Dr. Satinder Kaur Brar

Professor and James & Joanne Love Chair in Environmental Engineering
Department of Civil Engineering, Lassonde School of Engineering, York University
H-Index: 86

• Postdoctoral Fellow: Chemical Engineering, McGill University (2007)
• Ph.D.: Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Québec, Canada (2007)
• Master of Engineering: IIT, Bombay, India (1997)
• Master of Science: Poona University, Pune, India (1995)
• Bachelor of Science: Poona University, Pune, India (1993)

• Professor and Chair in Environmental Engineering, York University (2019 - present)
• Professor, Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (2016)
• Research Scientist, Centre for Environment & Explosives Safety, DRDO, India
• Scientist, Defence Research and Development Organization, India
• Environmental Scientist, UNIDO Organization, Jaipur, India

• York President’s Research Excellence Award (2024)
• International Woman Research Award (2019)
• Eddy Wastewater Principles/Processes Medal, Water Environment Federation (2018)
• Grand Prize in University Research, American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (2017)
• State-of-the-Art of Civil Engineering Award, ASCE (2007, 2017)
• Member, Royal Society of Canada (2014)
• YWCA Women in Science Excellence Award (2015)

• Her research on biopesticides and biofertilizers is applied in Vietnam, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Thailand, Mexico, and India.
• Invited speaker at international conferences in Germany, Mexico, India, and China.
• Member of editorial boards of 22 scientific journals.
• Research grant evaluator in countries such as France, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Poland, Austria, Malaysia, Australia, the U.S., Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

Dra. Eva Rose Kozak

Profesora Investigadora Titular A, Definitivo
Universidad de Guadalajara, CUCSUR-DEDSZC
Correo Electrónico: eva.kozak@academicos.udg.mx
ORCID: 0000-0002-3129-2064

• Doctorado en Ciencias en Biosistemática, Ecología y Manejo de Recursos Naturales y Agrícola: Centro Universitario de la Costa Sur, Universidad de Guadalajara (2014)
• Bachelor of Science in Ecology and Evolution: University of California, Santa Cruz, EE.UU. (2008)

• Ecología marina enfocada en la dinámica, diversidad y variabilidad estacional del zooplancton en el Pacífico Tropical Oriental.
• Impacto de contaminantes antropogénicos en las redes tróficas marinas.
• Integración de estudios de campo, experimentos de laboratorio y técnicas analíticas de alta resolución.

• Artículos en revistas indizadas:
  • Más de 10 publicaciones en revistas como Marine Environmental Research, Ecotoxicology y Marine Pollution Bulletin.
• Investigaciones destacadas:
  • Estudios sobre ingesta de microplásticos en zooplancton marino.
  • Metodologías accesibles para experimentos de ingesta de microplásticos.
• Participación en conferencias y congresos internacionales.

• Cursos impartidos en la Universidad de Guadalajara:
  • Licenciatura en Biología Marina: Impacto Ambiental del Cambio Climático, Seminario.
  • Maestría en Ciencias en Ecología y Manejo de Recursos Costeros y Marinos: Oceanografía Biológica, Procesos Costeros Naturales, Ecología del Cambio Climático.
• Dirección de tesis de pregrado y posgrado:
  • Tesis sobre distribución espacio-temporal de microplásticos y su impacto en especies marinas.

• Externos:
  • Evaluación del zooplancton como bioindicador de contaminación por microplásticos y nanoplásticos (FODECIJAL 2024-2025).
  • Impacto de microplásticos en zooplancton nerítico del Pacífico (SEP-CONACyT 2019-2022).
• Internos:
  • Estudio de microplásticos en la costa sur de Jalisco-Colima (UDG 2019-2021).

• Sistema Nacional de Investigadoras e Investigadores: Nivel I (2020), Candidata (2017-2019).
• Programa para el Desarrollo Profesional Docente: Reconocimiento a Profesores/as de Tiempo Completo con Perfil Deseable (2018).

