Chair’s welcome

On behalf of the conference organizing committee, I am delighted to invite you to attend the international conference on Assessing pathogen fate, transport and risk in natural and engineered water treatment in beautiful Banff, Alberta, Canada from September 23–26, 2012.

This conference is a follow-up to the highly successful 2009 international conference on Microbial transport and survival in the subsurface and other porous media, held in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, which attracted more than 120 participants from over 10 countries.

The assessment of pathogen fate, transport and risk in natural and engineered water treatment is of great relevance to numerous applications, including riverbank filtration, aquifer storage and recovery, rapid sand filtration, water reuse, and evaluation of ground water under the direct influence of surface water to name but a few.

A diverse and internationally recognized group of speakers including biologists, colloid scientists, engineers, experts in risk assessment, hydrogeologists, and regulators will present the latest science, trends and developments in research and practice related to these applications and others that require assessment of pathogen fate, transport and risk in natural and engineered water treatment.

This conference provides a rare opportunity for interaction with colleagues of diverse backgrounds and training who are interested in applying such transdisciplinary scientific outcomes to solving various problems, from water quality analysis and treatment to risk assessment and regulation.

A critical goal of our conference is to bring together state-of-the-art researchers and make their work accessible to key end users — regulators, utilities, private organizations, funding agencies and academics.

Please consider submitting an abstract by April 20, 2012 for oral or poster presentation.

I look forward to seeing you in Banff on September 23–26, 2012!

Dr. Monica B. Emelko
Conference Chair
Associate Professor
University of Waterloo