The Inner Circle
As a group of close friends and family we have spent years navigating the areas of the grey, medical, and recreational cannabis markets. Determined to create a business and culture we could be proud of; we founded Crop Circle Cannabis in early 2022. We started from scratch, building our facility from the ground up in the rural region of Alberta. Our mission is to make high-quality, solventless extracts accessible, and affordable for the people of Alberta. With each member bringing decades of expertise to the table, we are committed to representing a culture that values quality, transparency, and sustainability. We are excited to share our passion with Alberta, and to be a part of the growing local cannabis community.
Director of Operations
Responsible Person
President
Board Member
Aaron Buchholtz
Veteran cannabis industry professional with 17 years of hands-on experience. Previously, Aaron spent 7+ years at Tilray; Specializing in Product Development, Extraction/Refinement, R&D, and Special Projects. Proficient in Quality Assurance, Manufacturing, Project Management, and GPP/GMP compliance. He is passionate about building relationships, and creating effective teams. Being in the lab producing concentrates is where he feels at home.
Facilities Manager
Head of Security
Alternate Responsible Person
Board Member
Blair Buchholtz
Project Manager with a strong background in management consulting, Blair excels in delivering successful projects. His expertise spans customer service, facilities maintenance, and construction. A graduate of NAIT, he brings a proactive and strategic approach to every endeavor, ensuring seamless execution and exceptional results.
Director of Sales
Board Member
Dustin Hollman
Dustin Hollman is a proven sales and business development director in the cannabis space. He started his career with Tilray, quickly moving through the organization to Global Operations and Sales Director. While at Tilray he produced over 12 million in sales revenue in the first year. During this time Dustin was an early stakeholder with Natural Health Services, Canada's largest medical cannabis clinic group. Dustin was pivotal in the success of the organization in its infancy, and with the ultimate sale of the company. With this knowledge and skill, he was then able to create one of Australia’s first and largest cannabinoid clinic for Tilray.
With a diverse background spanning laboratory technology to real estate management, he is a strategic visionary with an entrepreneurial spirit.
Director of Quality
Quality Assurance Person
Secretary
Board Member
Brent Loshney
Brent has 20+ years of experience in the analytical chemistry of small-molecule pharmaceutical products, Cannabis, Psychedelics and Nutraceuticals. An entrepreneur at heart, he loves a good challenge. He is a seasoned expert in experimental data that supports R&D efforts in analytical method development, isolations, characterizations, product development and generation of intellectual property. Brent is a member of the professional chemists of British Columbia and holds a degree in chemistry from the University of British Columbia Okanagan.
Operations Manager
Phil Varley
Super good dude. Gets stuff done.
Human Relations
Beans (Baby Girl)
Beans takes her role seriously, making sure that every employee feels like the top dog in the office. From organizing employee training sessions to ensuring everyone has their daily dose of belly rubs, she knows that a happy pack makes for a thriving business.
Treasurer
Vice President
Board Member
Dr. X, PHD
Highly accomplished Chief Scientific Officer with 20+ years of experience in leading innovation, and scientific division management. Expertise in business strategy, collaborative leadership, and team development. Co-founder of successful companies. A visionary leader in global R&D and product development, known for driving results and strategic project management. Adept at entrepreneurship and commercialization of university research. Specialized in identification and purification of pathogen factors, analytical chemistry, and molecular biology.
Vice President
Board Member
Dr. Joshua Hartsel, PHD
Dr. Hartsel earned his Ph.D. from Virginia Tech with a post-doctoral education at The University of California, Irvine with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Over his career, he has co-authored 10 peer-reviewed journals, 3 book chapters on cannabinoids, and been awarded 6x 1st place High-Times Cannabis Cup awards for best concentrates.
Dr. Hartsel is a leading expert in drug chemistry cofounding multiple successful startups in the cannabis, and psychedelic industries. He successfully exited his latest startup Adelia Therapeutics in an acquisition by Cybin, Inc (2021), which was the first psychedelic company listed on the Nasdaq. His role as Director of R&D laid the early stage groundwork for the scientific development at Privateer Holdings (parent company of Tilray in Canada: TLRY) reaching a $14 billion-dollar market capitalization in 2018 and CV Sciences (CVSI), which was the first cannabis company listed on the stock exchange. He served as Chief Science Officer at Ecofibre (EOFBF) which reached a $1 billion-dollar valuation as the leading Kentucky hemp processor.
Board Member
Dr. Y, MD
Physician Consultant with over 15 years of expertise in the medical field. Notably, Dr.Y has prescribed over 50,000 cannabis prescriptions to date. Specialized in Anti-Aging, Regenerative, and Functional Medicine. Passionate about helping clients and patients achieve health goals of lasting effect, putting the powers of healing into their own hands through education not provided by conventional medicine.
Advisor
Astra
Marketing Executive with a strong passion for consumer marketing and a proven track record in driving business growth and innovation. Throughout Astra's career, she has honed her skills in strategic decision-making, fostering partnerships, and spearheading comprehensive marketing strategies that elevate brand visibility and market presence. She takes pride in sharing her knowledge and mentoring the next generation of marketers. With over 16 years of valuable experience, she has made significant contributions to the success of previous organizations.
Advisor
Tom McGaugh
Tom McGaugh provides nearly two decades of financial accounting excellence and experience supporting start-ups, small businesses, and publicly traded companies across the globe. Tom began his career with Big Four accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, specializing in complex auditing for both public and private companies. Tom was also the Vice President of Finance for Tilray, Inc., a U.S. publicly traded company on the NASDAQ with global operations in over seven countries. Tom also founded Greenpoint Associates with the mission to provide high level equity administration, IPO readiness services and financial accounting support to both private and public companies.
Advisor
Andrew Parikh
As a seasoned leader in the field of Business Intelligence, Andrew excels in implementing robust data governance and master data management strategies. Expertise in data privacy, corporate financial reporting, and return on investment complements Andrew's skills in data analytics and IT strategy. With a strong background in ERP, HRM, and CRM systems, he identifies optimal solutions to complex business problems.
Advisor
Brett Greene
Brett J Greene is a recognized figure in psychedelic and cannabinoid related biotechnology, and a proven founder. He began his career at Northeastern University's Center for Drug Discovery where, as research administrator, he co-managed over $80m in federal grants for endocannabinoid and serotonin related drug discovery efforts under one of the world's foremost cannabinoid scientists. In his 12.5 years there, Brett co-founded psychedelic conference and media company Psymposia, cannabis company Evokanna, and most recently, Adelia Therapeutics, Inc. Adelia Therapeutics, Inc was acquired by public psychedelic pharmaceutical company Cybin (NYSE:CYBN), and Brett subsequently served as their Chief Innovation Officer for 3 years. Evokanna was acquired in 2022 by a private company. He continues to advise biotech companies through his consulting firm Au Mind, LLC.
Consultant
Jace Anderson
ERP Implementation Consultant with a strong track record in optimizing business processes. Currently contributing expertise at The Answer Company in British Columbia, Canada. Former Director of IT Business Applications at Tilray, overseeing multiple ERP systems, data integrations, and regulatory compliance. Skilled in project management, team leadership, and problem-solving. Passionate about driving operational efficiency and delivering exceptional results.
Executive Assistant to President
Carmen Amos
Experienced professional with 19+ years in executive assistance, office administration, and event planning. Skilled in project management, human services, and document control. Passionate about creating seamless experiences and supporting executives to achieve their goals.