Wednesday evening Banquet Speaker

Charles Fishman
The Big Thirst: The Fate of Water in the Modern World

Charles Fishman’s banquet address will help us to see water in a new and urgent light.

He will tackle everything from municipal delivery of water, to the vast but fragile network of water supplies for agriculture and industry, to the entry of corporations into the world of supplying water. How are businesses trying to create safe supplies and make money? And how does this affect you? In the future, how will we get water? How will we distribute it, use it, pay for it? Mr. Fishman will show how the new water economy will reshape global economics, global politics, the global food supply and the way we live.

Mr. Fishman is an award-winning investigative and magazine journalist, who has spent the last 20 years trying to get inside, understand and explain important organizations, from NASA to Wal-Mart.

Since 1996, Mr. Fishman has been a senior writer at Fast Company magazine. In 2005 he won a Gerald Loeb Award for distinguished business journalism. His original story for Fast Company about Wal-Mart, “The Wal-Mart You Don’t Know,” won best business magazine story of 2004 from the New York Press Club. His magazine writing has been included in Best Business Stories of the Year.

Mr. Fishman started his career at the Washington Post, where he was assigned full time to the team investigating the space shuttle Challenger disaster. He was also editor of the Sunday magazine of the Orlando Sentinel, and was assistant managing editor at the News & Observer, in Raleigh, North Carolina, in charge of features, culture, sports and business coverage.

Mr. Fishman’s forthcoming book, The Big Thirst: A Tour of the Bitter Fights, Breathtaking Beauty, Relentless Innovation, and Big Business Driving the New Era of High-Stakes Water, to be released in April 2011, will examine how water will come to define the 21st century. The Wal-Mart Effect, his first book, made the bestseller lists of the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Business Week.

• Listen to Terry Gross’s interview with Mr. Fishman on National Public Radio’s Fresh Air [37:58 audio clip].

Keynote Speakers

Dr. Zafar Adeel
Chair to UN-Water
Director, United Nations University, Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH)

Keynote: topic: The Emerging Global Water Crises — Canada as a Champion?

Dr. Zafar Adeel has experience in a variety of water and environmental issues, including monitoring and control of water pollution, water management in dry areas, solutions to industrial environmental problems, modelling of environmental systems and environmental policy formulation. He is also keenly involved in development of and liaison with international networks of water experts.

Dr. Adeel serves as Director at United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), where he has overall responsibility for the direction, organization, administration and programs of the institute. He has served with UNU since 1998. Currently, he is serving as the Chair of UN-Water, a group of 28 agencies focused on global water issues.

He holds a master’s degree from Iowa State University (1992) and a PhD from Carnegie Mellon University (1995).

• Dr. Adeel on the global water challenge and his vision for Connecting Water Resources 2011 [2:35 video]

Dr. Rita R. Colwell
Distinguished University Professor
University of Maryland College Park and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Senior Advisor and Chairman Emeritus, Canon U.S. Life Sciences
President and CEO, CosmosID, Inc.
Recipient of the 2010 Stockholm Water Prize

Keynote topic: Climate, Oceans and Human Health: Lessons from Cholera

Dr. Rita Colwell’s interests focus on global infectious diseases, water and health, and she is currently developing an international network to address emerging infectious diseases and water issues, including safe drinking water for both the developed and developing world.

Dr. Colwell served as the 11^th Director of the National Science Foundation, 1998–2004. In her capacity as NSF Director, she served as Co-chair of the Committee on Science of the National Science and Technology Council. Her major interests include K-12 science and mathematics education, graduate science and engineering education and the increased participation of women and minorities in science and engineering.

Dr. Colwell has held many advisory positions in the U.S. government, non-profit science policy organizations, and private foundations, as well as in the international scientific research community. She is a nationally respected scientist and educator, and has authored or co-authored 17 books and more than 750 scientific publications. She produced the award-winning film, Invisible Seas, and has served on editorial boards of numerous scientific journals.

Before going to NSF, Dr. Colwell was President of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute and Professor of Microbiology and Biotechnology at the University of Maryland. She was also a member of the National Science Board from 1984 to 1990.