• Sociedad Mexicana de Planctología (SOMPAC)
• Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO)

Dr. Natalie Mladenov

Professor, P.E., William E. Leonhard, Jr. Chair
Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, San Diego State University
Director of the Water Innovation and Reuse Lab (WIRLab)
Website: SDSU Faculty Page

• Ph.D. in Civil Engineering: University of Colorado, Boulder
• M.S. in Civil Engineering: University of Colorado, Boulder
• B.S. in Civil Engineering & B.A.: University of South Florida

• 2022-2023 SDSU Presidential Research Fellow
• 2022 Top 50 Influential Women in Engineering, San Diego Business Journal
• 2022 Outstanding Engineering Educator Award, San Diego County Engineering Council
• 2020 Thesis Advisor Award, Association of Environmental Engineering & Science Professors (AEESP)

• Rivera, E., Mladenov, N., Astete Vasquez, L., et al. (2022). Low maintenance anammox enrichment and nitrogen removal with an anaerobic baffled reactor. Bioresource Technology, 364, 128047.
• Pinongcos, F., Mladenov, N., Calderon, J., et al. (2022). Chemical and microbial markers for discriminating sanitary sewer contamination in coastal, urban streams. Environmental Science & Technology: Water.
• Garcia, D., Muñoz Meléndez, G., Arteaga, A., Ojeda-Revah, L., Mladenov, N. (2022). Greening urban areas with decentralized wastewater treatment and reuse: a case study of Ecoparque in Tijuana, Mexico. Water.
• Mladenov, N., Dodder, N., Steinberg, L., et al. (2022). Persistence and removal of trace organic compounds in centralized and decentralized wastewater treatment systems. Chemosphere.
• Rocha, A., Verbyla, M.E., Sant, K., Mladenov, N. (2022). Detection, quantification, and simplified wastewater surveillance model of SARS-CoV-2 in the Tijuana River. ACS ES&T Water.
• Calderón, J.S., Verbyla, M.E., Gil, M., et al. (2022). Persistence of fecal indicators and microbial source tracking markers in water flushed from riverbank soils. Water, Soil, & Air Pollution, 233(83): 1–13.

Prof. Amy M. Bilton

Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto
Director: Centre for Global Engineering, University of Toronto
H-index: 89

• Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT
• M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT
• Postdoctoral Research, MIT

• Design of community-scale, solar-powered reverse osmosis desalination systems.
• Publications in journals such as Energy, Sustainability, and Society, Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, and Desalination.
• Review of collaborative research practices with Indigenous peoples in Canada.
• Innovations in decentralized water supply in Mexico City.
• Evaluation of small-scale solar-powered reverse osmosis plants for water purification.

• Fellow of Engineers Canada (2017)
• McLean Award (2024)
• University of Toronto Global Educator Award (2023)
• Early Career Teaching Award (2020)
• Connaught New Researcher Award (2019)
• Elected Fellow, Canadian Academy of Engineering (2025)
• Awarded Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security of Ontario, Minister’s Award of Excellence in the category of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. (2025)

• Development of sustainable technologies.
• Promotion of international collaborations to address environmental challenges.
• Contribution to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly in water, energy, and community resilience.

Prof. Rachel Louise Gomes

Professor of Water & Resource Processing, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom
Head of the Food Water Waste Research Group (leading >70 researchers)
Leader of the University of Nottingham’s Water Works Interdisciplinary Research Cluster (comprising >140 academics)

• Represented the UK on the recovery of materials from wastewater, leading to the Water Challenges & Solutions White Paper (2016).
• Invited expert on the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Advisory Group, addressing the UN Environment Assembly's resolution on Plastic Litter and Microplastics.
• Developed recommendations for harmonized monitoring, assessment, and global policies on plastic pollution.

• Named one of the Top 50 Women in Engineering: Sustainability by the Women’s Engineering Society (2020) for practice-led research on sustainable resources.
• Included in the Analytical Scientist’s Top 40 under 40 Power List (2014, 2018) for developing analytics to deliver sustainable resources towards net zero and a circular economy.
• Awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in 2022 for services to water research and education in the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Birthday Honours.

• Advancing sustainable water and resource processing technologies.
• Promoting interdisciplinary research to address global environmental challenges.
• Contributing to global policies on water quality, waste management, and plastic pollution.