University Professor Elizabeth Edwards (ChemE) is the 2026 recipient of the Royal Society of Canada’s Miroslaw Romanowski Medal, for scientific work related to environmental problems. The medal is awarded for significant contributions to the resolution of scientific aspects of environmental issues or for important improvements to the quality of an ecosystem brought about by scientific means.
Throughout her career, Edwards has conducted groundbreaking research on the remediation of contaminated groundwater, wastewater treatment and anaerobic digestion. Perhaps her most significant contribution is her work on anaerobic bioremediation of pollutants. Edwards demonstrated that certain petroleum hydrocarbons and common chlorinated industrial solvents can be degraded by microbes in oxygen-free (anaerobic) environments. Her documentation of anaerobic degradation of benzene in sediment from sites across North America made it possible for government bodies to accept this method as a tool to manage benzene contamination in groundwater, leading to enormous cost and time savings over previous methods.
One of the microbial cultures developed by the Edwards lab, called KB-1, is dominated by unusual bacteria that are very effective at dechlorinating chlorinated solvents, among the most prevalent contaminants in groundwater. KB-1 proved capable of complete dechlorination of chlorinated ethenes without the accumulation of the carcinogenic byproduct vinyl chloride. This discovery led to the further scale up and commercialization of KB-1 and the founding of a spin-off company, SIREM, in 2002, with her partners at Geosyntec consultants. KB-1 and derivative cultures developed through SiREM and the Edwards lab have now been used at more than 900 sites worldwide.
Edwards has directed several large multidisciplinary research networks focusing on microbes and enzymes to address a variety of challenges, from waste-to-energy to renewable plastics to biomining. Most notably, she served as founding director of BioZone, a major research centre at U of T fostering open collaboration between academia and industry to tackle environmental challenges at the interface of biology and engineering. It has a strong mandate to promote research excellence and transparency, equity and open science.
Edwards’ research accomplishments have been recognized with many prestigious awards, including an NSERC Synergy Award for Innovation with Geosyntec Consultants, the Kalev Pugi Award from the Society of Chemical Industry Canada, and the Killam Prize in Engineering – Canada’s most prestigious engineering award. She is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Canadian Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society of Canada. In 2019, she was named a University Professor, a title reserved to the top 2% of tenured faculty within the University of Toronto. In 2020, she was appointed an officer of the Order of Canada.
“Professor Edwards’ pioneering research and leadership in the field of bioremediation of contaminated groundwater has resulted in groundbreaking methods and tools for restoring this essential resource,” says Chris Yip, Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering.
“On behalf of the faculty, my warmest congratulations to her on this well-deserved honour.”
