Presenter Biographies
Below is a closer look at the presenters, their backgrounds, and the topics they will be covering.
People’s Own Organic Power (POOP) Project, US
Rich Earth Summit Facilitator
Shawn Shafner is an interdisciplinary artist, educator and activist based in Washington, DC. Founder of The People’s Own Organic Power (POOP) Project, he has created award-winning theater, film, podcasts, a book, and countless educational events to catalyze conversation about sustainable sanitation. Shawn loves collaborating with the eco-toilet community on messaging, research, fundraising and more! Let’s make a splash together :) www.shawnshafner.com
Jamina Shupack
Rich Earth Institute, US
Rich Earth Summit Facilitator
Jamina is interested in any system that treats waste as a resource, especially when it comes to sanitation. She joined the Rich Earth team in 2021. She sees improving the sanitation systems in the United States and beyond as a vital component in the fight against climate change. Jamina holds a Bachelors in Environmental Science with a minor in Biology from the University of Oregon. She comes to the world of circular sanitation after 12 years as an educator. In her spare time, she can often be found working on a sewing project, cooking for her community, embarking on a bike tour, or swimming in the closest body of water.
Jeff Meilander
Northern Arizona University, US
TOPIC: Microbial Succession of Human Feces in Self-Contained Composting Toilets
Jeff Meilander is a Biology PhD Candidate in the Caporaso Lab at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff Arizona where he studies the microbiomes of human fecal composting using composting toilets. Jeff has 20 years of experience working as a professional educator and as the Executive Director of the Flagstaff EcoRanch, a non-profit sustainability education center focused on sustainable agriculture he founded in 2012.
Florent Brun
Programme OCAPI - Laboratoire eau, environnement et systèmes urbains - Ecole nationale des ponts et chaussées, France
TOPIC: The Kolos project demonstrator
Florent Brun is a doctoral student at LEESU in engineering and environmental sciences, and coordinator of the Kolos project. After a career as a sanitation engineer, combining project management, contracting and knowledge dissemination in associative networks such as the Ecological Sanitation Network, he entered research, focusing on the socio-technical analysis of channels for valorizing human excreta as fertilizer. His research is based on action research with a transformative and operational vocation. This has led him to focus on (i) the conditions for organizing such channels, linking the worlds of agriculture and sanitation, and (ii) the mechanisms for demonstrating and replicating the use of these fertilizers.
Isa Elegbede Olalekan
Lasu, Nigeria
TOPIC: Innovative Nutrient Recycling: Enhancing Fish Production in Africa Using Animal and Human Urine
Isa Elegbede's research focuses on sustainability of marine and coastal resources and circular economy with the focus on promoting food security.
Bryan Horsley
Barnstable County Department of Health and Environment - MASSTC, US
TOPIC: What's up with UD on Cape Cod
Bryan joined the MASSTC team in 2020 where he helps out with a wide range of projects from installing and testing innovative nutrient removing septic systems to facilitating acceptance of ecological sanitation practices for pollution source control. A lifelong Cape Codder and avid outdoorsman, he is passionate about protecting and restoring the Cape's environment. He earned a B.A. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a focus in Conservation Biology and Old Norse studies. Although relatively new to the wastewater field, he has a significant background in related environmental topics including coastal ecology, limnology, ecological restoration, stormwater management and of course, ecological sanitation.
Ryan Smith & Alisa Keesey
GiveLove, US and Uganda
TOPIC: Obstacles and Opportunities for Disrupting Flush Toilets: three case studies from Uganda and the USA
Ryan Smith is a municipal wastewater professional and waterless sanitation evangelist. He manages the wastewater treatment facility in Watsonville, and has a bachelor's degree in agriculture from Cal Poly SLO and a master's degree in security studies from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey. Ryan found a passion for container-based sanitation while researching his master's thesis topic, that explores the problem area of traditional wastewater systems and their vulnerabilities to natural disasters and climate change. He interviewed Alisa for this research and they have since become close friends while developing this unique pilot project together. You can read Ryan's thesis here. When not managing other people's excreta, Ryan spends as much time as possible outdoors hiking and noodling on the future of our planet and ecosystems.
