Meet the distinguished invited speakers at the 3rd IWA-YWP Canada Conference, featuring prominent experts and thought leaders from across the water sector. These speakers bring diverse expertise and innovative ideas, offering deep insights into emerging trends, cutting-edge technologies, and practical solutions in water management. Join us as they share their knowledge and experiences, inspiring progress toward sustainable water futures in Canada and around the world.
Dr. Norman Neumann is a professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta, with a research focus on the detection and assessment of biological hazards in the environment and their impact on human health. His work aligns with the “One-World-One Health” approach, emphasizing the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health. With over two decades of experience, Dr. Neumann has led efforts to develop innovative tools for tracking pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, protozoa, and prions in environmental systems. His research supports the development of public health strategies that integrate environmental protection with infectious disease prevention.
Dr. Mohtada Sadrzadeh is a Professor at the University of Alberta and Director of the Advanced Water Research Lab (AWRL), where he leads research on membrane materials for wastewater treatment and energy harvesting. His lab is a leading membrane research facility in Western Canada, collaborating with COSIA, IBM, NRC, NRCan, and Alberta Innovates. With over 200 peer-reviewed publications, an h-index of 59, and more than 11,000 citations, his work focuses on the development of advanced composite membranes for clean water and energy production, especially from oil sands produced water.
Dr. Youhei Nomura is an Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Japan. His research focuses on the development of an energy-positive sewage treatment system using membrane technologies, nutrient recovery, and valuable chemical production through seaweed cultivation, and the development of photocatalytic advanced oxidation processes and reactors for efficiently removing trace organic contaminants and pathogens from actual sewage and wastewater. He currently serves as the representative of Japan Young Water Professionals and is committed to fostering global dialogue among early-career water professionals and advancing practical solutions for future water-related challenges.
Dr. Oliver Iorhemen is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Engineering at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC), Prince George, BC. His research focuses on the application of biofilm processes for water and wastewater treatment, resource recovery from biological wastewater treatment systems, and the development of cost-effective water treatment technologies. Dr. Iorhemen earned his PhD at the University of Calgary. Prior to joining UNBC, he was an NSERC postdoctoral fellow at the University of Alberta. His sustained research productivity has resulted in ~ 2,392 Google Scholar citations, with an h-index of 21, and i10-index of 28. He currently serves on the Editorial Board of Energy, Ecology and Environment as a Subject Editor.
Dr. Elsayed Elbeshbishy, former CAWQ president, has his P.h.D. from the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Western Ontario, Canada. Dr. Elbeshbishy research interest and expertise include different topics all which in the area of waste-to-green energy such as anaerobic treatment of wastes, biohydrogen production, biomethane production, water treatment, potable water compact units, pretreatment of solid wastes, ultrasound application for solids reduction and biogas production, municipal and industrial wastewater treatment process engineering, advanced oxidation pretreatment, peroxide regenerated iron digester enhancement, anaerobic digestion and wastewater treatment.
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