Dr. Colwell has previously served as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the American Academy of Microbiology and as President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Washington Academy of Sciences, the American Society for Microbiology, the Sigma Xi National Science Honorary Society, and the International Union of Microbiological Societies. Dr. Colwell is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, the Royal Society of Canada, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. She is Immediate Past-President of the American Institute of Biological Sciences.

Dr. Colwell has been awarded 55 honorary degrees from institutions of higher education, including her Alma Mater, Purdue University. She is the recipient of the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star, bestowed by the Emperor of Japan, the 2006 National Medal of Science awarded by the President of the United States, and the 2010 Stockholm Water Prize awarded by the King of Sweden. Dr. Colwell is an honorary member of the microbiological societies of the UK, Australia, France, Israel, Bangladesh, Czechoslovakia, Royal Irish Academy, and the U.S. and has held several honorary professorships, including at the University of Queensland, Australia. A geological site in Antarctica, Colwell Massif, has been named in recognition of her work in polar regions.

Born in Beverly, Massachusetts, Dr. Colwell holds a BS in bacteriology and an MS in genetics, from Purdue University, and a PhD in oceanography from the University of Washington.

• Dr. Colwell on her group’s cholera research at Connecting Water Resources 2011: Responding to the Opportunities [3:09 video]

Ooi Kian Eng
Director of Water Reclamation (Network)
Public Utilities Board, Singapore’s National Water Agency

Keynote topic: Innovations in Response to Singapore’s Water Needs

Mr. Ooi has more than 20 years of experience in the field of civil and environmental engineering and has been involved in the planning, design and construction of several large drainage and sewerage infrastructure projects, and in the operations and maintenance of large wastewater treatment plants, including the Changi Water Reclamation Plant, which has a treatment capacity of 800,000 cubic metres a day.

His educational background includes a bachelor of civil engineering from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia, a master of science in international construction management and a master of science in environmental engineering from the Nanyang Technological University of Singapore.

Mr. Ooi currently serves as the Director of Water Reclamation (Network) Department at PUB, the National Water Agency of Singapore, where he is responsible for the operations and maintenance of the entire sewerage networks in Singapore, including the Deep Tunnel Sewerage system. He also led in the Water Reclamation Plants’ Research and Innovation efforts aimed at improving operational efficiencies and energy self-sufficiency.

David Henderson
Managing Director, XPV Capital Corporation

Keynote topic: Achieving a Triple Bottom Line Benefit for Canada through Water Technology

As Managing Director of XPV Capital Corporation, David Henderson draws on his extensive investment and business development experience to help portfolio companies achieve their strategic and financial goals. His extensive international business dealings in Europe and Asia have helped XPV portfolio companies successfully complete valuable mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions and strategic partnerships. With his broad industry knowledge and networks he supports his companies through the complexities of building a successful global enterprise.

Before founding XPV Capital Corporation, Mr. Henderson was one of the first employees of the private merchant bank Kinghaven Capital Corporation, now VRG Capital.  At Kinghaven, he led or was involved in over 20 fundraising, M&A, and direct investment transactions. As the Vice President of Finance at GENSEL Biotechnologies, a Kinghaven Capital portfolio company, he helped the company raise multiple rounds of financings and enter into strategic partnerships with three leading multinationals.

Mr. Henderson is an advisor of Imagine H2O, has been published in several leading water magazines, and is a frequent speaker on the topic of water investing. He is a Director of Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship and is a founding member of the National Angel Capital Organization.

In recognition of his business and community achievements he has received the 2009 Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 Award, the 2006 ACE Distinguished Service Award, the 2004 SIFE Global Champion Award and the 1993 Ryerson Centre for Entrepreneurship Education & Research Award.

Mr. Henderson was educated at Ryerson University’s School of Business where he specialized in the Enterprise Development program.

• Mr. Henderson on Canada’s water strategy and his vision for Connecting Water Resources 2011 [3:18 video]

Hon. Peter Kent
Federal Minister of the Environment

The Hon. Peter Kent was first elected to the House of Commons in 2008, and in January 2011 was named Minister of the Environment. Before his election to the House of Commons, Mr. Kent was a broadcast journalist, having spent more than 40 years working as a writer, reporter, producer, anchor and senior executive in Canada, the United States and around the world.

