Larkin is a seasoned environmental and nuclear science professional currently serving as Manager of Environmental Services, Clean Energy & Community Engagement at Kinectrics, a leading provider of engineering, testing, and consulting services to the nuclear and energy sectors. She started her career in the sciences, having her masters in science in biology from Queen’s University. She has been in the nuclear industry for over 10 years but has been an educator for over 20, with 15 years specifically related to science communication and education. This strong passion for science and education led her to complete her PhD in Public Policy on science and energy literacy in youth.

She is passionate about energy and believes that the future energy system must be a mix of non-emitting sources to power our future. She volunteers with the CNS education program, the Renfrew County Science Fair, and local animal rescues. She is an outdoorsy person and can often be found hiking in a forest with her rescue dogs, swimming in the river, or at home reading a book with one of her rescue cats.

Jeter Hall, Executive Director of the Fedoruk Centre. 

Jeter completed his PhD at the University of Utah, studying gamma rays produced by dark matter annihilation. He went on to complete a postdoctoral fellowship at Fermilab, where he contributed to underground dark matter experiments including CDMS-II, SuperCDMS, and COUPP. Jeter’s work ranged from improving electronics performance in cryogenic detectors to analyzing acoustic signatures in bubble chambers and deploying new technologies at SNOLAB.

From 2017, Jeter held the position of Director of Research at SNOLAB, one of Canada’s premier facilities for astro-particle research. In this role, Jeter was accountable for the successful execution of the laboratory’s large suite of projects in tandem with the successful operation of its scientific program. Jeter worked across organizational boundaries to facilitate the successful completion of the lab’s portfolio of projects and programs alongside the lab’s organizational commitments. 

Jeter joined the Fedoruk Centre as executive director in July 2025 to accompllish impacts in the following areas: (1) Nuclear imaging tools and methods to advance life sciences, agri-biotechnologies and medicine; (2) Material sciences, through nuclear techniques, such as neutron scattering, to improve energy, health, and transportation; and (3) Understanding the practical and social aspects of nuclear energy, to inform decision-making towards a clean, sustainable future.

Dr. Jafar Soltan is the Associate Dean Research and Partnerships, University of Saskatchewan, College of Engineering; Keynote Presentation: Discuss Current and Future Thoughts on IAEA Collaboration in Nuclear Energy

Morgan Dehnel, Selkirk College; Keynote: Starting up D-Pace and Research Work at SIRC

Tom Kischuk, Executive Director of the Global Institute for Energy, Minerals, and Society (GIEMS); Panel Moderator: Discuss the Collaboration Between the Newly Funded UNENE/Fedoruk Centre Chairs

Terry Fonstad, Associate Vice-President, Research (Ethics and Infrastructure), University of Saskatchewan; Panelist: Discuss the Collaboration Between the Newly Funded UNENE/Fedoruk Centre Chairs 

Dr. Terry Fonstad is a leader in environmental research for animal agriculture.  His work is the basis for much of the regulations and policies related to siting and permitting of intensive livestock operations in the prairie regions.  Dr. Fonstad’s academic home is the Department of Civil, Geological and Environmental Engineering.

Dr. Fonstad’s research started with site selection for development of intensive livestock operations and includes design and construction of compacted clay liners and reactive transport of nitrogen rich solutions.  He was asked to expand his research into mass mortalities management when BSE was discovered in Canada.  This led to the novel use of gene sequencing of DNA extracted from soil cores to evaluate the risk of burial as a mass mortality management strategy.  Gene sequencing is also used in his research to maximize biogas production in relation to agricultural waste utilization.  Dr. Fonstad leads a Pan-Canadian team with the goal of increased biosecurity in the food industry through reduction of pathogen transfer in the swine transport sector.  Additionally, he leads a team completing environmental research for the cattle industry at the USask Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence.

Dr. Fonstad is a registered professional engineering and professional agrologist.  He is a Fellow of Engineers Canada and honorary Fellow of Geosciences Canada.  He has served two terms on the council of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan as well as one term on the executive and served as President in 2019-20.  He was awarded the Public Service Award from the RM of Blucher No 343 for his service on municipal council from 2002-2017.

