Rosa Galvez

Rosa Galvez (born June 21, 1961, Peru) is a Canadian Senator representing Québec (Bedford) and an expert in pollution and its effects on human health. She was appointed to the Senate on December 6, 2016. At the time of her appointment, she was a professor at Laval University and head of the university's Department of Civil Engineering and Water Engineering. Galvez has proposed the Climate-Aligned Finance Act, in hopes of creating dialogue about the finance sector's role in addressing climate change.

Early life
Rosa Galvez was born in Peru.

She is the oldest daughter of Elias Rogelio Galvez Rodriguez (a mathematician and professor at San Marcos University in Lima, Peru) and Juana Rosa Tantalean Angeles (accountant and teacher).

She first became interested in science at age ten when she chose to do a school assignment on pollution in Mexico City. Her interest led her to go beyond library research when she reached out to her town's municipality to learn about local waste management.

Education
Galvez earned her Bachelor of Civil Engineering at the National University of Engineering in Lima, Peru in 1985. After immigrating to Canada, she earned both her Master of Science (M.Sc.), Environmental Engineering Technology in 1989 and then her Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering in 1994 from McGill University.

Career
Galvez worked briefly for the Ministry of Housing in Lima, Peru and received professional training at Sedapal (Servicio de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado de Lima). There she became interested in the remediation of contaminated sites. She worked with the Pan-American Center for Sanitary Engineering (Centro Panamericano de Ingenieria Sanitaria, CEPIS, of the World Health Organization, WHO), before moving to Canada in March 1986.

From September 1986 to June 1994 while doing her master and Ph.D. studies at McGill she worked as research assistant and later as Research Associate at the Geotechnical Research Centre, Civil Eng. Department.

In 1994, Galvez joined the Department of Civil and Water Engineering at Laval University and served as head of the department from 2010 to 2016. Galvez was nominated to the Senate on December 6, 2016, on the advice of Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada.

Her academic research has focused on the area of pollution. Her research achievements include advising on international issues such as the protection of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River, studying the oil spill of Lac-Mégantic rail disaster, conducting studies for the Government of the Northwest Territories on mining and lands sustainability and discussed cumulative impacts of a British Columbia hydroelectric project on the Mackenzie watershed.

Areas of expertise

 * Water
 * Use of scrubbers for Wastewater treatment
 * Environment
 * Remediation of contaminated soil
 * Cleanup of urban lakes
 * Environmental Impact Assessment
 * Contaminant management in sediments
 * Hazardous waste management
 * Municipal solid waste management
 * Management of contaminated sites
 * Environmental Hydrogeology
 * Environmental decision support methods
 * Contaminant transport in the soil
 * Use of scrubbers for wastewater treatment

Achievements
One of Galvez's hallmark research achievements was the study of the catastrophic oil spill at Lac-Mégantic.

She advised the Commission for Environmental Cooperation on agreements between Canada and the United States and Quebec and Vermont on the protection of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.

Current research

 * Advanced study of unconventional oil behaviour, innovative emergency measures to surface water oil spills: protection of water sources, Partenariat, Conseil de recherches en sciences naturelles et génie Canada, Subventions de projets stratégiques (SPS), from September 30, 2016, to September 29, 2019.
 * Centre de recherche sur l'eau (CentrEau), Subvention, Institutionnel - BDR, BDR - Centres de recherche reconnus, from May 1, 2017, to April 30, 2022.
 * Effective implementation of sustainable remediation by the use of novel eco-processes and emerging genomic tools, Subvention, Conseil de recherches en sciences naturelles et génie Canada, Subventions à la découverte SD (individuelles et d'équipe), from April 1, 2017-04-01 to March 31, 2022.
 * Institut Hydro-Québec en environnement, développement et société (IHQEDS), Subvention, Institutionnel - BDR, Instituts reconnus, from May 1, 2011, to April 30, 2019.
 * Knowledge Network on Mining Encounters and Indigenous Sustainable Livelihoods: Cross-Perspectives from the Circumpolar North and Melanesia/Australia (MinErAL), Partenariat, Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines du Canada, Subvention de partenariat, from April 1, 2016, to March 31, 2022.
 * Lac Mégantic : évaluation stratégique de l'urgence environnementale, outils intégrés d'évaluation des impacts cumulatifs, transformation et transport de contaminants, Partenariat, Conseil de recherches en sciences naturelles et génie Canada, Subventions de recherche et développement coopérative (RDC), du April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2018.
 * Suivi environnemental de la mise en lumière du pont Jacques-Cartier, Subvention, Les ponts Jacques Cartier et Champlain incorporée, du 2016-12-19 au 2019-03-31
 * Valorisation des plastiques de la collecte sélective en matériaux composites - Étude de cas chez Gaudreau Environnement Inc., Partenariat, Conseil de recherches en sciences naturelles et génie Canada, Subventions de recherche et développement coopérative (RDC), du 2015-01-01 au 2018-07-27

