Welcome!

Welcome to the Graduate Student Symposium! This event is a chance for SENS students to present their work using short (3-5 min) presentations. Following the opening of the symposium, there will be a morning session of student presentations, followed by lunch (provided). The afternoon session includes a keynote address, SENS alumni talk, and four longer student showcase talks, followed by a mixer event with light refreshments.

Student presentations are judged on their quality and clarity by SENS faculty, staff, students, and guests, and the top choices are awarded a small prize (and bragging rights). After watching the students' presentations, please use this judging form to score them.

The symposium will be a hybrid event, held in-person in rooms 2C61, 2C71, 2D77, and 2E25 of the Agriculture building (see map of 2nd floor), located at 51 Campus Drive in Saskatoon (view map), and via Zoom (link). There is paid parking available in the parkade underneath the Agriculture building (view map), and there is direct access to the building directly from the parkade.

We will use this Zoom link for all aspects of the symposium. Attendees can move between sessions using the breakout room feature. Note that you may need to enable this feature in Zoom to access the breakout rooms (instructions).

General Schedule

August 28, 2025

Time	Location	Activity
8:00 - 9:00	Outside 2C61	Registration
9:00 - 9:05	2C61	Welcome from SENS Dr. Andrew Ireson, Acting Assistant Director (Internal)
9:05 - 9:40	2C61	Opening of the Symposium Elder Julie Pitzel
9:40 - 9:45	2C61	SENS Executive Director's Message Dr. Karsten Liber
9:45 - 10:00		Break
10:00 - 11:00	See schedule below	Concurrent Sessions A, B, C, & D: Student presentations (in-person and online; see above for Zoom link) Please use this judging form to score the presentations.
11:00 - 11:15		Break
11:15 - 12:15	See schedule below	Concurrent Sessions A, B, C, & D (continued): Student presentations (in-person and online; see above for Zoom link) Please use this judging form to score the presentations.
12:15 - 1:15	Outside 2C61	Catered lunch (complimentary for all)
1:15 - 2:00	2C61	Keynote Address: Christine Markel
2:00 - 2:20	2C61	SENS Alumni Talk: Aubrey-Anne Laliberte Pewapisconias
2:20 - 2:35		Break
2:35 - 3:35	2C61	SENS Showcase Presentations (see below for schedule)
3:35 - 4:00	2C61	Awards and wrap up Dr. Andrew Ireson, Acting Assistant Director (Internal)
4:00 - 5:00	Outside 2C61	Celebration mixer (refreshments will be served)

Concurrent Sessions Schedule

Session A: (Room 2C61, 10:00 AM - 12:15 PM; Chair: Andrew Ireson)