Alisa Keesey brings over 25 years of experience as a program officer to the program design and applied research that ground GiveLove's EcoSan programs. As co-founder of COVOL, she worked with women’s groups and farmers to improve food security, increase household income, and establish the first fair trade shea butter cooperatives in northern Uganda. Alisa holds a B.A. in International Relations from San Francisco State University, a M. SCI. in International Agricultural Development from University of California, Davis, and a M.A. in Cultural Anthropology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She's excited to collaborate with a diverse group of organizations to link EcoSan programs with holistic programming that integrates livelihoods, sustainable land use, food security, and local resiliency in the context of climate change.
Nebiyat Nigusie
Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia
TOPIC: Method validation, detection and quantification of selected antimicrobials from struvite by ultrahigh liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry
I am a phD student at Addis Ababa University in Dr Adey Feleke's wastewater laboratory
Sr. Stella Ewa ISMV
Life Giver Foundation Nigeria, Nigeria
TOPIC: Using Urine as alternative fertilizer in Nigeria south East zone
Using Urine as alternative fertilizer has tremendously improved agricultural yield . Due to poverty and high cost of fertilizer it is necessary to teach men and women how to use this God given gift to humanity.
Nicola Parfitt
Sanitation 360, Sweden
TOPIC: Pee-recycling in Sweden with SLU & Sanitation360
Sanitation360 and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences have three main urine recycling hubs in Sweden with several ongoing projects. This virtual tour will explain these projects, the importance of recycling urine in all kinds of settings as well as the importance of turning human urine into a dry, granular fertilizer for agriculture.
Birger Lundgren
Sanitation Ambassadors, South Africa
TOPIC: Next Generation Sanitation a new way
Birger “Burger” Lundgren is a Swedish serial tech entrepreneur and visionary investor who moved to Cape Town, South Africa two decades ago. With an extensive track record of innovation and business acumen, Birger has left a mark on the global tech and sanitation landscape.
Madeline DuBois
The Land Institute, US
TOPIC: Putting the P(ee) in Perennial Agriculture
Madeline DuBois is a soil ecology research technician at The Land Institute in Salina, Kansas, where she supports the development of management strategies for perennial grain crops. She designed and launched the first known urine reclamation project in Kansas in summer 2023, focused on land application to a perennial forage and the cultural changes necessary for the success of workplace-based urine diversion.
Bara Wahbeh
AKYAS environmental consultancy, United Arab Emirates
TOPIC: The Effluent Diversion Unit
Bara Wahbeh is the co-founder and CTO of AKYAS, a pioneering venture in sanitation innovation. He holds an undergraduate degree in engineering and a master's degree in environmental science, and he is a self-taught sanitation practitioner. His passion for developing onsite treatment systems for low-income communities stems from witnessing the profound impact of inadequate sanitation on vulnerable populations. Over the past six years, Bara and his team have been developing and refining onsite treatment technology to provide affordable and safe sanitation solutions for low-income communities. In 2021, AKYAS Sanitation was awarded the Sarphati Sanitation Award. Currently, AKYAS is operating in both Jordan and Bangladesh.
Lourdes Valenzuela
Aguatuya, Bolivia
TOPIC: Nutrient recovery and reuse
Msc. Lourdes Valenzuela Allende Communication Director at Aguatuya Latin America Coordinator of Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA) With a Master's degree in Integrated Water Management and a Bachelor's Degree in Architecture, I bring over 20 years of experience in the water and sanitation sector, coupled with 9 years specializing in solid waste management. Throughout my career, I've been dedicated to promoting sustainable development, fostering behavior change, and advocating for gender equity through effective communication and environmental education initiatives. I firmly believe that combating pollution and enhancing environmental services is a collective responsibility. Let's advocate for increased participation, education, behavior change, and gender equity to pave the way for a more sustainable future.
Niko Bogianzidis
öKlo GmbH, Austria
TOPIC: How our feces can change the environmental climate
öKlo, the pioneers of the sanitation transition, offer environmentally friendly, chemical-free toilet solutions for events and public areas. With öKlo, clean and sustainable hygiene conditions are created while protecting the environment at the same time. Experience the perfect combination of comfort and sustainability with öKlo!
