Meet the Team 

ASL Environmental Sciences employs over 35 scientists, engineers, technicians, and programmers with over 47 years of excellence in providing oceanographic products and consulting services, remote sensing, equipment leasing, and third-party equipment sales. Team members with varied expertise are featured below.

Our Professional Team

Jan Buermans
Jan Buermans
President & CEO
Kaan Ersahin
Kaan  Ersahin 
Vice President &
Director, Remote Sensing
Rene Chave
Rene Chave
Board Chair, COO and CIO
Keath Borg
Keath Borg
Director, Consulting and Senior Physical Oceanographer

Matthew Asplin
Matthew Asplin
Director, Metocean and Arctic Strategic Partnerships
Rick Birch
Rick Birch
Senior Oceanographer & Manager of Equipment and Field Operations
David Fissel
David Fissel
Co-Founder and Senior Oceanographer
Steve Pearce
Steve Pearce
Acoustics Scientist & AZFP Product Manager

Julek Chawarski
Julek Chawarski
Biological Oceanographer
James Bartlett
James Bartlett
Oceanographic Services Scientist and Product Sales Representative
Gary Borstad
Gary Borstad
Senior Remote Sensing Scientist
Leslie Brown
Leslie N. Brown 
Senior Remote Sensing Scientist

Jose Lim
Jose Lim
Senior Remote Sensing Analyst
Alexander Graham
Alexander Graham
Remote Sensing Analyst
Dan Walters
Dan Walters
Data Scientist
Matus Hodul
Matus Hodul
Remote Sensing Scientist

Amanda Dash
Amada Dash
Computer Vision / Deep Learning Specialist 
Brayden Peterson
Brayden Peterson
Oceanographer


Jan Buermans

Jan Buermans
President & CEO

Jan has 37 years of experience in the Business Development, Project management, Business Management and Mechanical Engineering fields. Jan joined ASL in 2002 and took on leadership role in the development of ASL’s flagship product - the Acoustic Zooplankton and Fish Profiler (AZFP).  As of July 2022, Jan assumed the role of President & CEO of ASL Environmental Sciences Inc. I have been and continue to work in support of Our Vision and Our Mission:

Our Vision

ASL Environmental Sciences is a global leader in innovative and sustainable science-based solutions for our environment.

Our Mission

To assist clients around the world to understand and solve challenges in the aquatic and terrestrial environments by providing reliable information through world-class technologies and consulting
services.

Contact Jan: [email protected]



Kaan Ersahin

Kaan Ersahin
Vice President & Director, Remote Sensing

Dr. Kaan Ersahin is a Remote Sensing Scientist and Project Manager with over 25 years of experience using remote sensing technology in operations, research, and consulting. He holds B.Sc. (1999) and M.Sc. (2001) Degrees in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering, where he studied remote sensing image processing. He led the operations at a satellite ground receiving station acquiring and processing data, serving operational users worldwide. He then completed his Ph.D. (2009) on SAR image segmentation and classification at the University of British Columbia. Since 2010, he has been in technical lead roles for R&D and operational monitoring projects involving radar, multispectral, hyperspectral, and thermal IR data from airborne and spaceborne sensors. He is currently leading the remote sensing team and has experience managing projects with a range of schedules, budgets and scope including applications in forestry, ecology, biology, geology, and defence. Kaan enjoys hiking, camping, playing tennis, and skiing with his two sons.   

Contact Kaan: [email protected]



Rene Chave

Rene Chave
Board Chair, COO and CIO

Rene has 42 years of software and firmware development experience with ASL having graduated from the University of Victoria in 1980 with a Bachelor of Science in Computing. He held the position of CEO for 5 years before deciding to relinquish the role in June 2022 to reduce his management roles and currently serving as the COO and CIO.

Rene developed most of the instrumentation software for ASL's ASFM and ULS products and continues having a hand in instrument development.


Contact Rene: [email protected]



Keath Borg

Keath Borg
Director, Consulting & Senior Physical Oceanographer

Keath started at ASL as a data analyst and has since taken on other roles including field work, Ice Profiling Sonar Product Manager and consulting project management. Projects have ranged from Arctic Sea-Ice studies to coastal wave and current studies off west-Africa. Keath completed a Master of Science in Physical oceanography at Dalhousie. Keath in particular enjoys working with the strong team at ASL and helping that team to find solutions for clients with problems in the aquatic environment.


