Géraldine Underdown, Executive Director
National Search and Rescue Secretariat

On March 5, 2007, and with a wealth of management experience in the areas of program development, implementation and oversight, Géraldine Underdown was nominated as the new Executive Director of the National Search and Rescue Secretariat.

Ms. Underdown began her career as a chemical technologist after graduating from St. Lawrence College of Applied Arts and Technology in 1974. In 1982, she graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Bachelor of Science (Chemistry).

She worked as a chemical technologist in the plastics industry, pulp and paper industry, and at Carleton University before joining Cameco (formerly Eldorado Nuclear Limited) in 1979. Her accomplishments included planning, obtaining regulatory approvals, and participating in the successful completion of environmental management projects. This also included the decommissioning and close out of the company's 1950's vintage uranium research and development laboratory and of the company's Beaverlodge uranium mine/mill facility located in Northern Saskatchewan.

In 1989, Ms. Underdown joined Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) as an expert in radioactive waste management She was appointed Director of a ministerial sighting task force responsible for identifying communities in Ontario that were interested in hosting a radioactive waste disposal facility for the Port Hope area low-level radioactive waste. In 1990, she became Scientific Advisor - Radioactive Waste, in the Energy Sector at NRCan. Among her accomplishments were coordinating the development of the Government of Canada response (now Canada's Nuclear Fuel Waste Policy) to the recommendations of the Nuclear Fuel Waste Management and Disposal Concept Environment Assessment Panel. Furthermore, she designed and managed consultation programs with key stakeholders including the nuclear industry, the public and aboriginal groups,and guided the design and implementation of radioactive waste cleanups by the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Office.

In August 2000, Ms. Underdown accepted a secondment assignment at National Defence as Manager, Nuclear Safety Program Oversight and Compliance, working within the Director Nuclear Safety Compliance Group - Director General Nuclear Safety (DGNS). Her responsibilities included developing, implementing, and overseeing the steady state management of comprehensive x-ray and radium programs as part of the overall Nuclear Safety Program.

Then in January 2001, Ms. Underdown was appointed to the position of Director General Nuclear Safety for National Defence and the Canadian Forces. She established an organization that is a parallel to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, to oversee the regulation of all military activities involving nuclear materials in Canada and in theatres of operation around the world.

Today, Ms. Underdown's personal and professional interests in safety and prevention continue to guide her as she drives numerous and multifaceted ventures to keep Canadians safe.