Ready, Set, Network!

Water and Air treatment professional with strong foundation in Carbon Adsorption, Advanced Oxidation, Filtration, and Reverse Osmosis with field experience in Equipment Startup, Project Management and Troubleshooting. Two and half years of research experience in Ozone wastewater treatment and Supercritical Water Oxidation (SCWO) of Biomass.

Bruce Taylor is the founder and President of Enviro-Stewards Inc., which is a social venture that has been selected by B lab as one of the Best Companies for the World and by the UN Global Compact Network Canada for their Sustainable Development Goal award. Enviro-Stewards’ projects for Tim Hortons, Andrew Peller, Southbrook Winery, Dextran, Maple Leaf Foods, Maple Lodge, Campbell Company of Canada and a food loss project at 50 Food Processors have each won Clean50 national sustainability awards.

Mr. Taylor graduated from U of W in chemical engineering, is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, and was selected as the top sustainability consultant in Canada (Clean 16) for 2022. He has 31 years of experience in the fields of water and energy conservation, pollution prevention, sustainable development and treatment process design. He has won the highest awards in the Pollution Prevention field in both Canada and the United States.

In 2004, Enviro-Stewards founded the Safe Water Social Venture Project to empower communities in South Sudan and Uganda to construct water purification systems using locally available materials. The locally owned and operated projects are taught business principles and sales techniques to help local residents understand that investing in safe water is typically 10 times less expensive than their current expenditures on water related illnesses.

Kate Schwartz is a Research Assistant and Biologist at the River Institute, with a lifelong passion for environmental science and education. Her journey began at age 11 when she attended the Institute’s “Ecofriends” day camp, fostering her interest in nature. She progressed to the Junior Scientist camp and, by 16, joined the River Institute as a summer intern. Over the years, Kate has contributed to various research projects, often leading field crews in activities such as seine netting and water quality assessments. She also shares her enthusiasm for the natural world through educational initiatives, including nature journaling sessions and workshops on water quality monitoring.

Emily Zegers is Manager of Toronto Water’s Process, Innovation and Energy team.  A wastewater process engineer with 25 years of water industry experience, her focus areas include wastewater process optimization, instrumentation and data management, process-driven capital planning, and greenhouse gas mitigation. Emily is a member of a past chair of the WEAO/OWWA Climate Change Committee and a member of several utility knowledge sharing networks including the CWN Net Zero National Advisory Committee, the WEF GHG Sub-Committee, and the IWA Climate Smart Utilities GHG Group.  She holds a degree in Civil Engineering from Queen’s University and a Class 4 Ontario wastewater treatment license.

Stephen Braun has over 30 years of water resources experience in stormwater quality, urban drainage, riverine flooding, stream restoration, civil design, environmental assessment, and multi-disciplinary studies. Stephen is a senior water resources engineer at Matrix Solutions Inc. and is currently President of the Canadian Water Resources Association. He is also a founding partner of CB Shield Inc. and co-inventor of several commercially available stormwater treatment devices.