Plenary Program
The 2012 Organizing Committee is pleased to announce that we have an exciting lineup of keynote speakers for the Niagara Falls Congress. The four individuals that have graciously agreed to lend support to the Canadian Congress are not only Canadian hydrogeology pioneers, but they are also true stalwarts of the global hydrogeology community. Amongst the many awards earned by the congress' keynote speakers, it is worth noting that each of them has been awarded two of North America's most prestigious groundwater awards: the National Groundwater Association's M. King Hubbert Award; and the Geological Society of America's O.E. Meinzer Award.
All of the keynote speakers are known for their mentoring abilities and in particular for their ability to deliver enlightening and informative, technically sound, and entertaining lectures. The organizing committee believes that the four sessions of the Plenary Program will indeed be a highlight of the Niagara Falls Congress.
We are pleased to announce that Dr. John Cherry, Dr. Allan Freeze, Dr. Frank Schwartz & Dr. Jozef Tóth will provide keynote talks at the Niagara Falls Congress.
Dr. John A. Cherry holds geological engineering degrees from the University of Saskatchewan and the University of California, Berkley and a Ph.D. in hydrogeology from the University of Illinois. John Cherry is one of the true leaders in the development and application of contaminant hydrogeology and remediation. His record of innovative research and publication is unrivaled. He has the rare combination of understanding and predicting problems, the technical expertise to pursue them, the intellectual rigor to properly analyze and interpret the results and the communication skills to educate others about his insights.
John joined the faculty at the University of Waterloo in 1971 where his research focused on field studies of the migration and fate of contaminants in groundwater and groundwater remediation. Although retired from the University of Waterloo since 2006, John still remains active in our discipline. The University of Waterloo has granted John the title "Distinguished Professor Emeritus" in 2007. John is currently the Director of the University Consortium for Field-Focused Groundwater Contamination Research is also an adjunct professor in the School of Engineering at the University of Guelph.
John co-authored the textbook “Ground Water” with R.A. Freeze (1979) and co-edited and coauthored several chapters in the book “Dense Chlorinated Solvents and Other DNAPLs in Groundwater” (1996). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and has received awards for groundwater contamination research from scientific and engineering societies in Canada, the United States and the U.K. He held the Research Chair in Contaminant Hydrogeology at the University of Waterloo (1996-2006).
The organizing committee is pleased to have such a distinguished and world re-known Canadian provide us with a keynote talk.
Dr. Allan Freeze is Former Professor and Director of the Geological Engineering Program at the University of British Columbia.
Dr. Freeze began his career working as a field hydrologist in the Canadian provinces and developed a reputation as an expert in the numerical analysis of regional groundwater flow. He has authored of over 100 technical and scientific publications covering a wide spectrum of topics including mapping groundwater systems; 2-D and 3-D modeling of regional flow; rainfall-runoff theory and streamflow generation; deep-well injection of waste; nuclear-waste disposal and waste management; stochastic analysis of subsurface flow; geotechnical studies of consolidation, land subsidence, slope stability, and damsite seepage; groundwater in mountainous terrains; Pb-Zn ore formation in sedimentary basins; hydrogeological decision analysis; risk assessment and data worth; and the history of science. On top of this, his influential textbook, co-authored with Dr. John Cherry has been the "go to" textbook for nearly three generations of hydrogeologists since its 1979 publication. Most recently, Dr. Freeze was a member of the expert panel that authored the 2009 Council of Canadian Academies "The Sustainable Management of Groundwater in Canada" report.
Dr. Freeze has received awards from several organizations including the Geological Society of America's Meinzer Award; the National Ground Water Association's M. King Hubbert Award, the American Geophysical Union's James B Macelwane Award; as well as others from Royal Society of Canada; Canadian Geotechnical Society; American Institute of Hydrology; and most recently; an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Waterloo.
Alan Freeze brings a wealth of hydrogeological expertise and a warm intelligent communication style to the Niagara Falls Congress.
Dr. Frank Schwartz currently serves as a professor in the School of Earth Sciences at the Ohio State University and is the Ohio Eminent Scholar in hydrogeology. In addition to his renowned text books, including "Physical and Chemical Hydrogeology" (co-authored with Patrick Domenico) and the more recent "Fundamentals of Groundwater" (co-authored with Hubao Zhang), Frank Schwartz has published over 150 refereed papers encompassing field and theoretical aspects of mass transport, contaminant hydrogeology and groundwater chemistry. Always interested in the value of scientific contributions to the common knowledge base, Dr. Schwartz has also co-authored papers on the use of the statistics around citations of papers to the attributed value of research to the groundwater community.
Among his many awards and recognitions, in 1984 Frank was the recipient of the prestigious Geological Society of America O.E. Meinzer Award for a series of papers he co-authored with Dr. Leslie Smith from the University of British Columbia. In 1997 Frank was also bestowed with the M. King Hubbert Award from the National Groundwater Association.
Frank always delivers dynamic, thoughtful and entertaining talks and we look forward to having him as one of the Congress' keynote speakers.
Dr. Joszef Tóth is recognized as a true Canadian hydrogeological pioneer. As such, Joe's knowledge of the roots of Canadian hydrogeology is unsurpassed. In addition to his seminal and award winning publications on gravity driven groundwater flow stretching back to the early 1960's, Joe has also recognized the importance of documenting the historical evolution of groundwater flow system thinking. He has managed to contribute published historical retrospectives of his career. The Niagara Falls conference will greatly benefit from having Joe as a keynote speaker.
Dr. Tóth introduced hydrogeology at the University of Alberta (U of A) in 1966 and joined the Geology Department as full professor in 1980. While at the Alberta Research Council through the 1960s and 1970s Joe was the champion of the groundwater mapping series that led to the publication of groundwater availability maps across much of the Province. He taught at the U of A until his retirement as professor emeritus in 1996. Joe's more than 90 publications have stimulated extensive research internationally on groundwater problems. His recent text book "Gravitation Systems of Groundwater Flow" has been well received and described as his "scientific autobiography".
Joe was the inaugural recipient of the GSA's Meinzer Award back in 1965. More recently, Dr. Tóth was honored by NGWA as the 2003 M. King Hubbert Award recipient. When presenting the M. King Hubbert Award to Tóth, Warren Wood of Michigan State University made these comments: “In many ways he [Joe] epitomizes the intent of the M. King Hubbert Medal, having made contributions to ground water science that are recognized worldwide and that are applied to practical problem solving daily. He has also mentored students who have themselves gained attention and had significant impact on the science of fluids in the subsurface. ...... Joe has been, and continues to be, an extraordinary teacher and mentor.”
