“It is a great opportunity to join RESTORE group to carry out leading-edge research on subsurface contaminant reactive transport and remediation technology development. The people at RESTORE are positive, friendly, and co-operative, also UWO is an exceptional place to be with great access to state-of-the-art research facilities.”

  
Project Title:
Assessing the Risk of Organic Contaminants at Off-Site Receptors

Project Description:
The objective of the project is to evaluate the fate, transport, and transformation of industrial contaminants at the scale of a site versus a community, and assess the implications for risk-based decision making. A generic “community scenario” will be employed, which is relevant to brownfield sites within Ontario communities. Numerical modelling will be employed to evaluate the sensitivity of risk to various site-specific and community-based parameters. The probability of exceeding key risk targets at off-site receptors will be compared to those at site boundaries. Moreover, the study will also evaluate the level of model complexity required for reliable risk calculations, and incorporate considerations of multiple contaminated sites, into this new community-based framework. Such an approach could accelerate the redevelopment of brownfield sites in Ontario by reducing remediation costs and liability concerns.

Personal Background:
I graduated from the University of Jordan for Science and Technology (JUST) , Jordan with a B.A.Sc. in Chemical Engineering in 1989, then I worked in industry for five years before I started my graduate studies . An M.Sc. in Civil Engineering (water and environment) in 1996 from An-Najah National University , Nablus, Palestinian Authority studying contamination and water resources in west bank aquifers. I went on to work as an environmental specialist in the Ministry of Local Government before obtaining my Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering in 2009 from Oregon State University studying bioremediation of contaminated aquifers. My PhD thesis was numerical simulation of anaerobic reductive dechlorination in continuous flow systems.

Travel and Awards:

• OSU Diversity and Excellence Graduate Scholarships for Water and Watershed Research: 2008 - 2009
   
• Subsurface Biosphere Initiative and IGERT Workshop, Newport, Oregon: June 2008
   
• USGS Water Resources Research Institute Program and Institute for Water and Watersheds. Award Period: March 2007 - March 2008
   
• American Geophysical Union (AGU) San Francisco. CA: December 2007
   
• Gordon Conference (Water and Environmental Science): June 2006
   
• Ford Foundation Conference, Washington, D.C.: June 2006
   
• Oregon State University Graduate Tuition Scholarship: 2004 - 2008
   
• Ford Foundation Fellowship, International Fellowship Program (IFP): 2004 - 2007