PhD Candidates
Soosan Bahramian
Thesis Topic: Forest management/harvesting impacts on drinking water treatability
Soosan received her BASc degree in 2011 and after two years of working on water resources management projects she started her Master’s degree at the University of Waterloo. In 2016 she received her MASc in in Civil Engineering. In January 2017, Soosan joined the WaterSTP group under the joint supervision of Drs. Monica Emelko, Fariba Amiri and Michael Stone (Department of Geography and Environmental Management).
Soosan’s current research focuses on investigating the effects of forest harvesting on water quality.
In her free time, Soosan enjoys biking, rock climbing, and also playing percussion instruments.
Emma Blackburn
Emma received her MASc with the WaterSTP group in the department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of Waterloo in May 2022 before starting her PhD. Her research is focused on green biofiltration technologies for treatment resilience and climate change adaptation. She received her B.Sc. in Earth and Environmental Sciences (Co-op) from McMaster University in 2019 and has previously worked as an environmental assistant for the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and in environmental consulting.
In her free time, Emma enjoys playing the harp and spending time outdoors sailing, skiing, and biking.
Omar Sadab Chowdhury
Omar completed his Master’s in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Waterloo, studying microplastics. He has also achieved a Bachelor’s of Science in Civil Environmental Engineering from the Islamic University of Technology, Bangladesh where his research included bacteria removal efficiencies of commonly used household water treatment technologies. He joined University of Waterloo in Winter 2019 in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering under the joint supervision of Drs. Monica Emelko and William B. Anderson.
Outside of school, Omar loves singing and playing the acoustic guitar, as well as table tennis and basketball.
Dafne de Brito Cruz
Dafne graduated in Civil Engineering in 2017 at Aeronautics Institute of Technology, Brazil. She had the opportunity to work academically there, teaching in the undergraduate Sanitation course. She received her master’s degree in 2019 and joined the Water STP group in Spring 2021 under the supervision of Dr. Monica Emelko and Philip Schmidt.
She likes to travel and spend time outdoors. In her free time, she enjoys watching TV series, working out, and hiking.
Kalani De Silva
Kalani is from Sri Lanka and graduated with a degree in Environmental Engineering in 2018 at Northern Arizona University, USA. She was able to participate in bioremediation research projects as a research assistant during her bachelors. Kalani’s interest in research and academia led her to pursue a master’s degree. Her master’s research was focused on developing a basic mass transfer model for a biological gas-liquid scrubbing system that uses algae in a liquid medium to purify the CO2 present in the biogas. She completed her master’s degree in 2021 in Environmental engineering. Kalani joined the Water STP group in Fall 2021 under the supervision of Dr. Monica Emelko and Bill Anderson.
In her spare time, Kalani likes to run, hike, read, watch movies and clean. She also love to pet dogs if any come her way.
Nik Knezic
Nik joined the WaterSTP group in January 2019 under the supervision of Drs. Monica Emelko, Mike Stone, and Kirsten Müller after spending the past two years working in the water chemistry field with General Electric’s Water division. He had previously completed a Bachelor of Applied Science (BASc) in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Waterloo in 2017 and received his MASC with the WaterSTP Group in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering in 2021.
His spare time is spent in arenas coaching a youth hockey team, running, hiking, petting dogs, and working out.
Tim Shardlow
Tim graduated from the University of Waterloo with a BSc in Biology with a Microbiology specialization in 2019. He would then go on to complete his MSc in the Department of Biology supervised by Dr. Kirsten Müller with the co-supervision of Dr. Monica Emelko in 2021. His studies involved cyanobacteria community composition within forested watersheds impacted by climate change-exacerbated disturbances.
In his spare time, Tim enjoys listening to music, watching sports and creating homemade beer with his friends.
Kelvin Vianini
Kelvin received his Bachelors in Environmental Engineering in 2017 at the University Centre of Belo Horizonte. Throughout his undergraduate degree, Kelvin was part of different research projects in the environmental planning and water resources area, which led him to publish a few papers in local journals and at conferences. His undergraduate thesis covered the characterization of the main pollutants loads in one of the most important streams in his home town.
