The Geoffrey F. Bruce Fellowship in Canadian Freshwater Policy 2022 Recipients

Joseph Aladekoyi’s research examines Canadian policies related to contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), such as pharmaceuticals. He aims to evaluate policy and management frameworks that protect the environment and freshwater under the Canadian Chemicals Management Plan, to explore the degree to which scientific findings inform current policies and practices that guide wastewater management, and to identify critical policy gaps related to the protection of freshwater.

Joseph has a master’s in Environmental and Applied Science and Management from TMU and Industrial Microbiology from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He has a growing interdisciplinary research agenda focused on water policy and has authored two policy analysis papers on the management of pharmaceuticals in wastewater and the Canadian environment. He also co-authored a journal article, two book chapters and several scientific reports related to gaps in water policy related to CECs. 

The Geoffrey F. Bruce Fellowship will enable Joseph to focus on his research and disseminate his findings to industry leaders and policymakers. He aspires to build a career in environmental research and consulting with a focus on freshwater policy and source-water protection.

Yena Bassone-Quashie aims to improve water policies, flood resilience and climate adaptation in Ontario and Canadian municipalities through adaptive water infrastructure policy innovation and planning tools. Her research focuses on the fundamental shift needed to incorporate climate change into municipal water policies and water management to increase flood resilience.

Yena has a master’s in Engineering and Policy Analysis from Delft University in the Netherlands, where she examined how decision-making processes in Dutch municipalities enable or hinder climate adaptation in an urban-water context. During her master’s, she worked on an international research project that used Climate-Risk Informed Decision Analysis to analyze water scarcity and management in Chile’s Limarí Basin. She is also the lead author of an article recently submitted to the Journal of Water and Climate Change.

The Geoffrey F. Bruce Fellowship will allow Yena to focus on her dissertation and ensure her research will make a significant contribution to municipal water and climate-change policies in Ontario and Canada. She is committed to becoming one of Canada’s freshwater policy scholars and leaders focused on critical challenges at the municipal level.