Phil has been involved in various aspects of emergency response and emergency management activities for the past 23 years. Starting out as a member of the Canadian Forces and then transitioning into the world of structure-fire fighting to ultimately find a passion for aviation through the specialized helicopter fire response/rescue crews he served on for a number of years. This lead to him focus on aviation in the sector of public safety, leading to a certification as an internationally deployable Air Attack Officer capable of leading all air operations over emergency incidents in jurisdictions around the world. He is currently in the role of the Emergency Management Technology Advisor for the Alberta Wildfire Management Branch within the Alberta Government and one of his current responsibilities is the development of the RPAS program for Alberta Wildfire. Phil is excited about the opportunities to incorporate RPAS into wildfire operations and other related emergency management activities. He is currently working with 6+ post-secondary institutions, and over a dozen independent vendors to explore opportunities to advance RPAS integration in regular operations, and is actively trialing various RPAS platforms on real incidents in Alberta.