Kelvin joined the University of Waterloo and the Water STP group in Fall 2019, under the joint supervision of Drs. Monica Emelko and William B. Anderson in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. In his spare time Kelvin enjoys singing and playing piano, he is also into outdoor activities..
Master’s Candidates
Elyse Batista
Elyse graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Bachelor of Science in Biology in 2018 and was thrilled to join the WaterSTP group soon afterwards. She is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Civil Engineering under the co-supervision of Drs. Monica Emelko, Bill Anderson and Norma Ruecker looking at pathogen removal from drinking water.
In her spare time, Elyse can be found competing with her horse Dolce across southern Ontario or volunteering at horseshows put on by university and college students involved with the Ontario Collegiate Equestrian Association.
Liam Calder
Allie Kennington
Allie received her Bachelor’s of Applied Science in Geological Engineering from the University of Waterloo in 2019. She joined the WaterSTP group in September 2019, where her research will focus on the impacts of forest fires on groundwater-based drinking water sources.
Allie is an active volunteer in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the departmental graduate student society, and within her community. In her spare time, she loves cooking, hiking, cycling, foraging and studying mycology.
Carter Klanderud
Taylor Virgin
Taylor first joined the WaterSTP group in Spring 2021 as a co-op student before graduating from the University of Waterloo with a Bachelor of Science in Biology (Microbiology Specialization) degree. She started her Master’s degree in Civil Engineering in September 2022 under the co-supervision of Drs. Monica Emelko and Kirsten Müller. Her research focuses on cyanobacterial blooms in wildfire-impacted drinking water reservoirs.
In her spare time, Taylor enjoys being outdoors, reading, and baking.
Undergraduate Researchers
Tyler Owl-Scott
Environmental Engineering
Past Students
Arnold, Adam – MASc (2008)
Evaluation and Quantification of Engineered Flocs and Drinking Water Treatability
Bahramian, Soosan – MASc (2019)
Contemporary Forest Harvesting Impacts on Drinking Water Quality and Treatability
Blackburn, Emma – MASc (2022)
Biofiltration-based “green technology” as a techno-ecological nature-based solution for drinking water treatment and climate change resilience
Brown, Trevor – MASc (2019)
Chitosan Impacts on Cryptosporidium Removal by Filtration and Risk Assessment of Pathogen Passage during Drinking Water Treatment
Chandrakumaran, Thadshayini – MASc (2018)
Spatial and Temporal Trends in Water Quality in a Mixed-Use Landscape: Agriculture vs. Urban Areas
Charlebois, Gemma – MASc (2016)
American Water Works Association Academic Achievement Award Recipient for Outstanding Thesis
Microcystin and Microcystis Destruction by Ozone in Drinking Water Treatment: Constraints and Effects
Chik, Alex – PhD (2020), MES (2013)
American Water Works Association Academic Achievement Award Recipient for Outstanding Thesis
Advancing Microbial Risk Assessments of Subsurface Water Sources
Assessing the Role of Phosphorus as a Source Water and Treatment Vulnerability Indicator: Implications for Planning, Management and Operations
Chowdhury, Omar – MASc (2021)
Association of Environmental Engineering Professors (AEESP) Master’s Thesis Award
Evaluation of Potential Health Risks from Microplastics in Drinking Water
Côté, Martin – MASc (2004)
A Field and Bench Scale Evaluation of Riverbank Filtration Efficacy for Removal of Cryptosporidium-sized Microspheres
Crumb, Jill – MASc (2016)
Phosphorus Sequestration for Control of Cyanobacterial Growth in Drinking Water Reservoirs
Elbadri, Nadwa – MASc (2021)
Developing a Risk Assessment Framework for Evaluating and Mitigating Occupational Exposure of Migrant Farmworkers to Enteric Pathogens in Canada’s Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program
Gomes, Alice – MSc (2024)
Removal of microplastics during drinking water treatment: Linking theory to practice to advance risk management.