He covered stories that shaped the 20th century, including momentous events such as the Yom Kippur War, the Vietnam and Cambodian conflicts and recovery, the Ethiopian famine, the overthrow of Idi Amin, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War.

Following his election, Mr. Kent was sworn into Cabinet as Canada’s first ever Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas). In this role, he was responsible for spearheading the government’s ambitious effort to further democracy, security and prosperity in the hemisphere. No stranger to the region, Mr. Kent covered stories throughout Central and South America as a correspondent for NBC during the 1980s. He won a number of awards over the course of his career for insightful reporting, including the prestigious Robert F. Kennedy Award. He is also a member of the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame.

A passionate believer in community involvement, Mr. Kent supports a number of charitable organizations. He has served as a mentor with the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council and was on the Toronto cabinet of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

He remains involved with the Toronto Conservatory of Music, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, and the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.

Gregory J. Koch
Managing Director
Global Water Stewardship
Environment & Water Resources
The Coca-Cola Company

Keynote topic: Water Stewardship at The Coca-Cola Company: Reduce, Recycle, Replenish

Gregory Koch joined The Coca-Cola Company in 1996. He has more than 20 years of experience in the environmental and engineering fields. His educational background includes a bachelor of science in mathematics from Columbus College, a bachelor of civil engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and an MS in civil engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Mr. Koch manages the global water stewardship initiative of The Coca-Cola Company. This work addresses the assessment and mitigation of water risks facing the global Coca-Cola business and includes setting strategic direction, development of standards and support in the areas of plant performance, water and wastewater treatment technologies, social engagement, communications, watershed management and key partnerships including Coca-Cola’s global partnership with WWF.

His experience at Coca-Cola includes two years as the executive assistant to the Vice President of Environment & Water Resources, and managing the company’s global due diligence and wastewater programs. He has also led and managed several strategic water resources projects, including partnerships with several public and private entities.

His prior experience includes nine years in environmental consulting and engineering design.

Hon. Glen Murray
Ontario Minister of Research and Innovation

The Hon. Glen Murray was appointed Ontario Minister of Research and Innovation on August 18, 2010. Throughout his distinguished career Mr. Murray has put public service above all else. Whether as a member of the Toronto Gay Patrol in 1983, the Co-Chair of Canadians for Equal Marriage, or serving as Mayor of Winnipeg and Chair of the Big City Mayors’ Caucus, Mr. Murray has been on the front lines of community health, urban planning and sustainable development.

Mr. Murray’s public service has led to several awards, including the Queen’s Jubilee Medal, the 2003 Fight for LGBT Justice and Equality award from Egale Canada, and, for his work with the aboriginal community, he was given the highest honour of an Eagle Feather. Mr. Murray was appointed President and CEO of the Canadian Urban Institute in 2007. He has served on several university, hospital and community boards, including the Expo 2015 Bid Committee, and was appointed by the Prime Minister of Canada, Paul Martin, to Chair the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, where he helped to shape environmental policy and respond to climate change in Canada.

Through his work in communities across Canada, his commitment to his constituents in Toronto Centre and the people of Ontario as Minister of Research and Innovation, Mr. Murray is a tireless champion for those who share the values of social justice, human rights and a sustainable world and future for us and our children.

Nicholas R. Parker
Executive Chairman, Cleantech Group

Keynote topic: The Changing Nature of the Global Environmental Market

Nicholas Parker co-founded the Cleantech Group, introducing the cleantech concept to the investment and business community in 2002. Previously, Mr. Parker accumulated over 15 years of experience starting and investing venture funds worldwide through limited partnerships, family offices, corporate funds and endowments. During this time, he pioneered the first sustainability-driven private equity funds and participated in one of the first solar IPOs. In the 1990s, he also founded, built and sold an environmental finance firm. He has served as an advisor to multilateral agencies and major corporations.

Mr. Parker earned a BA Hons. in technology studies from Carleton University in Ottawa and an MBA from City University in London, England. He has authored or edited more than ten publications related to cleantech, finance and international business, starting with Investing in Emerging Economies in 1993.

Mr. Parker served as Chairman of E+Co, a public purpose investment company for clean energy enterprises in developing countries, and is on several boards, including Government of Singapore Cleantech Advisory Board, Canadian Centre of Excellence for Commercialization of Research and the X PRIZE Energy & Environment Council. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce and has lived and worked in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. He currently resides in Toronto with his two children.