Contact Keath: [email protected]



Matthew Asplin

Matthew Asplin
Director, Metocean and Arctic Strategic Partnerships

Dr. Matthew Asplin is a Metocean and Arctic scientist at ASL Environmental Sciences Inc. in Victoria, B.C. with professional interests in marine renewable energy, Arctic science, and metocean services. He completed a B.Sc. in Physical Geography and Spatial Information Systems at Simon Fraser University, an M.Sc. in Synoptic Climatology at the University of British Columbia, and a Ph.D in Arctic Sea Ice Geophysics at the University of Manitoba. Matthew began his career at ASL as an NSERC Industrial Postdoctoral fellow, before transitioning into his present-day position at ASL, where he handles senior management duties, such as strategic planning, marketing, strategic partnership-building, and business development. He is also the Chair of the Vancouver Island CMOS Centre, and an Adjunct Professor in the Geography department at the University of Victoria, and a Marine Renewables Canada Board Member. Matthew enjoys outdoor activities such as camping and hiking with his wife, three sons, and Bernese Mountain Dog Griffin. 

Contact Matthew: [email protected]




Rick Birch

Rick Birch
Senior Oceanographer & Manager of Equipment and Field Operations

Rick is a Senior Oceanographer at ASL with over 40 years’ experience. He has a Bachelor of Engineering degree from McGill University, and an MSc in Physical Oceanography from Dalhousie University. Rick manages both the Equipment Leasing and the Field Services Group.
ASL operates the largest pool of metocean leased equipment in Canada. The equipment is used for internal projects, and is also available for lease to third parties.
The Field Services Group supports ASL projects, and their services are also often contracted out to other companies. We deploy, and recover, moorings in oceans worldwide, as well as in rivers and lakes. We have an experienced and well-trained group of field personnel and we are extremely proud of our high equipment recovery rates.


Contact Rick: [email protected]



David Fissel

David Fissel
Co-Founder and Senior Oceanographer

David Fissel is a semi-retired physical oceanographer at ASL Environmental Sciences Inc. in Victoria BC. He completed his M.Sc. at the Institute of Oceanography of the University of BC in 1975 and his contributions to Canadian Arctic Sciences and sea-ice instrumentation development were recognized with his designation in 2022 as a Fellow of the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society. Until 2019, David held many leadership and management positions within ASL since its inception in 1977, including founding the Product Division of ASL in 1995. He has directed several hundred oceanographic studies in all oceanic areas of Canada as well as in other parts of the world. David has served on many Boards of university-based and non-profit organizations since the 1990’s, as well as on government advisory committees. He and Bernadette are actively engaged with their four grown-up children and their grandchildren.  

Contact David: [email protected]




Steve Pearce

Steve Pearce
Acoustics Scientist & AZFP Product Manager

Dr. Steve Pearce works in ASL’s Products Division where he manages AZFP-related R&D and custom acoustical instrumentation projects. Steve completed a B.S. in Physics at Washington State University, and worked in nuclear physics and radiation detection before pursuing further education in underwater acoustics. He completed his M.A.Sc. in Engineering Science at Simon Fraser University with a focus on Doppler sonar signal processing. He later completed his Ph.D. in Engineering Science at Simon Fraser University, focusing on the suppression of multipath interference via beamforming in the context of a multi-angle swath bathymetry sidescan sonar. When he isn’t R&D’ing, Steve helps with ASL’s business development and marketing activities. In his free time he enjoys exploring the outdoors, backpacking, sailing, and getting attacked by his cat Maeve.

Contact Steve: [email protected]




Julek Chawarski

Julek Chawarski
Biological Oceanographer

Dr. Julek Chawarski is a Biological Oceanographer and Fisheries Scientist at ASL Environmental Sciences and is based at the Bamfield Marine Science Centre in Bamfield, B.C. His professional interests include hydroacoustics, pelagic ecosystems, sustainable fisheries, Arctic science, and ocean technology. He completed a B.Sc. in Biological Sciences at George Washington University, an M.Sc. in Marine Biology at the University of Maine, and a Ph.D. in Fisheries Science at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Julek is ASL’s Subject-Matter-Expert in Biological Oceanography and supports our team through scientific consulting, research, strategic planning, and business development. In his free time, he enjoys exploring the hidden coasts and rainforests of British Columbia.


Contact Julek: [email protected]



James Bartlett

James Bartlett
Oceanographic Services Scientist and Product Sales Representative


Since 2011, James Bartlett has worn many hats at ASL Environmental Sciences. Initially starting as a field and equipment service technician, James soon advanced to become one of ASL’s lead field scientists. With experience in a wide variety of oceanographic sensors and equipment James is now applying this knowledge to solving our client’s most challenging measurement problems. James is now the primary sales contact for ASL’s ice profiling products and represents our third-party product partners. 

Contact James: [email protected]




Gary Borstad

Gary Borstad 
Senior Remote Sensing Scientist

Educated at the Universities of Alberta, Paris (France) and McGill, Gary has been active in remote sensing since 1975. He co-founded Borstad Associates Ltd. in 1983, providing remote sensing data acquisition and analysis internationally until it merged with ASL Environmental Sciences Inc. in 2009. He served as ASL Vice President and director for many years.