Dr. Jessica Kolopenuk, Vice President, Health and Research, First Nations University; Panelist: Discuss the Collaboration Between the Newly Funded UNENE/Fedoruk Centre Chairs

Dr. Chris Yost, Vice President- Research, University of Regina. Panelist: Discuss the Collaboration Between the Newly Funded UNENE/Fedoruk Centre Chairs

From 2007 to 2017 Chris was a Canada Research Chair in Environmental Microbiology. He is the co-Director of the Institute for Microbial Systems and Society, where he supervisors a diverse team of undergraduate, and graduate student researchers. In addition to maintaining an active research lab that uses genomic technologies to study agriculturally relevant interactions between microbes and plants, he has had a long-term commitment to serving the University in supporting its research enterprise.

Chris was the chair of the Council Committee on Academic Mission and the chair of the Council Committee on Research. He also has national experience in research policy work, and was a member of NSERC’s Committee on Discovery Research while serving as a Group Chair for NSERC’s Discovery Grant program. He served the Canadian Society of Microbiologists in leadership positions for many years. Prior to coming to the University of Regina in 2003, Dr. Yost was a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada at the Lacombe Research Centre and later worked internationally as a research associate at the University of Aarhus in Denmark.

Dr. Kate Dadachova, Professor, University of Saskatchewan, College of Pharmacy and Nutrition; Project Presentation: Novel Macrocyclic Peptides for Radioligand Therapy of Pancreatic Cancer

Kate joined USask in late 2016 as a Fedoruk Centre Chair in Radiopharmacy and Professor of Pharmacy. Before joining USask, she held a Professorship in Radiology, Microbiology and Immunology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, USA from 2000 to 2016.  Her research interests are targeted radionuclide therapy of cancer, infections and autoimmune diseases, as well as melanin-based radioprotectors.   She published >200 papers, 13 book chapters, and has 8 US patents.  She received several awards such as Philips Young Investigator Award by RSNA, Young Professionals Award from the SNM, Mary Kay Ash Research Award, Top 10 researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 2013, 2017 Burroughs Welcome Award, 2020 University of Saskatchewan Distinguished Researcher Award and 2024 Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation (SHRF) Years of Service Award. She is in the top 2% of cited scientists worldwide according to Stanford University 2024 database.

Dr. Chris Phenix, Associate Professor, University of Saskatchewan's College of Arts and Science, Department of Chemistry; Project Presentation: Monitoring Xylem and Phloem Flow of Abscisic Acid in Live Canola Seedlings Under Drought Conditions Using PET

Dr. Marcella Berg, Assistant Professor, University of Regina's Faculty of Science, Department of Physics; Project Presentation: Crop Optimization Using Neutron Imaging

Dr. Arthur Situm, Assistant Professor, University of Regina's Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science; Project Presentation: Zirconium Metal as a Redox Buffer Agent in Molten Fluoride Salts

Dr. Gurpreet Aulakh, Associate Professor, University of Saskatchewan's College of Western Veterinary Medicine, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences; Project Presentation: Development of Nuclear Imaging Tools for Pre-clinical Evaluation of Lung Inflammation: Sequential PET-CT Imaging in the Swine and Murine Models

Dr. Alaz Munzur, Assistant Professor, University of Saskatchewan's Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy; Project Presentation: Fueling the Future - Training the Future Nuclear Workforce in Saskatchewan

Dr. Gordon Huang, Distinguished Professor, University of Regina's Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science; Project Presentation: Optimization-driven Equilibrium Analysis for Direct/Indirect Socio-economic and Environmental Effects of Small Modular Reactor Initiatives in Saskatchewan

Dr. Jaswant Singh, Associate Dean, Academic Excellence and Innovation, University of Saskatchewan, CGPS and Professor, College of Western College of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences

Dr. Behzad Toosi, Assistant Professor, University of Saskatchewan's Western College of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences; Project Presentation: Utiliziation of a Novel Bispecific Antibody for Tumor Imaging in Human and Canine Malignancies