• July 2026: We are delighted to announce that the Principal Investigator (PI) of our research group, Dr. Oliver Terna Iorhemen, has been granted tenure and promoted to Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC). This promotion represents a significant and well deserved milestone in Dr. Iorhemen’s academic career and reflects his sustained excellence in research, teaching, graduate student supervision, and service to the University and the broader academic community. The promotion and tenure take effect on July 1, 2026. Since joining UNBC, Dr. Iorhemen has established a vibrant and impactful research program focused on advancing sustainable environmental engineering solutions. His research group has made significant contributions in areas including water treatment, wastewater treatment and resource recovery, and emerging environmental technologies, while fostering strong collaborations with academic, industry, government, and community partners. This achievement recognizes Dr. Iorhemen’s dedication to scholarly excellence, leadership, and innovation, as well as his commitment to mentoring and inspiring the next generation of environmental engineers and researchers. It also marks an exciting new chapter for the research group as we continue to expand our research capacity, strengthen strategic partnerships, and develop innovative solutions to address pressing environmental challenges at local, national, and global scales. Please join us in congratulating Dr. Oliver Terna Iorhemen on this outstanding and well-earned accomplishment.
  • May 2026: Congratulations to Dr. Oliver Iorhemen on receiving the UNBC Excellence in Research Award at the 2026 UNBC Faculty Recognition Event. This prestigious award recognizes Dr. Iorhemen’s outstanding contributions to environmental engineering research, his sustained record of scholarly excellence, and his commitment to advancing innovative and impactful solutions to environmental challenges. The award also reflects his dedication to research leadership, collaboration, and the mentorship of highly qualified personnel. We are proud to celebrate this well-deserved recognition and this significant milestone in his academic career.
  • May 2026: Dr. Iorhemen has been awarded a UNBC–BC Real Estate Partnering Grant valued at $20,000 to establish a new research program focused on developing low-cost, engineered biochar-enhanced water treatment technologies for rural, remote, and small communities across Northern British Columbia. This project aims to advance sustainable and accessible water treatment solutions while addressing critical water quality challenges in underserved regions.
  • June 2024: UNBC’s team came second in the Capstone competition at the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE) 2024 Annual Conference in Niagara Fall, ON. The UNBC’s team was represented by Jacob Burke (who worked alongside Henry Flynn, Christopher Ross, and Avery Nystedt on the project). Their project: Stellat’en First Nation Wastewater Treatment System Upgrades was supervised by Dr. Oliver Iorhemen and sponsored by R. Radloff and Associates. The Capstone Design Project course is overseen by Prof. Mauricio Dziedzic.
  • May 2024: Dr. Oliver Iorhemen has won the UNBC Excellence in Teaching Award at the 2024 UNBC Faculty Recognition Event.
  • April 2024: Dr. Iorhemen has been awarded an NSERC Alliance International – Catalyst grant ($25,000) to initiate research collaboration on biofiltration as a nature-based climate adaptive and resilient system for water treatment in low resource contexts with Prof. Arumugam Sathasivan of the School of Engineering, Design and Built Environment, Western Sydney University, Australia.
  • November 2023: UNBC has been awarded $1,000,000 as a finalist in Natural Resources Canada’s Oil Spill Response Challenge for a proposed mobile system that integrates nano/micro bubble gas flotation with adsorption, for environmentally friendly and quick oil recovery from oily wastewater collected from oil spill response. This application was led by Dr. Jianbing Li and supported by Dr. Iorhemen as co-applicant.
  • November 2023: Dr. Iorhemen has been awarded the Research Strategic Initiatives Grant from UNBC to support the development of biofiltration as a cost-effective nature-based solution for water and wastewater treatment applications.
  • April 2023: Erik Groenenberg has been awarded a UNBC research project award for his research on Constructed Wetland Adaptation for the Northern BC Climate.
  • March 2023: Dr. Iorhemen has been awarded an NSERC Alliance International – Catalyst grant ($25,000) to initiate research collaboration on resource recovery from aerobic granular sludge biosolids with Prof. André Bezerra dos Santos from the Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.
  • December 2022: A paper titled ‘A review of the state of development of aerobic granular sludge technology over the last 20 years: Full-scale applications and resource recovery’, co-authored by Dr. Iorhemen has won the 2022 Best Paper Award for Case Studies in Chemical and Environmental Engineering (CSCEE).
  • October 2022: Dr. Jianbing Li (main applicant) and Dr. Oliver Iorhemen (co-applicant) have been announced as semifinalists in the Impact Canada Oil Spill Response Challenge! The pair is among 10 teams who each received $300,000 in the first stage of the challenge.  Li and Iorhemen are developing a mobile system that integrates nanobubble and microbubble gas flotation with adsorption for quick oil recovery.
  • April 2022: Dr. Iorhemen has been awarded the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) discovery grant ‘Resource recovery from biological wastewater treatment system and biosolids’.
  • October 2021: Dr. Iorhemen has won the UNBC General Research Fund on  ‘Phosphorus recovery from aerobic granular sludge’.