Charles Buregeya Niwagaba
Sustainable Sanitation and Water Renewal Systems (SSWARS), Uganda
TOPIC: Circular fertilizer production by solar-thermal driven passive drying of acid- and base-stabilized fresh human urine
Dr. Charles B. NIWAGABA is the founder and Executive Director of Sustainable Sanitation and Water Renewal Systems, a local NGO working in Uganda; and an Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Makerere University. He has extensive knowledge in development of innovative practices in sanitation improvement (from Engineering, social marketing to financing); solid waste management with emphasis on recycling and re-use e.g. composting, treatment of source-separated faeces and urine for plant nutrient recycling and soil improvement, grey water treatment and use, design and construction of biogas systems, application of faecal sludge in industrial kilns and boilers, design and operation of faecal sludge treatment plants etc.
Rosanne Wielemaker
Eawag (Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology), Switzerland
TOPIC: Driver, Strategy and Technology Factsheets for Urine Diversion & Resource Recovery
Rosanne Wielemaker (dr.) is the Project Coordinator at Eawag’s Water Hub Innovation Lab in Switzerland. In this role, Rosanne supports strategic innovation on the topic of resource-oriented sanitation together with researchers and stakeholders in the field, and oversees communication and outreach activities. Rosanne is project lead for the Water Hub Toolbox on Resource Oriented Sanitation, which she is developing with her colleagues at the Water Hub.
Maano Tshimange
university of surrey, United Kingdom
TOPIC: Evaluation of membrane fouling during dewatering and nutrients concentration from fresh urine by Forward Osmosis
Maano Tshimange is a 2nd-year Ph.D. student in Chemical Engineering and Processing at the University of Surrey in the UK. Her work focuses on membrane fouling and nutrient recovery from urine.
Weonjung Sohn
University of Technology Sydney, Australia
TOPIC: Urine Treatment and Processing Research (part 2)
Weonjung Sohn is currently a PhD candidate at University of Technology Sydney under Prof. Hokyong Shon’s supervision. Her main research interests include biological nitrification process in membrane bioreactors for nutrients recovery in a circular economy from source separated urine.
Raluca Anisie
Mosan, Guatemala
TOPIC: The potential of urine-enriched human feces biochar for maize production in the Guatemalan highlands
Mosan is a social organization offering ecological sanitation and treatment solutions in Guatemala. Working in collaboration with local municipalities and community stakeholders, Mosan manages a urine-diverting dry-toilet service appropriate for households in densely populated settlements or public places. Mosan ensures the safe containment, collection, transport, and transformation of human excreta into safe, nutrient-rich products for use in agriculture.
Rebecca Nelson
Cornell University, US
TOPIC: YouGo Gardening Tour
Rebecca Nelson' is a professor at Cornell University, in the School of Integrative Plant Science and the Department of Global Development. Her lab is working on various aspects of circular bionutrient economy. The team has a special interest in the use of pee-powered composting and Grow-as-You-Go gardening in low resource settings, including informal settlements in Africa.
Soliver Fusi
University of California, Berkeley, US
TOPIC: Functional Group Analysis for Screening Biochars for Total Ammonium Nitrogen Recovery from Hydrolyzed Urine
Sol is driven by global environmentalism, particularly by understanding how knowledge about the environment is produced, shared, and influences our relationship with it. Her current research focuses on the intersection of sanitation and agriculture by utilizing biochar to recover nutrients from human urine and reuse them in agricultural soils. She finds purpose in working on technologies that are available to the most marginalized and is additionally pursuing a data science focus by developing models for predicting biochar properties in collaboration with the World Agroforestry Centre in Nairobi, Kenya.
Laura Carter
University of Leeds, United Kingdom
TOPIC: Contaminant risks in an agricultural-sanitation circular economy
Laura Carter is an Associate Professor in Soil and Environmental Chemistry at the University of Leeds, UK and leads a research group interested in exploring the fate and effects of emerging contaminants in the environment following their inadvertent release. Work is understand to understand the implications of the reuse of sanitation and animal wastes on soil and crop health as well as the role resource reuse plays in the development of antimicrobial resistance.
