Neil Thomson, PhD, PEng

Dr. Thomson was a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering from 1987 until he retired in 2022. He served as the Director of the Soil and Groundwater Remediation Engineering Group and was member of the Environmental and Water Resources Engineering Research Group and The Water Institute at the University of Waterloo. Dr Thomson was Chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering from 2008 to 2016.

Dr. Thomson has over 38 years of research experience in the use of field investigations, laboratory experiments, and numerical models to explore subsurface contaminant fate and remediation issues. Recent research topics include emerging soil and groundwater remediation technologies, petroleum hydrocarbons and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, chemical oxidants, functional nanoparticles, electrokinetics, high resolution monitoring, isotopes and biomarkers, delivery methods, site characterization, and physical model and comprehensive pilot-scale studies.

Between 2012 to 2020 Dr. Thomson was the Editor-in-Chief of Groundwater Monitoring & Remediation, a National Ground Water Association publication. In 2020 Dr. Thomson was honoured with the 2020 Keith E Anderson Award for scientists and engineers who make outstanding contributions to the National Ground Water Association.

Dr. Thomson taught numerous undergraduate and graduate courses including Fluid Mechanics, Water Quality Engineering, Advanced Mathematics, Hydrology, Environmental Chemistry, Contaminant Transport, Finite Element Methods, Soil and Groundwater Remediation Engineering, Numerical Methods for Environmental Applications, and Water Quality Management.

In 2018, 2014 and 2005 he received an Outstanding Performance Award from the University of Waterloo for outstanding performance in teaching and scholarship. In 2008 he was awarded the Faculty of Engineering Distinguished Performance Award for his outstanding contribution in teaching, scholarship and service. In 1999 he was awarded the Sir Sanford Fleming Teaching Excellence Award for recognition of an exemplary record of outstanding teaching, concern for students and a commitment to the development and enrichment of engineering education at Waterloo.

For the past 35 years Dr. Thomson has provided technical and strategic guidance on projects related to groundwater and soil remediation for numerous private clients, consulting firms and regulatory agencies in Canada, United States, England, Scotland, Wales, Sweden, Australia, Brazil, China, Mexico, and Argentina.

• Hydrogeology

• Groundwater and Soil Contamination

• Brownfields

• Contaminant Fate and Transport

• Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids

• Remediation Engineering

• Modelling

• Laboratory Experiments

• Pilot-Scale Investigations

• 1986, Doctorate PhD, University of Waterloo, Ontario

• 1982, Master's MASc, University of Toronto, Ontario

• 1981, Bachelor's BASc, University of Waterloo, Ontario

• 1999 Sir Sanford Fleming Teaching Excellence Award

• 2005 University of Waterloo Outstanding Performance Award

• 2008 Faculty of Engineering Distinguished Performance Award

• ENVE 573 - Contaminant Transport
  • Taught in 2021

* Only courses taught in the past 5 years are displayed.

• Cho, M.S., F. Solano, N.R. Thomson, M.G. Trefry, D.R. Lester, G. Metcalfe, Field trials of chaotic advection to enhance reagent delivery, Groundwater Monit R., 23, 2019

• Linley, S., A. Holmes, T. Leshuk, W. Nafo, A. Al-Mayah, N.R. Thomson, K. McVey, K. Sra, F. Gu, Targeted nanoparticle binding & detection in petroleum hydrocarbon impacted porous media, Chemosphere, 353, 2019

• Wei, Y., N.R. Thomson, R. Aravena, M. Marchesi, J.F. Barker, E.L. Madsen, R. Kolhatkar, T. Buscheck, D. Hunkeler, C.M. DeRito, Infiltration of sulfate to enhance sulfate-reducing biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons., Groundwater Monit R., 73, 2018

• Shafieiyoun, S., N.R. Thomson, The role of intra-NAPL diffusion on mass transfer from multi-component NAPLs, Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, 49, 2018

• Shayan, M., N.R. Thomson, R. Aravena, J.F. Barker, E.L. Madsen, T. Buscheck, R. Kolhatkar, E.J. Daniels, Integrated plume treatment using persulfate coupled with microbial sulfate reduction, Groundwater Monit R., 45, 2018

• Professor recognized by groundwater association