The management and founders of Profero have over 70 years of technology development expertise. This expertise includes extensive knowledge of reservoir simulation and recovery, heavy oil geology, geochemistry and geomicrobiology.

Profero’s science and technology development team is the team that developed and published the current paradigms of subsurface microbial oil conversion. This team uses geochemistry, molecular biology, reservoir engineering and genomics to identify, study and ultimately accelerate the natural process of methanogenic biodegradation.

David Rafter: President & CEO
Prior to becoming President & CEO of Profero Energy, David was an Executive-in-Residence with University Technologies International (UTI). In this position, David worked with UTI’s company creation and incubation service – IGNITE – providing business expertise to potential start-up companies. David has also held senior positions with several research-based organizations and has raised over $60 million in capital for technology start-ups. He has also closed numerous licensing and technology acquisition agreements with multinational organizations.

Steve Larter: Chief Scientific Officer
Steve is one of the key founders and researchers for Profero’s technologies, and the current Canada Research Chair in Petroleum Geology at the University of Calgary. Over the last four years, he has been involved with the Alberta Ingenuity Centre for In Situ Energy (AICISE) and was instrumental in securing support for the Centre from Alberta Ingenuity, Alberta Energy Research Institute and industry partners. Steve holds a BA and MA in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge and an MSc and PhD in Coal and Petroleum Geochemistry from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Ian Gates: Chief Engineer
Ian is one of the founders and researchers for Profero’s technologies and is currently an Associate Professor in the department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Calgary. Ian worked for several years in industry prior to joining the University of Calgary. He is a registered professional engineer in the Province of Alberta and has been a consultant for several small and large energy companies.

Ian Head: Chief Microbiologist
Ian Head is a Professor of Environmental Microbiology at Newcastle University and has been at the forefront of developing molecular biological techniques for understanding the dynamics and functions of microorganisms in the environment. As an invited author, he has written numerous highly-cited review articles, including papers featured in Nature Reviews Microbiology. Ian has a BSc from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow and a PhD from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.