Time	Student	Program	Presentation title	Partner organization(s)	Supervisor(s)
10:00	David Abad	MSs-Regenerative Sustainabililty	Determining the Life Cycle Carbon Benefits of Lumber Sourcing from Grain Elevator Deconstruction	ABMT Wood Solutions/Timberwood Innovations; Vereco Consulting and Design	Colin Whitfield
10:07	Ali Abasalt	MSs-Energy Security	Feasibility Study of Artificial Light Application on a Solar Panel in a Controlled Environment	Pioneer Solar and Renewables	Oscar Zapata
10:14	Olaitan Abiona	MWS	Phosphorus management and communications for agricultural and environmental goals		Helen Baulch
10:21	Stephen Ablorh	MSs-Regenerative Sustainability	HOLOS modeling to evaluate best management practices on agricultural GHG emissions	Bridge to Land Water Sky	Colin Whitfield
10:28	Isaac Agyei	MSs-Regenerative Sustainabililty	Documenting land cover changes on crown lands with Wildlife Habitat Protection Act status in the Redberry Lake Biosphere Region	Redberry Lake Biosphere Region	Varuni Jayasooriya
10:35	Hilary Umeokeke	MWS	Temperature Turbidity Relationship	Water Security Agency	Tim Jardine
10:42	Afsaneh Mortezazadeh Mahani (IN-PERSON; presenting with Chantal Corriveau)	MWS	Mapping Anthropogenic Surface and Linear Disturbances to Support Breeding Bird Habitat Modelling in Central Yukon	Wildlife Conservation Society (Chrystal Mantyka-Pringle & Austin Zeller)	Markus Hecker
10:49	Chantal Corriveau (ONLINE; presenting with Afsaneh Mortezazadeh Mahani)	MWS	Cumulative Effects of Placer Mining: The effects of restoration on breeding birds	Wildlife Conservation Society	Markus Hecker
10:56	Jaidan Stockill (ONLINE)	MSs-Regenerative Sustainabililt	International Biomass Rating Agency Framework and Training Materials	Ecostrat	Garrett Richards & Jordan Solomon
11:00 - 11:15 BREAK
11:15	Anas Ansari	MSs- Regenerative Sustainability	Bird-Window Collision Risk Assessment and Baseline Inventory for the City of Saskatoon	City of Saskatoon	James Robson & Shannon Dyck
11:22	Mona Elnenaey	MSs-Regenerative Sustainabililty	Bird-Friendly City Designation Policy, Approaches, and Municipal Best Practices	City of Saskatoon	James Robson & Shannon Dyck
11:29	Aimal Yousafzai	MSs-Energy Security	Regulatory Roadmap for Utility-scale Solar Energy Projects in British Columbia	Aries Environmental Consulting	Jean-Michel DeVink
11:36	Joyce Lutterodt	MWS	Threshold snow depth and flows for ice cover cracking along the Churchill River (Labrador)	C-Core (Michael Lynch)	Karl-Erich Lindenschmidt
11:43	Nene Onumah	MSs-Regenerative Sustainabililt	Assessing the impact of climate change on canola yields in Western Canada	Federated Co-operatives Limited (Katherine Palmer)	Garrett Richards
11:50	Wes Moir (ONLINE)	MES	The First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun, Yukon First Nation Salmon Stewardship Alliance, Council of Yukon First Nations		Tim Jardine & Chrystal Mantyka-Pringle
11:57
12:04

Session B: (Room 2E25, 10:00 AM - 12:15 PM; Chair: Markus Brinkmann)

Time	Student	Program	Presentation title	Partner organization(s)	Supervisor(s)
10:00	Aisha Adelah	MSs-Regenerative Sustainabililty	Impacts of Invasive Species on the Dynamics of Plant Communities and Fire Regimes in Native Grassland Ecosystems of Saskatchewan, Canada	Meewasin Valley Authority/CPPEE (Roy Vera-Velez)	Douglas Clark
10:07	Praise Taiwo	MWS	Assessment of drinking water quality and funding dynamics for testing kits in Candian public schools: trends in result reporting and the evolution of regulatory standards	Drinking Water Foundation Canada (Nicole Hancock)	Corinne Schuster-Wallace
10:14	Nana Boakye	MWS	Assessment of drinking water quality in SK public schools and the evolution of regulatory standards	Drinking Water Foundation Canada (Nicole Hancock)	Corinne Schuster-Wallace
10:21	Abdulbasit Aliyu	MWS	Evaluation of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) Leaching from Biosolids Applied to the Agricultural Field through Undisturbed Soil Columns	City of Saskatoon (Mike Sadowski)	Markus Brinkmann
10:28	Majid Sabbagh Farshi	MWS	Modeling Green Roof Runoff Using EPA SWMM: Calibration Based on MOST Experimental Data for Evaluating Different Soil Depth Impacts	MOST Facility/GIWS	Jeff McDonnell
10:35	Suvasish Das	MWS	Improving Predictions of Snowmelt/Rainfall Runoff Over Frozen Soils in Flood Forecasting Models	Environment and Climate Change Canada (Vincent Vionnet & Benjamin Bouchard)	Andrew Ireson
10:42	Qi Wang	MWS	Numerical Modelling of Groundwater Flow and Contaminant Transportation from a Nutrient Leaching Site	Pinter and Associates, Ltd.	Andrew Ireson
10:49	Diego Galdamez (ONLINE)	MES	Assessing the socioeconomic impacts of renewable energy projects on northern communities of Canada	Community Appropriate Sustainable Energy Security (CASES)	Oscar Zapata & Greg Poelzer
10:56	Courtney Cielen (ONLINE)	MWS	Isotopic Analysis of Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) Diet	Water Security Agency (Iain Phillips)	Tim Jardine
11:00-11:15	BREAK
11:15	Chelsea Nyarko	MSs-Regenerative Sustainability	Ecological grassland restoration at the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area	Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas	Helen Baulch
11:22	Liying Chen	MSs-Regenerative Sustainabililty	Developing an EDI guide for TRANSECTS	TRANSECTS	Maureen Reed, John Boakye-Danquah
11:29	Precious Samuel	MSs-Regenerative Sustainabililty	TBD
11:36	Melaku Tarekegn	MWS	Guidelines for Hydraulic Conditions: Study of Unsteady Flow Impact on Hydraulic Structure Design	Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure (Bin Liu)	Karl-Erich Lindenschmidt
11:43	Joseph Unabor	MSs-Regenerative Sustainabililty	Zero plastic waste by 2030 (A review of plastic waste practices and plastic management recommendations for the City of Regina)	City of Regina (Gail Tilson & Ericka Bourlon)	Markus Brinkmann
11:50-12:11	Chioma Ukonu, Mesharck Ugbana, & Agede Musa (ONLINE)	MSs-Regenerative Sustainabililty	TBD

