Class Notes for fall 2025

Wondering what your classmates have been up to? Find out who's been promoted, launched a new project, published a book or started a family. Catch up, then submit an update of your own for the next issue.

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I am alive! Retired 15 years ago from my last job: Director of Planning and Development, City of Barrie. Got an MBA in 1990 from York Schulich School of Business. Spend my winters in Sarasota, Florida. Now I play guitar, busk, fish and walk Dixie my schnoodle (a monkey trapped in a dog's body).

I'm grateful to the University of Waterloo for many things, in particular having the flexibility that allowed me to explore my interests in applying mathematics and simulation modelling to environmental problems, with many kind professors guiding me on that adventure. I was the first student to receive a joint honours degree in Man-Environment Studies and Mathematics — the quick result of cordial chats with each faculty. All of that laid the foundation for tackling many environmental problems over the next 50 years! 

Retired in 2022. Currently living in 'Parry Hoot' near his old friend 'Frog'. Currently the Chairperson for the NEAHL, now entering its 51st year.

City Planner from 1978 to 2014 in Fredericton, Halifax County and Edmonton, focusing on community planning, environment, development, transportation, and parks. In 1995, he received the Eric W. Thrift Award for Planning Excellence for the Boyle St./McCauley Area Redevelopment Plan and later earned AACIP Awards of Merit for Century Park (2005) and Strathearn Heights (2008). He also contributed to Policy C542: Development Setbacks from River Valley/Ravine Crests. From 2007 to 2021, he served as a lead instructor at the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Extension and was a three-time national champion and team captain for the Association of Canadian Ultramarathoners.

William Napier was honoured to receive the King Charles III Coronation Metal in March 2025 at a ceremony held in Peterborough, Ontario.

Environmental Advisor for Ontario Power Generation at Pickering Nuclear Generating Station. 

After working in the planning field for four decades I am happy to announce my retirement. Planning provided a multi-faceted career in Design, municipal government management, engineering and private project management.

Susan Shurland was one of 30 women in Trinidad and Tobago to be awarded the prestigious Women in the Environment 2025 award by the Environmental Management Authority of Trinidad and Tobago in celebration of the organization’s 30th Anniversary, as it was established on World Environment Day, 5 June, 1995.

I have a long history of writing technical articles in my water sector career. Late in my career I have switched to writing fiction (murder mysteries) to better communicate with my colleagues and the general public through storytelling.

I completed my undergraduate degree in Environmental and Resource Studies (ERS) then came back to Waterloo to complete my degree in Environmental Studies in Planning. Since then I have been a faculty member at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta. My research and teaching focused on participatory planning, community development, planning with vulnerable populations and aiming to foster the building of community capacity. I will have been at the University of Alberta from 2005-2026 when I retire. I am thankful to the University of Waterloo, especially Dr. Susan Wismer and Dr. Mark Seasons, for offering me the ability to complete my undergraduate degree and my PhD so that I could go on and be an academic in the field of Planning.

As an AVP, Treasury and Finance at Sunshine Coast Credit Union, promoting the cooperative movement, she led Canada’s first credit union central to sign the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment and continues to advance ESG integration across financial and organizational practices.

Tania Cheng launched their own business, Seahorse Strategies, after a decade spent advancing social and environmental impact with charities across Canada. Seahorse Strategies works with purpose-driven organizations on strategic design, impact and facilitation.

Since graduating, Yosef has worked in Canada, China, and the U.S. as a consultant. After nine years with WSP, he recently joined GHD as a Senior Advisor on the Strategic Communications, Engagement, and Communities team. His work spans transportation planning, renewable energy, water and wastewater, and emergency management projects. He's always open to collaborating. Connect with Yosef on LinkedIn.

Dana Decent recently became the first Program Director of Climate and Health at the newly established Definity Foundation, a philanthropic organization dedicated to working with communities to advance climate, health and economic justice.

Since graduating from the MEB program in 2022, Michelle has been growing her career in climate philanthropy and now serves as Manager of Philanthropy at MaRS Discovery District, North America's largest urban innovation hub. At MaRS, Michelle leads fundraising for climate programming to support cleantech innovation at scale. Connect with Michelle on LinkedIn.

Sadaf is a graduate of the Sustainability Management PhD program (2023) and Masters program (2015). Now she an assistant professor in the School of Hospitality, Food and Tourism Management, in the S. Lang School of Business and Economics at the University of Guelph. She is also the Research Chair in the Business of Food at the Arrell Food Institute. Her research is focused on sustainable food systems and sustainable behaviour change.

Sanaa recently started working with the City of Toronto in the Net-Zero Buildings Unit under the Environment, Climate and Forestry division. Here, she works with diverse stakeholders to enhance and implement City initiatives focused on deep retrofits for homes and buildings, with an emphasis on building resilience for equity-deserving communities. Sanaa graduated from the Master of Climate Change program at UWaterloo in 2024, after which she worked for a year with an Indigenous government, the Métis Nation of Ontario, where she led the MNO's first-ever, province-wide Climate Change Strategy and Regional Climate Action Plans for each of the MNO's nine regions. She is deeply grateful to have been immersed in community during her time at the MNO, and looks forward to continuing that work with the City of Toronto.

I invented a flood-resistant beehive and have launched a company to deploy it internationally! We have secured a working partnership in Malawi (granting us access to what is effectively over 180,000 hectares of land to support), and I am working to deploy in regions where this hive is needed most. We are on the path to securing partnerships with governments, humanitarian aid organizations, and agricultural operations throughout the global south. Recently, we also won two pitch competitions (Jack Rosen + Quantum Valley Investments), the Yorkshire Eco-Scholar Award, Climate Con 2025, and the Engineer of the Future Fund. Reach out anytime and visit our website: www.beekon.net.

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