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Lotte Kristoferitsch
EOOS / Social Design, Austria
TOPIC: Designing for Circularity
Lotte Kristoferitsch is managing director of EOOS / Social Design contributing to sustainable sanitation on multiple levels of engagement since 2011.
Kevin Orner
West Virginia University, US
TOPIC: Transdisciplinary approaches to sustainable decentralized wastewater treatment and resource recovery in Monteverde, Costa Rica
Kevin Orner is an Assistant Professor at West Virginia University. After obtaining a B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he served for two years as a Water and Sanitation Engineer in the Peace Corps in Panama. Kevin completed his M.S. and PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of South Florida, is an E.I.T. with engineering consulting experience, and was awarded a Fulbright Research Grant to study the recovery of nutrients and energy in Costa Rica. From 2019-2021, Kevin was a postdoctoral researcher in Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley studying nutrient recovery from urine and digestate.
Camille Brule & Kara Nelson
US
TOPIC: An Introduction and Evaluation of Ammonium Recovery from Urine using Ion Exchange
Dr. Kara Nelson is the Blum Chancellor's Chair in Development Engineering and a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. In her research program, Prof. Nelson aims to develop innovative technologies and accelerate the adoption of environmentally sustainable and socially equitable water infrastructure and practices around the globe. Specific areas of research include intermittent water supply, wastewater-based epidemiology, water reuse, disinfection, nutrient recovery, and improved sanitation.
Camille Brule is a second year PhD student in Kara's lab interested in research that focuses on closing the sanitation equity gap in developing contexts, specifically in regards to nutrient recovery from urine and feces.
Jordan Roods
Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney, Australia
TOPIC: An Earth-centred governance lens for nutrient circularity in the food system
Jordan Roods is a PhD candidate in the Australian Research Council’s Nutrients in a Circular Economy Research Hub (ARC NiCE Hub). Jordan is located at the Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF), University of Technology Sydney, where he is conducting research on the governance of a new circular economy in Australia based on nutrient recovery through the separation, collection and processing of human urine into safe and effective fertilisers. Jordan is also part of the Resource Stewardship team at ISF, where he assists industry, government and community organisations to identify and evaluate opportunities to avoid, reuse and recover resources through circular economy practices.
Manon Rumeau
University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
TOPIC: Assessing the impact of human urine fertilization on soil nutrient dynamics and bacterial communities
Manon Rumeau is a PhD student at the University of Birmingham, UK but will present today a work conducted during her master thesis at the Eco&Sols of Montpellier. This work investigates the direct re-use of human urine after storage as a sole treatment.
Zhenyu Xia
University of Michigan, US
TOPIC: PFAS and Pharmaceutical Removal from Urine by Biochar
Zhenyu Xia is a second-year PhD candidate in environmental engineering, University of Michigan. Advised by Professor Aleksandra Szczuka, he's currently conducting research on the performance of biosolids-derived biochar for organic contaminants removal, such as PFASs and pharmaceuticals from urine.
Matilda Gunnarsson
Stockholm Environment Institute, Sweden
TOPIC: Estimating environmental and societal impacts from scaling up urine concentration technologies
Matilda Gunnarsson is a Research Associate in the Water, Coasts and Ocean Team at Stockholm Environment Institute Headquarters. She holds a M.Sc. in Environmental and Water Engineering from Uppsala University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences with focus on water and sanitation systems. Her research interests are related to societal impacts of transitions, in particular for sanitation systems.
Benson Colella
Wasted *PBC, US
TOPIC: Urine to Fertilizer in Burlington, VT: Process and Characterization
Benson was introduced to urine-diversion as an intern of the Rich Earth Institute in 2019, where he worked on the development of a urine freeze-concentrator among other assignments. He is excited to continue the work of reclaiming nutrient resources from human "waste" as an engineer at Wasted* in Burlington, VT. Benson holds a M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Lucas Crane
Arizona State University, NSF Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability (STEPS) Center, US
TOPIC: P in our Pee: Advancing Phosphorus Recovery from Fresh and Hydrolyzing Urine
Lucas Crane is a Doctoral Student in Environmental Engineering in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment at Arizona State University, where he is affiliated with the STEPS (Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability) Center and studies with Dr. Treavor Boyer. His research focuses on advancing the implementation of urine diversion and treatment processes to recover phosphorus, and has previously studied the production of urine-based biocement and the recovery of urea using commercial membranes. Crane holds a MS in Environmental Engineering from Arizona State University.