Session C: (Room 2C71, 10:00 AM - 12:15 PM; Chair: Elaina Guilmette)

Time	Student	Program	Presentation title	Partner organization(s)	Supervisor(s)
10:00	Alima Zhu (Lin)	MSs -Regenerative Sustainability	Planning for traditional medicinal plants in the RLBR: integrating mapping, propogation and outreach	Redberry Lake Biosphere Region	Vladimir Kricsfalusy
10:07	Kamrun Nahar Sonia	MSs-Regenerative Sustainability	Designing Diverse Habitats with Native Plants at the Interpretive and Research Centre in the Redberry Biosphere Region.	Redberry Lake Biosphere Region	Vladimir Kricsfalusy
10:14	Mackenzie Bunett	MES	Examining Collaborative Eco-restoration in the Western Boreal Forest of Canada	Northwest Communities Environmental Services and Denison Mines	Maureen Reed & Katherine Stewart
10:21	Andrew Batycki	MES	Peer Learning and wetland management: a case study of farmers		Maureen Reed & Helen Baulch
10:28	Augustine Bello	MSs-Regenerative Sustainability	Developing and Integrating Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Principles Checklist into Canadian Biosphere Regions Operations	Canadian Biosphere Reserve Association (CBRA)	Maureen Reed
10:35	Oluwatosin Falade	MWS	Evaluation of ERA5 Precipitation Data against Station Data over Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Canada	Global Institute for Water Security	Saman Razavi
10:42	Jethro Opara	MWS	Effect of Climate Change on Ice Jam Flood Hazard in Fort Liard	Government of Northwest Territories	Karl-Erich Lindenschmidt
10:49	Amelia Smart (ONLINE)	MWS	Analysis of Snowpack on Ski Runs at Nakiska Ski Area Using the Cold Regions Hydrological Modelling Platform	Centre for Hydrology, University of Saskatchewan	John Pomeroy
10:56	Sayeed Mahadi (ONLINE)	MSs-Regenerative Sustainability	Evaluaion of farming practices to reduce canola carbon intensity in western Canada and analysis of canola CI across regions and jurisdictions	Federated Co-operatives Limited	Varuni Jayasooriya
11:00-11:15	BREAK
11:15	Ana Alvarez Caiza	PhD	Do Nitrogen Inputs and Sediment Exposure Affect GHG Fluxes in Pothole Wetlands?	MITACS	Colin Whitfield
11:22	Sarah Diab	MSs-Regenerative Sustainability	Wetlands Restoration	Friends of Saskatoon Afforestation Areas	Colin Whitfield
11:29	Keshari Tiwari		Water Quality Implications of Wake Boat Use on Prairie Lakes	Water Security Agency	Helen Baulch
11:36	Sara Zabihi Samani	MWS	Effect of Climate Change on Ice Jam Flood Hazard in Prince Albert	Environment and Climate Change Canada (Faud Yassin)	Karl-Erich Lindenschmidt
11:43	Runa Akter	MES	Evaluating optimal pixel size and filtering techniques for tree height estimation using UAV based LiDAR CHM	Agriculture Agri Food Canada	Dr. Colin Laroque and Dr. Fardausi Akhter Shathi
11:50 - 12:04	Zaid Al-Shamayleh & Sourov Mutsuddy	MSs- Energy Security	TBD	First Nations Power Authority (Guy Lonechild)	Elaina Guilmette
12:04

