Established in 1975

Dedicated to advancing public health and quality of life in Ontario

Board of Directors

Dr. Barry Tyler - Pestalto Environmental Health Services Inc

President of the OVCA

Dr. Tyler received his Ph.D. in 1978 from the University of Guelph where his interests included applied entomology and ecology. Since that time he has worked for national and multi-national companies and is currently President of Pestalto Environmental Health Services Inc. Pestalto is a leading Canadian company promoting and implementing integrated mosquito and black fly management. Barry has been involved with biting fly control across Canada and abroad since 1983. Pestalto’s activities include design and implementation of municipal and regional mosquito and black fly abatement programs. Barry is the current President of the O.V.C.A.

Paul Zimmer - Zimmer Air Services Inc.

Paul Zimmer is the President and CEO of Zimmer Air Services Inc. an aviation service provider operating from 3 bases in Ontario. He has been actively engaged in the day to day operations of the company in a variety of capacities since its inception in 1975. Zimmer Air Services has a mandate to provide state of the art technologies in combination with aviation services supporting multiple sectors including Public Health and in so doing has been carrying out biting fly control programs initially using airplanes, and now helicopters dating back to the mid-seventies when there was a St. Louis encephalitis outbreak in South Western Ontario. Paul brings to the O.V.C.A. a high degree of operational experience and knowledge gained through 30+ years of planning and executing safe, effective and environmentally sound biting fly programs within the ever changing provincial and federal regulatory frameworks.

Michael Baskerville - Town of Georgina

Michael has managed the Town of Georgina's nuisance mosquito control program since its inception in 1979 until 2014. He became a member of the original Ontario Mosquito Control Association in 1979, elected to the Executive in 1980 and remained with the Association, now the Ontario Vector Control Association, as a member of the Executive since that time. His background is engineering and he is the Manager of the Development Engineering Division of the Department of Development Services at the Town of Georgina with 40 years of experience.

Bill Huff - Registration Coordinator

Bill graduated from the forestry program at the University of Toronto and has worked in the private and public sectors in natural resources management capacities. He has 20 years experience with nuisance mosquito control programs.

Stephen Nicholson - Valent BioSciences Corporation

Stephen Nicholson has been involved in insect control activities for over 40 years, starting as a student. Although his speciality is forest insect control, he has spent a great deal of time supporting public health programs over the last 15 years, predominantly in the control of mosquitoes and black flies. Stephen has a wide range of experience, having worked for provincial and federal agencies, and has held various roles in private industry. He had his own consulting firm for many years, and was a co-owner of a large speciality aviation firm that undertook aerial pest control programs in several continents for the better part of a decade. Stephen has worked in Asia, Africa, South America, Mexico, throughout the USA and across Canada. The most recent chapter of his life includes working as a senior global manager for a progressive firm, Valent BioSciences Corporation, that specializes in microbial pest control products.

(1) - Director Position Vacant