Yuri Leonenko

Yuri Leonenko is an associate professor jointly appointed between the Departments of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Geography and Environmental Management at the University of Waterloo. With over 20 years of experience in climate control technologies, his research focuses on innovative greenhouse gas mitigation strategies to address the global climate crisis.

One of the areas of his research involves refining carbon sequestration methods to increase their efficiency and ensure the long-term containment of CO2 following geological injection.

He has played significant role in establishing the Carbon Management Canada (CMC) Center of Excellence with $50 million of government funding. He is also actively involved in the development and promotion of carbon capture and storage technologies, including the Shell Sequestration Project. This research has led to more than $1 billion in commercial developments.

Leonenko is also interested in emerging technologies in energy production, as they relate to sustainability and environmental impact. This includes geothermal, wind, hydrogen and unconventional energy production, such as from methane hydrates.

Recently, Leonenko started exploring potentials of nature-based solutions for capturing carbon dioxide from atmosphere. Currently, he serves as a Principal Investigator, leading Nature-portfolio research into the feasibility and potential of afforestation in the Canadian Northern Boreal and Southern Arctic. The project team, which includes collaborators from six Canadian universities, anticipates their results driving a substantial impact on Canadian environmental policies and on economic development of Northern communities.

• Complex multi-phase flows, thermodynamics and transport phenomena

• Geological storage of CO2

• Natural based solutions for CO2 capture and permafrost preservation

• Renewable energy (geothermal, hydrogen, wind)

• Climate control

• Machine learning for climate and sustainability applications

• 1991, PhD Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics, Institute of Thermophysics, Russian Academy of Science, Novosibirsk, Russia

• 1985, MSc Physics, Novosibirsk State University, Russia

• 1997, European Academy Award to Young Scientists, Achievements in Investigation of Critical Phenomena

• 1996, Russian Academy of Science Award, Research achievements in Thermophysics and Hydrodynamics

• GHG (Green House Gas) Representative for UW Associate Membership in COSIA (Canada's Oil Sands Innovation Alliance)

• Cross appointed with the Department of Geography and Environmental Management

• Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy (Member)

• Waterloo Climate Institute (Member)

• Registered Professional Engineer in Ontario (PEO)

• GEOG 309 - Physical Climatology
  • Taught in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025, 2026
• SCI 201 - Global Warming and Climate Change
  • Taught in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025, 2026

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

• Professor Leonenko has published in high ranked journals such as Nature Communications, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Environmental Science and Technology, Scientific reports, International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Langmuir. Selected (among my areas of interest) publications include:

• K. B. Dsouza, E. Ofosu, J. Salkeld, R. Boudreault, J. Moreno-Cruz, Y. Leonenko, (2025), Assessing the climate benefits of afforestation in the Canadian Northern Boreal and Southern Arctic, Nature Communications 16 (1), 1964. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56699-9

• H. Firoozmand, Y. Leonenko, (2026), A multi-tier framework for CO2 storage capacity estimation: Aligning methods with data availability, Journal of Cleaner Production 548, 147848. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2026.147848.

• G. Zingaro, S. H. Ardakani, R. Gracie, Y. Leonenko, (2025), Deep learning assisted monitoring surrogate model for geological carbon sequestration, International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control 44, 104372. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2025.104372

• M Hosseini, Y. Leonenko, (2023), A reliable model to predict the methane-hydrate equilibrium: An updated database and machine learning approach, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 173, 113103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2022.113103

• SMJ Raad, Y. Leonenko, H Hassanzadeh, (2022), Hydrogen storage in saline aquifers: Opportunities and challenges, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 168, 112846. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2022.112846

• A. Dehghani-Sanij, A. Al-Haq, J. Bastian, G. Luehr, J. Nathwani, M. B. Dusseault, Y Leonenko, (2022) Assessment of current developments and future prospects of wind energy in Canada, Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 50, 101819. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2021.101819