Earle Barnhart & Hilda Maingay
Green Center Inc, US
TOPIC: Green Center Cubie-Based Urine Diversion Pilot Study
Earle Barnhart and Hilda Maingay from the Green Center on Cape Cod Massachusetts, conduct research and provide education about urine diversion. They promote eco-sanitation as the fastest, most affordable solution to solve water pollution problems in their town, in the Cape Cod region and beyond. They have used waterless nutrient-recovering composting toilets in their home for 24 years and added urine-diverting fixtures to their existing eco-toilets 10 years ago. They have recycled all their human waste nutrients and kitchen straps back into their extensive home food production gardens since 2000.
Hannah Vandenbergh
NPK recovery, UK
TOPIC: How 'Wee' can fix the UK
NPK recovery are a start-up exploring how best to convert urine into an alternative to synthetic fertilisers, without the need for large scale storage. The team would like to share their ideas, and gather input from attendees on how urine as fertiliser can be scaled up in the UK.
Elena Bischak
California Association of Resource Conservation Districts, US
TOPIC: Nitrogen and Phosphorus Mineralization Dynamics of Human-Excreta Derived Fertilizers
Elena received her PhD in Environmental Systems from UC Merced in 2023. Her research is focused on the biogeochemical outcomes of the application of source-separated human excreta-derived fertilizers.
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Krisztina Mosdossy
Cornell University, US
TOPIC: Urine-powered composting of cereal residues rivals mineral soil in crop yield with biochar benefits
Krisztina Mosdossy is a soil ecologist and Postdoctoral Associate working with Professors Rebecca Nelson and Johannes Lehmann on the circular bionutrient economy. Her work focuses on nutrient and carbon cycling in the soil micro-food web with a focus on nematodes and microarthropods and their interactions with fungi and bacteria in agroecological and composting systems. Krisztina applies intersectionality and critical theory to her work to revitalize reciprocal relationships between human and other organisms, including the positive impact that human nutrients can have on agroecosystems.
Lucinda Li
Cornell University, US
TOPIC: Biochar-based nutrient recovery for a circular bionutrient economy
Lucinda Li is a Postdoctoral Associate at Cornell University in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences. She received her PhD from the University of Michigan in Environmental Engineering. Her research is focused on evaluating the ecological and public health impacts of waste-to-resource systems to advance a circular bionutrient economy.
Marius Klinger
aneco, Germany
TOPIC: Decentralized Implementation of the Pitribon System in Housing Cooperatives
Marius Klinger is an environmental engineer and co-founder of aneco, a Geneva-based association (Switzerland) that promotes the valorization of wastewater resources and develops circular sanitation projects in rural and urban areas. They are convinced that the development of more decentralized, water- and energy-efficient systems, focused on local resource recovery, is essential for a more sustainable society.
Nolan Grant
Brightwater Tools, US
TOPIC: Modeling US Economic & Environmental Drivers behind the standard Wastewater Cycle
Nolan Grant is a junior Environmental Engineering student at the University of Vermont. This summer, as an intern with Brightwater Tools, he created a model to estimate residential water and sewer fees throughout the U.S.
Louise Raguet
OCAPI Research program, France
TOPIC: The nutrient cycle in a community-supported agriculture (CSA) in Paris region
Louise Raguet is designer for the OCAPI research program in France (Paris). She develops project for ecological sanitation, and especially urine collection in urban context. As a freelance designer she developped the female urinal "Marcelle", and recently released the unisex version!
Loïc Déchaseaux
LEESU / OCAPI, France
TOPIC: Urine applicator for small vegetable farm
I am Loïc Déchaseaux from France. I am Mechanical engineer, welder, and farmworker. I discovered urine fertilization two years ago.
