Alexander Cancelli

Education

• B.Eng, Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering, Carleton University
• M.Sc., Environmental Toxicology, Simon Fraser University
• Ph.D., Environmental Toxicology, Simon Fraser University

Biography

Even from a young age I was captivated by our natural world. This fascination motivated me to pursue environmental engineering at Carleton University where I began to truly appreciate the complexities in the science of the environment. When I finished my degree I began working for an environmental consulting firm responsible for large scale site reclamation and remediation in Ontario. During this time I worked on a variety of contaminated sites projects, but found there were few feasible options for contaminated site cleanup. I began to wonder how nature based systems like wetlands can help with contaminated site remediation. This idea lead me to pursue graduate studies at SFU in 2014. And now, I have now completed a Master's of Environmental Toxicology and a Ph.D in Resource and Environmental Management (REM) focused on developing treatment wetlands as a remediation strategy for wastewater generated by the Canadian oil sands industry. What I love about this work is how it pulls together elements of environmental chemistry, engineering, and toxicology, allowing me to make my work an applied and interdisciplinary science. This interdisciplinary has been engrained by the teachings in REM. It is my firm belief that many of the complex environmental challenges that we face today would not just benefit from an interdisciplinary approach, but entirely depend on it as a driver to create effective, sustainable, science-based solutions.