Dr. Eugenia Addy, a versatile scientist, educator, speaker, and community organizer, boasts an impressive academic background with a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Toronto. With a passion for community advocacy spanning over 15 years, Dr. Addy has developed and implemented numerous children and youth initiatives across more than 40 "low-income" communities. She is the CEO of Visions of Science, a charitable organization with the mission of transforming communities, society, and the planet through equitable access to STEM.

Dr. Behzadfar is a faculty member at Toronto Metropolitan University’s Creative School. He joined academia in 2018 after spending more than four years in the packaging industry. With the decline of natural resources, his research focuses on developing sustainable solutions for polymeric material design. His approach is understanding the structure-process-property relationship in polymers and bio-composite materials through fundamental approaches to modern physics. He is the author of more than 25 peer-reviewed journal papers and has presented their research findings at several conferences.

Taylor Stimpson holds a B.Eng & Society and MASc in Chemical Engineering from McMaster University and has over 6 years of expertise in interfacial engineering with a focus on bio-based, sustainable, and compostable materials. She is, at heart, a passionate problem-solver and environmentalist working to lead systems change toward a more climate-positive, equitable, and socially-just future, letting her passion guide her to her current role as Program Manager at the Academy for Sustainable Innovation (ASI).

Esmeralda Bukuroshi completed her PhD in chemical engineering at the University of Toronto, specializing in material engineering for organic solar cells. During her PhD, she developed an interest in science policy and explored roles leaning more toward science advocacy. With her previous co-op experience as a chemist at Nova Chemicals, she went on to take a role as a Senior Analyst for more than a year before joining her current role as a Lead of COVID Response Operations at Ontario Health.

Loïse Perruchoud completed her PhD in chemistry at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC). Through her time at UTSC, she gained not just research experience, but also teaching and administrative experience, eventually becoming a lab coordinator and sessional lecturer at U of T. With her broad skill set, she is now an integral part of Liven Proteins, a food technology start-up, as their Operations Manager.

Dr. Alison Ewart is currently Dean of the Centre for Research and Innovation at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario. She completed her PhD in organic chemistry from the University of British Columbia and began her career at Mitacs, holding several different leadership positions within the organization before moving to Fanshawe.

After obtaining his BASc in Chemical Engineering and working in the oil and gas industry for a few years, Matthew Small decided to make a career shift and worked toward the MBA program at the Rotman School of Management. From there, he embarked on a new journey in the clean energy space and became the Director of Project Development at StormFisher Hydrogen, a developer and operator of hydrogen-based clean fuel production facilities.

Curiosity has led Dr. Joel Citulski to start his journey in chemistry as a way to understand the world around him at a more fundamental level. With his passion for sustainability and water stewardship, he continued to pursue and complete his Master's and Ph.D. in environmental engineering at the University of Guelph, where he met his husband. Fast forward to today, Joel has utilized his Ph.D.-level engineering expertise and 15+ years of experience in water/wastewater systems to advance his career as Industrial Process Engineering Manager at Suez Water Technologies and Solutions.

During his time as a Ph.D. student at the University of Brasília, Dr. Falcao has grown interest in computer programming and its application in the chemistry field. After a life-changing incident, he decided to start over, move to Canada and complete his Computer Programming diploma - in the middle of a global pandemic. Combining his love for computers and a Ph.D.-level knowledge in chemistry, Dr. Falcao excels in his role as Lab and Operations Coordinator at Velocity Incubator, where he provides support and coordinates lab activities for deep-tech startups.

Dr. Sloane Evariste is a Funded Research Officer in the Faculty of Arts & Science at The University of Toronto. She is the lead support person for the Sciences Sectoral units, with a primary focus on supporting grant application development for faculty members. Through her extensive research and travel experiences, Sloane gained valuable skills including grant writing, a solid understanding of the importance of research funding for advancing research, as well as strong communication and relationship building.

Monica Kwong graduated from the Chemical Engineering program at Ryerson in 2018 and is currently working toward her P.Eng license. Having worked at Sofina Foods as both a co-op student and full-time Process Engineer, Monica leveraged her expertise in the food industry to advance her career as Operation Leads at Ingredion Incorporated, a leading global ingredients solutions company. Besides that, she has demonstrated excellent leadership volunteering for various organizations, including her role as CIC Toronto’s chair in 2017.

Dr. Todd Hoare is a Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at McMaster University and the Canada Research Chair in Engineered Smart Materials. Research in the Hoare Laboratory for Engineered Smart Materials focuses on hydrogel and cross linked polymer networks - in drug delivery, agriculture, anti-infective surfaces, tissue engineering and various other applications.

Cover photo credit: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), 2022