Career
Exxon Valdez Response
One of the highlights of my career with Imperial Oil was my participation in the response to the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. I provided support from home and in British Columbia in the early stages of the response then spent a month in Alaska in an aerial surveillance position in Valdez and on Kodiak Island. It was an experience to be involved with a response operation that involved 10,000 people, 1100 vessels and 83 aircraft. Also, what a sightseeing experience as I was in the air in either fixed wing aircraft or helicopters every day the weather would permit.
ISO Technical Committee
My involvement with the International Standards Association ISO TC 292 Technical Committee provided me with the opportunity to support some interesting projects, meet other capable committee members from around the world and has provided international travel opportunities. The picture was taken during our meeting in Edinburgh Scotland. I am no longer a member of the Canadian delegation to ISO TC 292 as of December 2020.
Emergency Management
When I began my career with Imperial Oil, procedures and structures for responding to oil and hazardous materials spills and for managing emergencies were relatively new and still in the development stages. I did not choose this direction for my career, but fortunately I was in the right place at the right time to be on the ground floor for much of this development work and I stayed with it throughout my career and afterwards in my consulting business. This picture was from an article in an Exxon Chemical magazine article which highlighted my contribution to emergency response.
I have been blessed and thankful to have a career, which for the most part I found very rewarding. Upon graduating from university I had four job offers and elected to choose Imperial Oil, a decision I have not regretted. I worked for Imperial's oil and chemical divisions for thirty four years and held numerous positions in a few different locations. There are more details on my work with Imperial and other aspects of my career on the drop down menus under the career heading.
After retiring from Imperial Oil I operated MacKay Emergency Management Consulting Inc. for sixteen years, and while doing that pursued a number of other interesting opportunities. My company worked with and was the Canadian representative for Community Alert Network which provided emergency telephone notification services to communities, chemical plants and nuclear plants across Canada. My company also had a partner agreement with IGLOO Software under which I developed and managed on line communities. For a change of pace from emergency management related activities I also drove bus for Coach Canada for a few years.
My question now is, what should I do next?