Awards
Rosa Galvez has received many awards, including the following:


 * 2023, Honorary Fellow, Canadian Academy of Engineering
 * 2023, Top 25 Women of Influence, Women of Influence+
 * 2022, Regional Policy Award, Ecological Society of America (ESA)
 * 2021, Clean50 Award for the Public Sector
 * 2021, Elected Chair, Parliamentary Network on Climate Change (PNCCS), ParlAmericas
 * 2019, Fellow, Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE)
 * 2018, Meritorious Service Award for Professional Service, Engineers Canada
 * Member, Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec
 * Member, Consejo Científico Tecnológico Internacional (CCTI) del Encuentro Científico Internacional
 * Member, Engineers Without Borders

Journal papers and book chapters

 * Galvez, R. (2012) Two methods for the recovery of ecosystems affected by road runoff. In Drainage and stormwater management. Syntheses of best practices road salt management. Transportation Association of Canada: special issue on Synthesis of success in road salt management. 2-34.
 * Galvez, R. (2012) Two methods for the recovery of ecosystems affected by road runoff. In Drainage and stormwater management. Syntheses of best practices road salt management. Transportation Association of Canada: special issue on Synthesis of success in road salt management. 2-34.
 * Galvez, R. (2012) Two methods for the recovery of ecosystems affected by road runoff. In Drainage and stormwater management. Syntheses of best practices road salt management. Transportation Association of Canada: special issue on Synthesis of success in road salt management. 2-34.
 * Galvez, R. (2012) Two methods for the recovery of ecosystems affected by road runoff. In Drainage and stormwater management. Syntheses of best practices road salt management. Transportation Association of Canada: special issue on Synthesis of success in road salt management. 2-34.
 * Galvez, R. (2012) Two methods for the recovery of ecosystems affected by road runoff. In Drainage and stormwater management. Syntheses of best practices road salt management. Transportation Association of Canada: special issue on Synthesis of success in road salt management. 2-34.
 * Galvez, R. (2012) Two methods for the recovery of ecosystems affected by road runoff. In Drainage and stormwater management. Syntheses of best practices road salt management. Transportation Association of Canada: special issue on Synthesis of success in road salt management. 2-34.
 * Galvez, R. (2012) Two methods for the recovery of ecosystems affected by road runoff. In Drainage and stormwater management. Syntheses of best practices road salt management. Transportation Association of Canada: special issue on Synthesis of success in road salt management. 2-34.
 * Galvez, R. (2012) Two methods for the recovery of ecosystems affected by road runoff. In Drainage and stormwater management. Syntheses of best practices road salt management. Transportation Association of Canada: special issue on Synthesis of success in road salt management. 2-34.
 * Galvez, R. (2012) Two methods for the recovery of ecosystems affected by road runoff. In Drainage and stormwater management. Syntheses of best practices road salt management. Transportation Association of Canada: special issue on Synthesis of success in road salt management. 2-34.
 * Galvez, R. (2012) Two methods for the recovery of ecosystems affected by road runoff. In Drainage and stormwater management. Syntheses of best practices road salt management. Transportation Association of Canada: special issue on Synthesis of success in road salt management. 2-34.
 * Galvez, R. (2012) Two methods for the recovery of ecosystems affected by road runoff. In Drainage and stormwater management. Syntheses of best practices road salt management. Transportation Association of Canada: special issue on Synthesis of success in road salt management. 2-34.
 * Galvez, R. (2012) Two methods for the recovery of ecosystems affected by road runoff. In Drainage and stormwater management. Syntheses of best practices road salt management. Transportation Association of Canada: special issue on Synthesis of success in road salt management. 2-34.
 * Galvez, R. (2012) Two methods for the recovery of ecosystems affected by road runoff. In Drainage and stormwater management. Syntheses of best practices road salt management. Transportation Association of Canada: special issue on Synthesis of success in road salt management. 2-34.
 * Galvez, R. (2012) Two methods for the recovery of ecosystems affected by road runoff. In Drainage and stormwater management. Syntheses of best practices road salt management. Transportation Association of Canada: special issue on Synthesis of success in road salt management. 2-34.
 * Galvez, R. (2012) Two methods for the recovery of ecosystems affected by road runoff. In Drainage and stormwater management. Syntheses of best practices road salt management. Transportation Association of Canada: special issue on Synthesis of success in road salt management. 2-34.