In our first waterside chat of 2022, we sit down with Miguel Castillo, a Site Superintendent at QM Environmental to discuss his passion for Bioengineering and some large-scale ecological projects that he has spearheaded and been involved in.
During this session, Miguel talked about the importance of getting local communities involved in restoration projects. In Venezuela, a high oil-producing country, bioengineering had the socioeconomic impact of incorporating locally sourced materials like hay and teaching the residents to install these drainage and soil protection structures.
Miguel also shared some progress on the Portlands brownfield redevelopment project in Toronto, Canada. In this project, four wetlands are being established using encapsulated soil made of coconut fiber and crib walls made with reused logs.
His advice for our YWPs was ‘Don’t be afraid to start from the bottom’, ‘Follow your passion’ and ‘Keep learning’.
IWA YWP Canada 