About Society of the Water Institute Graduate Students

What does the SWIGS executive committee do?

• Organizes networking and educational events
• Hosts guest speakers at different events to share their expertise in the water sector
• Organizes an participates in outreach activities in the Waterloo Region
• Shares information about the Water Institute and its activities 
• Act as Water Institute ambassadors for the University of Waterloo. See below for details of specific roles and responsibilities of committee members 
  

All executive positions are on a volunteer basis and are elected by students in April each year.  

Meet the 2025-26 Executives:

The Chair (Luana Camelo):

• Lead the overall operations of SWIGS and support the duties of all executives 

• Act as a liaison between SWIGS and the Water Institute, and as the official SWIGS spokesperson to contacts outside of the University of Waterloo 

• Provide student perspectives in the WI Strategic Planning Committee meetings, Collaborative Water Program Committee Meeting, External Review Board Meetings.  

• Organize the Annual General Assembly meeting in the summer term to update the SWIGS membership of the committee’s activities in the past year.  

• Organize and oversee the annual election for the next executive committee.  

• Prepare the annual report to the Water Institute and the incoming executive team 

Vice-Chair Operations (Ben DePetris):

• Maintains all communications with membership, including emails, the SWIGS website, membership lists, social media, blog posts, etc.
• Work with the Water Institute team to publicize the seminars, guest lectures, career opportunities   
• Supports the advertisement and logistics of events organized by other executives
• Maintains the annual budget for SWIGS

Vice-Chair Academic (Kushani Abesekara):

• Organize academic events such as lunchtime sessions, academic workshops, panel discussions, etc. 

• Organize workshops for relevant developing skills by popular demand such as Programing in R, Data Visualization, Data Management, GIS, N-Vivo, etc. 

• Organize Blue Drinks events with invited guest speakers who are water professionals from diverse backgrounds such as Federal, provincial, and municipal government, private sector, and NGOs and conservation authorities. 

Vice-Chair, Outreach(Nicole Anasis):

• Organize the annual Water And You art contest for students grades 4-7 in the Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge area. 

• Organize outreach events outside of the UWaterloo campus, including at other Universities, such as Water Matters: Student Panel Discussion.  

• Coordinate social and political efforts related to water that are supported by SWIGS. Past examples: water bar event with the Region of Waterloo, Healthy Kids Community Challenge, reaching out to Elmira over the Nestle concerns, etc. 

Co-Vice-Chairs, Conference (Cory Barstow & Jordan Li):

• Support the Water Institute with the annual World Water Day celebrations, and other Water Institute conferences 

• Participate in the conference organizing committee meetings and contribute towards the conference programming.  

• Recruit and manage the volunteers needed for various activities on the day of the conference.

Vice-Chair Social (Michael Chislett):

• Organize social events for SWIGS members. Past events include: Mocktail workshops, Water Trivia, Bird Watching, Holiday cookie exchange, lake shore clean up.  

• Assist Vice Chair Academics, to organize Blue Drinks events. 

• Organize the social event for the World Water Day Conference.
  
  Note that executives tend to work collaboratively, and the roles tend to blend as all members work together as a team.