Gray, Annie – MSc (2023)
Dissolved organic carbon concentration and character in northern hardwood-dominated headwater catchments: A paired-catchment investigation of legacy harvesting impacts
Gray, Leslie – MASc (2013)
Evaluating the Effects of Strain Selection on the Attenuation of Bacillus subtilis Spores through Saturated Porous Media
Jin, Chao – PhD (2014)
Describing and Evaluating Media Roughness Contributions to Granular Media Filtration
Knappett, Peter – MASc (2006)
Evaluating the Effects of Grain Size and Divalent Cation Concentration on the Attenuation of Viruses and Microspheres through Crushed Silica Sand
Knezic, Nik – MASc (2021)
American Water Works Association Academic Achievement Award Recipient for Outstanding Thesis
Coagulant addition for managing sediment-associated phosphorus bioavailability to prevent cyanobacterial blooms in drinking water reservoirs
Kundert, Kelsey – MASc (2021)
American Water Works Association Academic Achievement Award Recipient for Outstanding Thesis
Coupled chemically-assisted filtration (CCAF) approaches for increasing filter resilience and performance during drinking water treatment
Lagan, Sineaid – MASc (2005)
An Investigation of Cryptosporidium parvum and Silica Surface Forces in Relation to Water Treatment
Lee, Kristina – MASc (2019)
The critical role of chemical pre-treatment in ensuring Cryptosporidium removal by filtration of high quality source water
Lee, Lawrence – MASc (2005)
Bacillus subtilis Inactivation in Drinking Water by Pulsed Arc Electrohydraulic Discharge
McGregor, Lauren (2024)
Conventional and Oxidant-amended Biofiltration to Improve Treatment Resilience in Drinking Water Systems Vulnerable to Wildfire
McLellan, Nicole – MASc (2012)
American Water Works Association Academic Achievement Award Recipient for Outstanding Thesis
Factors Affecting the Transport of Pathogens & Pathogen Surrogates in Saturated Porous Media: Implications for Natural & Engineered Drinking Water Filters
Schmidt, Philip – PhD (2010)
Addressing the Uncertainty Due to Random Measurement Errors in Quantitative Analysis of Microorganism and Discrete Particle Enumeration Data
Scott, David – MASc (2008)
American Water Works Association Academic Achievement Award Recipient for Outstanding Thesis
Cryptosporidium and Particle Removal from Low Turbidity Water by Engineered Ceramic Media Filtration
Shams, Shoeleh – PhD (2018)
Wildfire and Forest Harvesting Effects on Natural Organic Matter: Implications to Drinking Water Treatability
Skwaruk, Jesse – PhD (2021)
Drinking Water Treatment Technology Resilience for Management of Severely Deteriorated Water after Wildfire
Snider, Ryan – MASc (2011)
American Water Works Association Academic Achievement Award Recipient for Outstanding Thesis
Impact of Design and Operational Parameters on Rapid, Deep Bed Biological Filtration of Drinking Water
Spanjers, Mark – PhD (2017)
Biologically Active Filtration Media Properties: Practical and Mechanistic Implications
Stewart, Michael – MASc (2018)
Nitrogen Dynamics in a Harvested Rocky Mountain Catchment
Thompson, Joan – MASc (2019)
Removal of Organic Matter by Classical Biofiltration: Mechanistic Insights Regarding “Biodegradation”
Watling, Mark – MASc (2004)
Removal of Cryptosporidium parvum Oocysts and Potential Surrogates in Vertical and Horizontal Flow-through Columns
Wong, Andrew – MASc (2015)
American Water Works Association Academic Achievement Award Recipient for Outstanding Thesis
Investigating the Enhancement of Biological Filtration with Capping Material Designs and Nutrient Amendments
Yang, Amy – MASc (2019)
Fine Sediment Contributions to Cyanobacterial Growth: Potential Threats to Drinking Water Reservoirs