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Krisztina Mosdossy
Cornell University
TOPIC: Urine-powered composting of cereal residues rivals mineral soil in crop yield with biochar benefits
Krisztina Mosdossy is a soil ecologist and Postdoctoral Associate working with Professors Rebecca Nelson and Johannes Lehmann on the circular bionutrient economy. Her work focuses on nutrient and carbon cycling in the soil micro-food web with a focus on nematodes and microarthropods and their interactions with fungi and bacteria in agroecological and composting systems. Krisztina applies intersectionality and critical theory to her work to revitalize reciprocal relationships between human and other organisms, including the positive impact that human nutrients can have on agroecosystems.
Elena Bischak
California Association of Resource Conservation Districts
TOPIC: Nitrogen and Phosphorus Mineralization Dynamics of Human-Excreta Derived Fertilizers
Elena received her PhD in Environmental Systems from UC Merced in 2023. Her research is focused on the biogeochemical outcomes of the application of source-separated human excreta-derived fertilizers.
Marius Klinger
aneco
TOPIC: Decentralized Implementation of the Pitribon System in Housing Cooperatives
Marius Klinger is an environmental engineer and co-founder of aneco, a Geneva-based association (Switzerland) that promotes the valorization of wastewater resources and develops circular sanitation projects in rural and urban areas. They are convinced that the development of more decentralized, water- and energy-efficient systems, focused on local resource recovery, is essential for a more sustainable society.
David Hasler
Eawag, Switzerland
TOPIC: Onsite urine treatment for public toilets: preparing a pilot implementation with the city of Zurich
David is a project coordinator and technical lead in the Circular Flow Technology (CFT) project at Eawag, collaborating with Michel Riechmann and Prof. Kai Udert on developing onsite urine treatment technology with focus on transitioning the project from academic research to consumer technology. Before joining Eawag and the CFT team, David was working in industry designing prototypes of small-scale sanitation systems (part of the Re-invent the toilet challenge). David has a background in mechanical engineering (MSc. ETH) and biomedical engineering (PhD).
Nadège de Chambrier
VunaNexus, Switzerland
TOPIC: Urine nitrification in Switzerland and Europe, updates from VunaNexus
Environmental engineer from ETH Zurich, specialised in wastewater management, started to work at Eawag, and then Vuna in the field of decentralized sanitation and urine treatment. In the field since 2018, Co-founder and CTO of VunaNexus.
Sybrand Metz
Desah, Netherlands
TOPIC: Local black and grey water treatment
Sybrand Metz is the Technical Director at Desah. Desah, based in the Netherlands, specializes in the development and implementation of innovative and sustainable technologies and concepts relating to decentralized wastewater technology.
Abraham Noe-Hays
Brightwater Tools & Rich Earth Institute, US
TOPIC: Farmer Guide to Urine Fertilizer
Abraham Noe-Hays has been working with dry sanitation systems since 1990. He holds a B.A. in Human Ecology with concentrations in agroecology and compost science from the College of the Atlantic, where his interest in recycling human manure was solidified by an internship at Woods End Research Laboratory and a thesis project, “An Experiment in Thermophilic Composting.” He has operated Full Circle Compost Consulting since 2001, providing complete design, manufacture, and maintenance services to individuals and institutions with dry toilet systems. He is now the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Rich Earth’s spin-off, Brightwater Tools.
Kai Udert
Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Eawag
TOPIC: Urine Processing Treatment Technologies: State of the Field
Kai Udert is a professor in Process Engineering at Eawag - Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology. His main research focus is on new technologies for resource recovery from wastewater. His work is guided by the belief that resources can be recovered more effectively, if wastewater streams are not mixed but treated separately.
Mathew Lippincott
University of Michigan, US
TOPIC: Orientation to the Nutrient Cycling Regulation Landscape
Mathew Lippincott is a technical writer who has worked on reform of building mechanical codes since 2010. Mathew led writing of the IAPMO/ANSI WE Stand chapter on composting and urine diverting toilets, and is currently working with the University of Michigan's Food, Ecology & Equity: Designing Circular Nutrition Production (FEED CNP) program on regulatory pathways for urine diversion in Michigan.