• Mr. Parker on the importance of water investment — where Canada leads and which opportunities Canadian innovators should seize — at Connecting Water Resources 2011: Responding to the Opportunities [3:49 video]

Dr. Gilles G. Patry
President and CEO, Canada Foundation for Innovation

Keynote topic: The Drive for Canadian Innovation in Water Research

In August 2010, Dr. Gilles Patry became the fourth President and CEO of the Canada Foundation for Innovation. After a long and distinguished career as a consultant, a researcher and a university administrator, Dr. Patry brings to the CFI a wealth of experience from both the private and academic sectors.

Dr. Patry holds a BASc and MASc in civil engineering from the University of Ottawa and a PhD from the University of California, Davis in environmental engineering. He was an environmental engineering consultant (1971–78) before becoming professor of civil engineering at École Polytechnique de Montréal (1978–83) and then at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario (1983–93). Dr. Patry’s research at McMaster led him to develop an innovative modelling concept to simulate wastewater treatment plant dynamics and ultimately to launch a Hamilton-based consulting company, Hydromantis, Inc. His research focuses on modelling, simulation and control of environmental systems.

Returning to the University of Ottawa as Dean of Engineering in 1993, Dr. Patry was instrumental in creating the School of Information Technology and Engineering, which was designed to provide leading-edge information technology research and education. In 1997, he became Vice-Rector (Academic) and fostered the creation of new institutes, academic programs and partnerships among the private sector, government and other post-secondary institutions. During his tenure as President and Vice-Chancellor (2001–08), Dr. Patry led the development and implementation of the university’s strategic plan Vision 2010, promoted the development of multidisciplinary initiatives, spearheaded the most successful fundraising campaign in the history of the University and initiated more than $300 million of capital investments on campus. He is now President Emeritus at the University of Ottawa.

Dr. Patry is a Member of the Order of Canada and a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering. He has received honorary doctorates from the University of Waterloo and McMaster University, and was named Executive of the Year in 2004 by the Regroupement des gens d’affaires of the National Capital Region. In 2009, he was also named Chevalier de l’Ordre de la Pléiade of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie.

(Gilles Patry photo © Jean-Marc Carisse)

Hon. Sandra Pupatello
Ontario Minister of Economic Development and Trade

Deemed a “relentless pursuer” of new investment and high-value jobs for all Ontarians, the Hon. Sandra Pupatello’s career in the Ontario legislature dates back to 1995 when she was first elected to the Windsor West riding.

Minister Pupatello was appointed to Cabinet in 2003. She has served as Minister of Education, Minister of Community and Social Services and Minister Responsible for Women’s Issues.

For the past three years Minster Pupatello has headed the Ontario government’s economic portfolio, as the Minister of Economic Development and Trade, and previously the Minister of International Trade and Investment. As part of her expanded portfolio, she now oversees Small Business, Economic Development, International Trade and Investment.

Minister Pupatello has deep roots in the Windsor community. She was named honorary member of the Rotary Club of Windsor and a Paul Harris Fellow. In 1996, she was named Italian of the Year in Windsor-Essex County. In 2001, the University of Windsor honoured her with the prestigious Charlie Clark Award for Outstanding Service. In March 2003, she was named “Windsor Woman of the Year.” In 2007, she received the prestigious Athena Award for the Windsor area, which recognizes men and women who provide a positive role model to encourage women to achieve their leadership potential in business. In January 2009, she was presented with the Award of Excellence in Community Service by The Canadian-Italian Business and Professional Association in Windsor.

Minister Pupatello also serves as a member of the 2015: Women and Expo Advisory Board, which is comprised of global leaders committed to breaking down the barriers that hinder the development of women.

Futures Panel Dialogue on Water Opportunities

Jean-François Barsoum
Senior Managing Consultant and Practice Leader, Green + Innovation Strategies, IBM

The Canadian leader of IBM’s Green + Innovation consulting practice, Jean-François Barsoum has worked on setting strategies in companies and organizations as diverse as financial institutions, higher education, professional associations, pharmaceutical companies and telecoms, and has been a featured speaker at conferences on innovation and corporate responsibility.