During his 46 year career, Dr. Borstad played an important national and international role in the planning, development, operation and application of hyperspectral sensors. His applications work (with optical, thermal and radar sensors) spans the marine fisheries, ecology, forestry, agriculture, geology, and military/security realms, as well as climate and change detection.

Gary also served as Adjunct professor(s), government Science Advisor, and instructor for many advanced international training courses. He led more than 350 research projects, wrote or co-authored 45 primary publications and 380 technical reports and symposium papers. He was awarded the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society Prize in Applied Oceanography in 2011 and the Canadian Remote Sensing Society lifetime achievement award in 2019.

Currently he works part-time (!) and participates where his experience is an asset. He is particularly interested in the magical machine learning/artificial intelligence work underway within the remote sensing group – and his grandchildren of course.

Contact Gary: [email protected]




Leslie Brown

Leslie N. Brown 
Senior Remote Sensing Scientist

Leslie Brown is a Remote Sensing Scientist and Biological Oceanographer with 30 years of experience in remote sensing. Her work has included the operation, characterization and calibration of airborne hyperspectral sensors, as well as the development of methodologies for processing, analysis and interpretation of airborne and spaceborne imagery for a wide variety of applications. Some of these include coastal and oceanographic mapping, vegetation monitoring, geology, defence and security. She was the technical lead for the team that developed and delivered hyperspectral training to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria, and has authored or coauthored more than 150 publications and reports. For fun she enjoys gardening, running and skiing.


Contact Leslie: [email protected]



Jose Lim

José B. Lim 
Senior Remote Sensing Analyst

José is a Senior Remote Sensing Analyst with over 30 years of experience in remote sensing. He completed a Master of Science in Geology at Washington State University (1986) specialising in Structural Geology, Paleomagnetism, and Remote Sensing. He also has a diploma Electronics Engineering Technologist from Camosun College (1997). His current expertise involves scientific analysis and interpretation of multispectral, hyperspectral, and thermal satellite and airborne image data specializing in oil and mineral exploration, detection of covert activities, change/target detection, and nuclear safeguards. He is semi-retired and has been an avid scuba diver for over 50 years. He also enjoys walking aimlessly, swimming, and an occasional good game of tennis doubles. 


Contact Jose: [email protected]



Alex Graham

Alexander Graham
Remote Sensing Analyst

Alex is an avid gamer, photographer, hiker, mountain biker, new father and deep into physical fitness/weight training. He has over 9 years of experience in remote sensing data acquisition, image processing, time-series analysis, and change detection using multispectral and hyperspectral data from unmanned and manned aerial platforms and satellites with applications in forestry, agriculture, geology, and Defence and security. He helps out anywhere and everywhere on the remote sensing team –from deep learning work to pre and post processing workflows, methods development, report writing, etc.  


Contact Leslie: [email protected]



Dan Walters

Dan Walters 
Data Scientist

Dan Walters is a Data Scientist with our remote sensing team. Dan previously served 20 years in the RCAF as a pilot before leaving to join the civil sector. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Honours Physics, a Master of Defence Studies, and Master of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics. Dan is an avid astrophysicist, with published papers in both dynamics and astronomy. Dan develops cutting edge tools for the analysis of remote sensing products. 


Contact Dan: [email protected]



Matus Hodul

Matus Hodul
Remote Sensing Scientist

Matus Hodul is a Remote Sensing Scientist at ASL Environmental Sciences in Victoria, BC. He completed his M.Sc. at the University of Ottawa studying the use of satellite imagery for measuring bathymetry and continues to work towards a Ph.D. in the detection and monitoring of North Atlantic right whales using very high-resolution satellite imagery. Matus started at ASL in early 2024, as part of the remote sensing team, where he develops and implements tools for automated change and object detection in satellite imagery. Matus enjoys skiing, sailing, and playing frisbee with his German Shepherd Malamute mix Lille.


Contact Matus: [email protected]



Amanda Dash

Amanda Dash
Computer Vision / Deep Learning Specialist

Amanda Dash is a Computer Vision/Deep Learning specialist and dedicated software engineer who joined ASL Environmental Services in the fall of 2022. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Software Engineering and a Ph.D. from the University of Victoria. Her professional interests include leveraging small data for real-world applications. At ASL, Amanda has worked on a real-time monitoring system for aquaculture, automating underwater acoustics data processing and satellite remote sensing projects. In her free time, she enjoys the symphony, gaming and catnapping with her cat, Kek.


Contact Amanda: [email protected]

ASL Environmental Sciences #1-6703 Rajpur Place V8M 1Z5 Saanichton, BC
Canada

Phone: +1 250-656-0177
Email: [email protected]
Website:www.aslenv.com