Our Team

Dr. Euan Thomson

CEO

With his background in microbiology and biotechnology, Dr. Euan Thomson drove new ideas in quality, malting and distilling at Phillips Brewing & Malting Co. from 2014 to 2019. He has delivered presentations at international brewing conferences and authored publications in the top brewing journals. Euan returned to his hometown of Calgary in late 2019 to launch Raft. He is a one-dimensional dinosaur-loving dork. Expect little else.

Christine Dawson

Operations Manager

Christine Dawson joined the team in September 2020, bringing molecular biology wizardry and a knack for building dry ice rockets that probably never hurt anyone. Look for her to bring DNA testing online along with a new level of insight into your trends and tribulations. Christine cut her teeth in the Phillips lab from 2017 until she (wipes tear) left the Island in 2020.

Martha Nerier

Senior lab technician

Martha’s a Biology major with a natural gift for graphs and working with data. An aspiring drummer, Martha can be seen head-banging in the car at stoplights. She completed her degree at UCalgary in Spring 2023 and has been with the Raft team ever since.

Angela Tan

Senior Lab Technician

Angela joined Raft in August 2023 after graduating with distinction from the University of Calgary Environmental Science program. She brings with her a load of chemistry-concentrated lab experience. Besides geeking out on science and video games, she’s also passionate about sustainable city planning. Fun fact: She and Ayat became friends in their first-year undergraduate chemistry lab, and then graduated together in April 2023!

Holly Gale

Junior Laboratory Technician

Holly joined Raft as a co-op student in May 2025 and got her feet wet quickly with a busy summer handling situations coming at us from across the country. When Holly’s not skiing or hiking, she loves watching movies. Holly joins us as a co-op student from UVic’s famed Microbiology program.

Peter Rynsburger

Senior Lab Technician

Peter Rynsburger joined Raft in July 2020 after realizing his passion for microbiology lay in the places he could apply it – most obviously brewing science! A pedalhead since birth, he grew up building jumps on the muddy banks of the Bow River and gets to the hills whenever he’s not slinging 96 well plates inside a biosafety cabinet. In September 2023, after three incredible years with Raft, Peter began a teaching degree at UVic.

Ayat Kharroubi

Senior lab technician

Ayat completed a Chemistry degree at the University of Calgary and has a knack for analytical problems. In 2022, she was asked to choreograph and perform over 45 minutes of dance at a wedding, so the lab work was pretty easy to her. She started her degree in teaching at the University of Alberta in the fall of 2024, after contributing so much to the Raft team over three years.

Sangita Mitra

Sangita Mitra is a PhD candidate in Computer Science at the University of Alberta. She joined us in May 2021 to augment our database so that we can provide industry-leading data visualization, trending and benchmarking for clients.

Adit Rada

Adit Rada is a third-year Computer Science student at the University of Alberta. He joined Raft from December, 2020 to May, 2021 to design and build our high-powered database to compile and analyze client data.

Danielle English

Danielle is a harm reduction and mental health advocate that came to Raft with a focus on community engagement and creative collaboration. She has worked in hospitality for over a decade and is excited about expanding those skills in the brewing industry. She spends most of her time in the woods with her rescue pup or in her local d.i.y. music scene. She believes in supporting small business and fostering relationships in the business world that become the catalyst for change in the real world.