Professor Michael Tam spearheads a new journal dedicated to advancing UN Sustainable Development Goals

Friday, July 14, 2023

This article was originally published by the Department of Chemical Engineering.

ACS cover
The American Chemical Society announced the launch of a new journal titled “ACS Sustainable Resource Management” on June 13, 2023, with Water Institute member Michael Tam as Deputy Editor. Tam is excited to shape the direction of this new publication and bring it to the forefront in this emerging field. He will develop strategies to promote awareness of the journal to the academic community.

The journal will delve into sustainable resource management. It will feature emerging technologies that “close the loop” using various processes to convert natural and waste resources into useful intermediates and products.

“Leading this endeavour as the Deputy Editor will be Professor Michael Tam of the University of Waterloo, Canada, who brings extensive expertise and passion to this field. This new journal will strengthen our portfolio and signify our commitment to thought leadership and progress in sustainable developments,” says Teodoro Pulvirenti, Senior Director, ACS Publications.

"Humanity faces the great challenges of climate change, pollution, and other environmental threats," says Tam. "This journal will provide a forum for researchers from around the globe to report on their innovations that aim to close the knowledge gap surrounding these critical issues."

Michael Tam
Professor Michael Tam,who leads the Laboratory for Functional Colloids & Sustainable Nanomaterials joined the editorial team of ACS Publications in 2015. In 2022, ACS launched a strategy to increase the number of journals that advance UN Sustainable Development Goals. 

ACS Sustainable Resource Management is being launched with a primary focus on original research in the fields of sustainable natural and waste resource utilization. The journal aims to create a platform for stakeholders, including researchers from academia, industry, government agencies, and regulators, to engage in discourse regarding the promotion of sustainability.

Water Institute member Michael Tam, Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering and University Research Chair.

Tam believes chemical engineers have a huge role to play in this arena. The drive to advance UN Sustainable Development Goals is prevalent throughout the research being conducted within the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Waterloo. 

An example of such research is carried out by new faculty member, Professor Joshua Pulsipher on optimal critical-earth element recovery wastewater networks. His recent collaboration with Professor Carl Laird, the US National Energy Technology Laboratory, and industry partners has focused on developing a decision-making framework to explore creating lithium recovery plants to extract critical minerals from wastewater. 

Tam, a University Research Chair is also engaged in developing sustainable solutions by harnessing the power of natural resources that satisfy the net-zero economy. One application his group is working on is the development of sustainable packaging systems.

Read more about the new journal. The journal begins accepting submissions on July 12, 2023, and aims to publish its first edition in January 2024.


Image source: ACS Publications, Generic-cover. (July 2023) ACS Sustainable Resource Management.