Tatiana Schreiber
Rich Earth Institute, US
TOPIC: Farmer Guide to Urine Fertilizer
Tatiana Schreiber received her B.S. in Rural Sociology and Nutrition from Cornell University, her M.A. in Mass Communications from Emerson College and her Ph.D in Environmental Studies from Antioch University Graduate School. Her graduate work examined economic, ecological and cultural sustainability and resilience among coffee and cacao growers in Chiapas, Mexico. She has worked as a public radio journalist and is currently teaches agroecology and writing courses at Keene State College. At Rich Earth Institute she conducts social research on urine diversion and re-use under our National Science Foundation (NSF) and Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) grants. She especially enjoys working with and learning from farmers about their interests and needs. Other current endeavors include development of dual-use solar and agricultural projects and growing/selling organic seedlings at Sowing Peace Farm, in Westminster West, Vermont.
Gretchen Saveson
Rich Earth Institute, US
TOPIC: Farmer Guide to Urine Fertilizer
Gretchen believes in a food system where there is no such thing as waste. Since graduating from the University of Vermont in 2021 with a BS in environmental sciences, she has followed her interest in sustainability to various points within our food system. On farms in western Massachusetts, she has built soil health and produced food using regenerative practices. In Vermont, she has researched effects of mycorrhizal fungi in blueberry cultivation. Most recently, she has worked in the wetlands of Nevada and California to monitor the critical resources they supply to desert ecosystems and our cattle industry. She entered the world of eco-sanitation while installing and maintaining composting toilets throughout Massachusetts and is excited to continue alchemizing waste into resource at the Institute.
Remi Kaupp
CBSA, UK
TOPIC: Container-Based Sanitation Systems
Rémi has been a CBS enthusiast for a long time and joined the CBSA in 2022. He brings experience in urban sanitation, innovative finance and supporting social enterprises from WaterAid and Homeless International. An engineer by training, he is passionate about finding solutions for sustainable cities, and loves nothing more than talking crap.
Abby Verney-Fink
Putney School, US
TOPIC: "Pee Lab": Experiments with Urine Fertilizer at Putney School
Abby teaches Science and Humans in the Natural World at the Putney School in Vermont.
Maura Whalen, Maggie Mu & Jane Ward
Wellesley University, Green Center, US
TOPIC: Spreading the Word on Cape Cod’s Golden Opportunity: Making Education on Urine Diversion More Accessible
Maura Whalen is a sophomore undergraduate at Wellesley College. She is an Environmental Studies and Spanish double major. She is interested in pursuing research in ecology. Outside of class, Maura enjoys hiking, traveling, crocheting, and spending time with her cats.
Maggie Mu is a sophomore attending Wellesley College interested in interdisciplinary work and considering a degree in Cognitive & Linguistic Science with a Computer Science concentration. In their free time, they enjoy observing the birds on campus, finding mushrooms in the woods, and thinking about the numerous stories in their head which they have yet to write.
Michel Riechmann
Eawag, VaLoo/NetSan, Switzerland
TOPIC: Insights from the Connect the Networks Congress for Resource-Oriented Sanitation
Michel Riechmann is the coordinator of the "Circular Flow Technologies" project at Eawag (Swiss Federal Institute for Aquatic Science and Technology) with a focus on technology development and implementation of on-site urine treatment. Besides his professional work, he leads the working group "International Collaboration" at VaLoo and is a board member of NetSan (Swiss and German associations for resource-oriented sanitation, respectively).
Julia Cavicchi
Rich Earth Institute, US
TOPIC: A Simple K-8 Peecycling Lesson Plan
Julia Cavicchi is the Education Director at the Rich Earth Institute. She runs Rich Earth’s “Urine My Garden” home gardening education program, local community engagement, youth education, and the Rich Earth Summit. She is committed to the ongoing journey of exploring how reclaiming our ‘waste’ can fertilize social change. Julia’s nutrients split their time between Rich Earth’s community peecycling program and her veggie garden.
Hayley Joyell Smith
Moderator: Youth Engagement
Hayley is the creator of Urban Hydrolink, a fully functioning water model that allows a person to play and learn at the same time. She is currently a member of the Asset research team, focused on advancing source separation systems, funded by the National Science Foundation's Convergence Accelerator program.