Scott is a Co-founder of Cities4Forests and the Wood at Work community, as well as the Founder and Director of Pilot Projects. He has pioneered multi-disciplinary communities of practice like The Future of Forest Work, Wood at Work, and Thriving Forests and Regenerative Built Environments.
With a background in architecture, urbanism, construction, and consulting, Scott emphasizes stakeholder engagement in design amidst today's focus on efficiency. He speaks on systems thinking, forests and wood, workplace design, culture, and sustainability. Scott has taught at McGill School of Architecture, Michael Graves College, Parsons The New School for Design, Stanford in New York, and University of Kentucky School of Architecture. He holds degrees from the University of Toronto Faculty of Architecture and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Scott grew up in the Toronto area in a family environment of hands-on making and problem solving. Summers at a lakeside cottage meant constant repairs and work with wood, which was often provided by nearby trees. His curiosity and sense of adventure have led to projects, travel and hair-raising stories in many parts of the world.

Sarah is a forest geographer with a background in ecology (MSc, BSc), human geography and tropical forests (PhD). Her research and practice connect culture and ecology in landscapes urban and rural, including conservation and restoration strategies, education, and community engagement. She has worked with community-based forest restoration and conservation enterprises in montane cloud forests in Andean Ecuador and the Nepalese Himalaya, and in lowland jungle in Guatemala’s Peten. Recent postdoc work with the University of Michigan and with the PARTNERS reforestation network focused on understanding the social and ecological drivers and outcomes of community forestry and restoration - and on crafting action-oriented research for the field. A recipient of the prestigious L’Oreal Women in Science Mentorship Award, she is dedicated to teaching and developing communities of practice around pressing social and environmental challenges.
Hailing from flat and windy rural Manitoba, her work feeds a childhood fascination with tropical forests and mountains.

A natural-born strategist, Mack leads many aspects of Pilot Projects’ work from strategy to operations. His main focus is the development and implementation of programs including the Partner Forest Program and Forest Footprint for Cities to communicate the impacts of urban consumption – including construction – on the natural environment. He earned a Master's in Architecture from McGill University in Montreal and a Bachelor of Architectural Studies from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, where his SSHRC-supported research focused on creating new economics towards sustainable development in urban and suburban environments.
Prior to joining Pilot Projects Mack worked in architecture firms in Canada and the Netherlands with projects ranging from state-of-the-art mass timber schools to 16th century canal houses. Working in Amsterdam, and Stockholm provided the opportunity to pick up Dutch and Swedish, however these have mostly been overtaken by French since moving to Montreal in 2017. He spent his formative years in the forests along the Niagara Escarpment in Ontario, Canada. Whether travelling or not, Mack is always trying to get a finger on the pulse of the local music scene.

Michael is a dynamic member of the Pilot Project team, and plays a central role in managing a number of key projects under the Partner Forest Program and Sustainable Wood for Cities Initiative. His work focuses on developing, planning, and executing strategic projects aimed at enhancing the connection between urban areas and sustainable landscapes. He earned a Master's in Planning and Sustainable Development from University College Cork in Ireland and a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Planning Specialization from Concordia University in Montreal.
Before joining Pilot Pilots, Michael worked on a number of urban planning place-making projects in both Ireland and Canada.
Outside of the office, Michael enjoys spending time in nature, woodworking, homebrewing, and growing his own food. Ask him about growing gourmet mushrooms—a passion he is keen to share.

Valeria supports many of the development projects at Pilot Projects including the Future of Forest Work and Communities and the Partner Forest Program.
She graduated from The London School of Economics and Political Science with a Master's Degree in Development and Anthropology and has worked in the private and public sector, focusing on design, management, and evaluation. She has extensive experience in building strategic partnerships for project development. She is currently pursuing a PhD in International Studies at the University of Trento, Italy. Her area of interest is the relationship between community-based natural resource management and poverty and inequality alleviation.
Valeria grew up in Quito, Ecuador. Her parents instilled a love of adventure in her from a young age, encouraging her to see the world as much as possible. She is fluent in Spanish, English, German and is currently learning Italian. Raised in the Andes, she is obsessed with mountains. In her free time, she enjoys mountain biking and hiking with her two rescue dogs and has recently started paragliding.

Milla supports the research and networking areas for Pilot Project’s commitment to co-create sustainable solutions to challenges in global systems and environment.
She graduated from Concordia University, Montreal, in Political Science with a Minor in Women’s Studies. Milla has worked in NGOs and the public sector, focusing on community outreach, drafting immigration case histories, research, and preparing policy briefs. Focusing on political theory and government relations, she is interested in the socioeconomic impact that governments shed on everyday life and the cultural aspects that lead to different government formations and functioning.
Born in Montreal and raised in Brazil, Milla is interested in the inner workings of the Brazilian government and the country’s social movements. Having concluded her studies in Montreal, she is exploring the cultural and governmental differences between the two places and is invested in developing her understanding of organizations in Canada. In her spare time, Milla is a textile enthusiast, experimenting with many mediums and always looking to learn new things about knitting, crochet and tufting.

Ajwad Kabir is a Research Assistant at Pilot Projects, primarily focusing on supporting the Mass Timber Tipping Point project by collaborating on a series of reports that explore the systemic challenges related to scaling mass timber use in North America. He is also responsible for assisting in the creation, design and layout of the Pilot Project’s website. Ajwad graduated from McGill University with a Bachelor of Science (BSc.) in Architecture and aims to merge it with his other interests including photography, writing, fine art, and research around industry practices in architecture.
Having grown up in Dhaka and Toronto, he has a broad sense of home and would like to make Montreal his new hometown. He is fluent in English, Bengali and is working towards being fluent in French. His resource-sensitive and sustainable construction motivations drew him to connect with Pilot Projects, where he makes a direct impact supporting the ongoing and future work of climate-sensitive infrastructure development in our urban context.
Ajwad loves to spend time with electronic music and will often go to the newest shows in the city whenever he can. In the future, he would like to work on building his own apartment in his hometown, wherever that may be!