Session D: (Room 2D77, 10:00 AM - 12:15 PM; Chair: Karl Lindenschmidt)

Time	Student	Program	Presentation title	Partner organization(s)	Supervisor(s)
10:00	Majid Dehghani Sanij	MES	Hydroclimatic Analysis of the Upper Assiniboine River Basin: Understanding Historical Trends and Possible Flood Mechanism Change in Canadian Prairies	Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure	Saman Razavi
10:07	Jason Cook-Studer	MSs - Energy Security	Hall Lake Biomass project	Lac La Ronge Indian Band	Oscar Zapata
10:14	Mary Olaniyi	MWS	Viability of fecal streptococcus as an indicator of surface water quality	Water Security Agency, John-Mark Davies	Markus Brinkmann
10:21	Linda Morales	MES	Playing for the future: Participatory energy transition in remote communities		Oscar Zapata
10:28	Dogukan Cakar	MSs-Regenerative Sustainability	Sustainable Waste Management: Assessing Cost-Effective Technologies/Strategies to Enhance Waste Diversion in Regina	City of Regina	Varuni Jayasooriya
10:35	Anjan Kumar Das	MWS	Water quality-based risk assessment of Saskatchewan waterbodies for establishment of dreissenid populations (Zebra & Quagga mussels)	Water Security Agency (John-Mark Davies)	Markus Brinkmann
10:42	Nunia Nwidadah	MWS	Per- and Poly-Fluoroalkyl compounds (PPFCs) in the Canadian Environment, Status and Trends	Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan	Paul Jones
10:49	Tomika Pinay (ONLINE)	MSs-Energy Security	Risk Management and Resilience in Saskatchewan's Energy Systems		Oscar Zapata
10:56	Julie Enman (ONLINE)	MWS	Emergence Flux of Chironomids from a Saskatchewan Marsh	Water Security Agency (Iain Phillips)	Tim Jardine
11:00-11:15	BREAK
11:15	Stephanie Le Courtois	MES	The value of engaging in collaborative demonstration projects supporting sustainable land management in central SK, Canada	Muskeg Lake Cree Nation & Rederry Lake Biosphere Region	Maureen Reed & Katherine Stewart
11:22	Samuel Ogyana	MSs-Regenerative Sustainability	Electric vehicle battery lifecycle and its environmental impacts	City of Saskatoon - Sustainability	Paul Jones
11:29	Malki Manawadu	MWS	The role of green roofs in urban stormwater management: insights from isotopic tracing	MOST Facility	Jeffrey McDonnell
11:36	Ibrahim Sadare	MWS	Regionalization of ice-jam floods along the Athabasca RIver Basin using a stochastic modelling framework: A reach-based extrapolation from Fort McMurray to Fort Mackay, Embarras and Old Fort	Environment and Climate Change Canada (Apurba Das)	Karl-Erich Lindenschmidt
11:43	Aram Jalali Bouraban	PhD	Exposed Bedrock in the Subarctic Taiga Shield: DOC Sink or Source?	Environment and Climate Change Canada	Colin Whitfield and Chris Spence
11:50
11:57
12:04

SENS Showcase Presentations Schedule

Room 2C61

Time	Speaker	Presentation title
2:35 - 2:50	Chloe Canning
2:50 - 3:05	Gilbert Adum
3:05 - 3:20	Michaela Sidloski
3:20 - 3:35	Danielle Spence