Picture yourself as you’ve just finished your undergraduate degree. We’ve all been there before. Fresh out of university, ready to take on every challenge that comes our way, thinking our excitement and willpower are the only things needed for us to jumpstart our careers. These were my thoughts when I decided to enroll in a Master’sContinue reading “Tides of Growth: Insights from my first year as a Young Water Professional”
Author Archives: emobini
From Permit Conditions to Community Impacts: Practical Lessons from Water Governance in Northern Canada
Water governance in Canada often looks tidy on paper. Legislation is clear, permit conditions are detailed, and monitoring frameworks are well defined. In practice, however, effective water management depends less on perfect documents and more on how regulators, proponents, and communities interpret and apply those requirements on the ground. My work as an Environmental RegulatoryContinue reading “From Permit Conditions to Community Impacts: Practical Lessons from Water Governance in Northern Canada”
Between Ferries and Field Gear: The Reality of Urban Water Work
When you picture field work, you might imagine vast landscapes, rolling hills, and pristine, glistening water bodies in remote areas. What you probably don’t imagine is traffic noise, tourists, and the steady hum of city life. Yet that is exactly what urban water field work is, especially in the Toronto Harbour. Working in the TorontoContinue reading “Between Ferries and Field Gear: The Reality of Urban Water Work”
Holding Water, Building Resilience: The Case for Smart Blue Roof Systems in Urban Canada
Growing up in Lebanon during my teens, I experienced firsthand how water can shape daily life. Tap water was not safe to drink, so bottled water became a necessity. Additionally, during heavy rains, flooding often closed roads, damaged cars, and left neighborhoods isolated for extended hours, or even days. These experiences profoundly shaped my academicContinue reading “Holding Water, Building Resilience: The Case for Smart Blue Roof Systems in Urban Canada”
The Hidden Side of Plastic Pollution: Tracking Chemical Additives in Ontario Waters
Keywords: Plastic Additives, Passive Sampling, Persistent, Mobile, and Toxic, Water Pollution My interest in environmental chemistry began during my undergraduate thesis, where I studied how different types of microplastics weather in the environment. Watching these plastics slowly break down and transform in different environments sparked a lasting curiosity about what they release and how thoseContinue reading “The Hidden Side of Plastic Pollution: Tracking Chemical Additives in Ontario Waters”
When Climate and Seasons Shift: How Microbes Keep Constructed Wetlands Alive
Have you ever wondered what happens to the tiny, unseen microbes that work tirelessly to clean our wastewater when the seasons change, or when the climate itself starts to shift? As climate change continues to reshape the world around us, its impacts extend far beyond melting ice caps and rising sea levels. The changing climateContinue reading “When Climate and Seasons Shift: How Microbes Keep Constructed Wetlands Alive”
Rethinking Chemical Risk Assessment: Incorporating Dynamics into the Dose-Dependant Paradigm
As water professionals, we share a common goal: to preserve water quality. We work hard to understand hazards and assess risks using pollution guidelines, in order to prevent harm to humans and the environment. This raises an important question: how are these guidelines derived, and are they truly protective? As Young Water Professionals, we learnContinue reading “Rethinking Chemical Risk Assessment: Incorporating Dynamics into the Dose-Dependant Paradigm”
My Water Journey: From Academia to Consulting
As a young water professional (YWP), curiosity has been my compass. It has driven me to ask questions, explore new paths, and ultimately transition from research into consulting. Throughout this journey, I have learned that building my career is less about having all the answers and more about staying excited to keep learning and exploring.Continue reading “My Water Journey: From Academia to Consulting”
Cold Plasma for a Sustainable Future: Advancing Water Treatment and Nitrogen Fixation
Let’s imagine rupturing the electrons or ions from a gas or vapor. It certainly sounds like an energy intensive process, perhaps requiring a highly specialized and sophisticated experimental setup. I thought the same before joining the Soft Matter & Interface Research Group at the University of Alberta. In reality, this can be achieved just byContinue reading “Cold Plasma for a Sustainable Future: Advancing Water Treatment and Nitrogen Fixation”
What is Water?
So I was asked to write a blog post about water. As an environmental engineer specializing in research of an aquatic contaminant, I thought it would be easy enough for me, right? Wrong. Water means many things. As an environmental engineer, water often refers to something with undesirable qualities, like sewage, that needs to beContinue reading “What is Water?”
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