For the past seven years, Mr. Barsoum has spent much of his time promoting innovation and environmental issues with his customers and within IBM. He’s participated in international conferences on water and environmental management, led IBM’s ties with some NGOs in that field, and has shepherded IBM’s involvement in this area with several North American cities.

Selected by the Climate Project, Mr. Barsoum was among a handful of Canadians trained by Nobel Peace Prize Winner Al Gore, and became authorized to present the material seen in the movie An Inconvenient Truth to worldwide audiences. He currently leads the 1,000+ member worldwide Green IBM Community and is helping guide the worldwide Smarter Cities, Smarter Water, Corporate Responsibility and Green consulting practices.

Dr. Margaret Catley-Carlson
Vice Chair, World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Water Security

Throughout her entire career, Dr. Margaret Catley-Carlson has worked on global issues and the management of international economic and social development as a Canadian diplomat, Deputy Director General of UNICEF, President of the Canadian International Development Agency and of the New York-based Population Council.

She has served on close to two dozen Boards of global policy, science and international financial organizations. In agriculture, these have included service as Chair of the Crop Diversity Trust of the ICARDA and CABI Boards, the Syngenta Foundation Board, Fertilizer Development Council and The World Food Prize Advisory Council. For water management these have included Chair of the Global Water Partnership, Global Water Supply Sanitation Council, and the Suez Environment Advisory Board, the International Water Management Institute, the World Economic Forum and Davos work on Water Security. She is a Member of the UN Secretary General Advisory Board on Water, the Rosenberg Forum, and the Advisory Council to the Library of Alexandria. She has 10 Honorary Degrees and is a Companion of the Order of Canada.

• Dr. Catley-Carlson on the importance of local solutions to water problems and how they are facilitated by a global dialogue [3:08 video]

Dr. Robert (Bob) Page
TransAlta Professor of Environmental Management and Sustainability, University of Calgary

Dr. Bob Page  is the TransAlta Professor of Environmental Management and Sustainability in the Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy’s Energy and Environmental Systems Group at the University of Calgary. Dr. Page is known both nationally and internationally for his work on energy and the environment in areas such as climate change, emissions trading, biodiversity and protected spaces, environmental impact assessment, and policy and regulation.

He is the Chair of the Government of Canada’s National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, as well as the Chair of the management committee for the International Standards Organization 14000 series of international environmental standards.

From 1997 to 2007, Dr. Page was the Vice-President of Sustainable Development at TransAlta Corporation. Before joining TransAlta in 1997, he was a member of the Board of Directors for ENMAX Corp. He is the past Chair of the Board of the International Emissions Trading Association in Geneva and a former member of the Business Environment Leadership Council of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change in Washington, DC.

He holds an honours Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from Queen’s University and a PhD in international relations from Oxford University.

Dr. Hans Schreier
Professor, Faculty of Land & Food Systems, University of British Columbia

Dr. Hans Schreier is a professor in the Faculty of Land & Food Systems at the University of British Columbia. His research focuses on watershed management, land-water interactions, soil and water pollution and GIS. He has worked extensively in watershed studies in the Himalayan and Andean regions, and in Brazil, Honduras, Vietnam and Mongolia, as well as in British Columbia.

In 1996 he was recognized by the International Development Research Centre for his contribution to improve water resources management in the developing world. In 1999 he received the Manaaki Whenua Fellowship Award by Landcare Research in New Zealand.

He completed the Himalayan-Andean Watershed Project, which resulted in the production of nine multimedia CD-ROMs that highlighted and compared watershed projects in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Bhutan, Nepal and China. In 2000 he developed a web-based distance-education Certificate Program in Watershed Management that consists of five courses for graduate students and professionals from around the world. So far over 1,000 individuals from 24 countries have participated in the program. From 2003–07 he was  Co-Leader of the Canadian Water Network’s Watershed Program and he is a member of the Water Advisory Panel for the Columbia Basin Trust.

In 2004 Dr. Schreier received the Science in Action Award from the United Nations International Year of Fresh Water, Science & Education Program for outstanding work in making watershed management knowledge available in Canada and in developing countries. In 2008 he received the King Albert International Mountain Award for scientific accomplishment of lasting values to the world’s mountains from the King Albert I Memorial Foundation, Zurich, Switzerland.