of the best-known consulting groups in Calgary and developed a world-wide client base. Specific specialties included hydrodynamics, basin analysis, unconventional gas, integrated geologic studies, specialty database and software development and upside analysis related to M&A activity. Kaush is probably best known for recognizing, defining and exploiting resource plays at an early stage, which helped lead companies such as Encana into the dry Edmonton, Horseshoe Canyon and Mannville CBM plays.

He was also co-founder of Groundwater Solutions Ltd. (now Matrix Solutions Inc.), one of the largest environmental consulting companies in Calgary. In 2005, he purchased Canadian Discovery Ltd., an E&P industry activity reporting company working the WCSB, Canadian Frontiers and North Sea (U.K., Norway).
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Matt Baird, Computer/Technology Diploma – IT / IS Director

Matt has over 12 years of application and database development experience. He has worked at Canadian Discovery Ltd. for the past 10 years, during which time he has developed and maintained numerous products, software and interfaces.




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E.C. (Ed) Fogg, B.Sc. – Founder, Senior Exploration Analyst

Ed has more than 35 years of geological experience. He received his Bachelor of Science in Geology in 1972 from the University of Saskatchewan. Ed is the Founder of Canadian Discovery Ltd (CDL). His past work experience included 15 years of varied exploration and development operations with Sun Oil, Forest Oil, Joffre Oils and Darien Energy. Experiences include exposure to U.S.A. geology and geophysics, Canadian Arctic Islands and Mackenzie Delta frontiers, and extensive prospect generation in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin.

Ed formed CDL in 1987, a company dedicated to providing low-cost exploration expertise to the oil and gas Industry. Beyond conducting proprietary studies, CDL has since gone on to develop the Discovery Digests (Canadian, UK and Norway), Current Exploration Overview Maps, Strategy 2000 & 2005, the EDGE and more recently the Well Completions & Frac Database. This combination of working in the industry in diverse company settings for over 15 years, plus an additional 20 years of analyzing and reporting on the successes of industry exploration in Canada, has made him one of the most experienced exploration analysts in the industry.
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David W. Hume, B.Sc., P.Geol. – Multi-Client Studies Director

Dave is a professional geologist with more than 30 years of experience. He received his Bachelor of Science in Geology from the University of Alberta in 1982. Prior to joining Rakhit Petroleum Consulting Ltd. (RPCL) — the predecessor to Canadian Discovery Ltd. (CDL)—in 1990, Dave was the senior geologist of an intermediate oil and gas production company in Calgary, where he gained direct experience in exploration and development geology and oil and gas operations.

His expertise is in high resolution sequence stratigraphy, but he also integrates sedimentology, hydrogeology, reservoir characterization, geophysics, rock mechanics and stress analysis into the production of CDL's multi-client studies.
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Gayle Kazakoff – CFO / Administrative Director

Gayle has over 25 years of experience in the oil and gas industry and began working at Rakhit Petroleum Consulting Ltd. during the early days of the organization. In 2005, she joined Canadian Discovery Ltd. when the two companies merged. Over the years, Gayle has been involved in the company's day-to-day financials ensuring the company's continued success. Her expertise is a great addition to the well-rounded nature of the company's executive team. She is the key contact for financial and administration services.
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Heather McCrank, MBA, CMA, B.Des. – Managing Director

After completing a Bachelor of Design (Business and Marketing Route) from the University of Alberta in 2000, Heather accepted a joint position with Rakhit Petroleum Consulting Ltd. and Matrix Solutions Inc. Over the ensuing years, she developed an in-depth knowledge of the resource focused consulting business through her direct involvement in the marketing, execution and delivery of numerous domestic and international geoscience projects.

Heather joined Canadian Discovery Ltd. in 2006 as the Marketing and Communications Director. With a desire to better integrate strategy and operations, she later completed a Master of Business Administration through the Queen's School of Business National Executive Program and her CMA designation through the Certified Management Accountants of Alberta Strategic Leadership Program. In her present role as Managing Director of Canadian Discovery Ltd., Heather is involved in all aspects of the business, including: strategy, marketing, financials and project management. Recently, she has led the rollout of key new ventures, including the whatmapLive!; a North Sea web-based interface, and the Well Completions & Frac Database (WCFD).
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Neil Watson, B.Sc., P. Geol. – Consulting Services Director

After completing his Bachelor of Science in Geology at the University of Alberta in 1983, Neil began his career at Gulf Canada Resources Limited. Early assignments working in the Foothills and Peace River Arch developed a strong understanding of the relationship between structure and sedimentation. Subsequent positions as the Lead Explorationist at Samedan Oil, Rio Alto Exploration and Zargon Energy honed his expertise in putting together regional evaluations of exploration plays.

In 2010, Neil joined Canadian Discovery Ltd. (CDL) as the Consulting Services Director. In this position his primary responsibility is to manage the single client consulting arm of CDL. The single client consulting team handles projects ranging from comprehensive Resource Play studies to smaller scale A&D and prospect evaluation.
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Laurie Weston Bellman , P.Geoph. – Geophysics and Quantitative Interpretation Director

Laurie started her career with Shell Canada doing seismic processing and interpretation in the central plains area of Alberta. Seeking adventure and travel, she took a position with LASMO plc in London, to work on various European, North African and Middle East projects. She later returned to Canada after working at Wascana Energy in London, to work domestic cold-flow heavy oil projects.

Shortly thereafter, she began her consulting career with Alberta Energy (AEC) in 1999 and has contracted for a number of companies and projects. Laurie began a consulting contract with Nexen Canada Inc. in 2000 in their Synthetic Oil group, where her main professional interest became the Canadian oil sands. She formed Oil Sands Imaging in 2007 to optimize seismic value for clients. Oil Sands Imaging evolved into Sound Qi which was subsequently taken over by Canadian Discovery Ltd.

Laurie was the CSEG Technical Co-Chair of the Recovery 2011 Convention and has received honorable mention for the CSEG's Best Technical Luncheon Speaker award in 2008. She also received the CWLS President's Award for best technical luncheon talk in 2006 and the CSPG/CSEG Convention's best integrated core presentation award in 2007.
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Cheryl Wright, BA – Business Development Director

Cheryl has been focused on sales and business development of geological/geotechnical projects and services for over 20 years. Cheryl spent 12 years operating her own successful consulting practice, acting as exclusive marketing agent for several geological and hydrodynamic companies. Cheryl has developed a loyal and broad network of clients in the E&P industry and through these relationships has advanced the success of Canadian Discovery Ltd. (CDL). She has proven her dedicated skills are a valuable contribution to the growth of the company. Cheryl has initiated and forged alliances with leading geologists to further augment the level and quality of CDL's geoscience team of professionals.
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