Rosa Galvez


The Honourable Rosa Galvez is a Canadian Senator representing Québec and an expert in pollution and its effects on human health. She was appointed to the Senate on December 6, 2016.
While a professor at Laval University and head of the university's Department of Civil Engineering and Water Engineering Galvez established its environmental research laboratory. For her work on the restoration of, Société Radio-Canada nicknamed her “La Dame du Lac”. Her research on the devastating Lac-Mégantic rail disaster and fire of 2013, which contaminated air, water and soil, has been internationally recognized. She is a member of Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec, a Fellow of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering and a Fellow of Engineers Canada.
As chair of Canada's Senate Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources Committee, and through the production of science and policy white papers, Galvez has demonstrated the impact of evidence- and fact-based information on policy-making.
Galvez has proposed Bill S-243, the Climate-Aligned Finance Act, in hopes of creating dialogue about the finance sector's role in addressing climate change.
Galvez is President of the ParlAmericas Parliamentary Network on Climate Change and Sustainability. She has been an official participant at COP25, COP26 and COP27.
𝕏 SenRosaGalvez

Early life

Rosa Galvez was born in Peru.
She is the oldest daughter of Elias Rogelio Galvez Rodriguez and Juana Rosa Tantalean Angeles.
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, Environmental Engineering Technology in 1989 and then her Doctor of Philosophy 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. There she became interested in the remediation of contaminated sites. She worked with the Pan-American Center for Sanitary Engineering, 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. she established an environmental research
laboratory at Laval and raised $90 million for faculty research funding.
Galvez was nominated to the Senate on December 6, 2016, on the advice of Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada. As chair of the Senate Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources Committee, she has shown how evidence- and fact-based communication from engineers can transform policy-making. She has also served on the Senate Standing Committee on National Finance.
Galvez is President of the ParlAmericas Parliamentary Network on Climate Change and Sustainability. She has been an official participant at COP25, COP26 and COP27. At COP25 in Madrid, Spain she was part of the delegation for the Executive Committee of PNCCS. At COP26 she was a signatory of a call "to empower all members of society to engage in climate action". As well as attending COP27, Galvez participated as a panellist at the GLOBE COP27 Legislators Summit.

Research and policy

Galvez' academic research has focused on the area of pollution. Areas of specialization include decontamination of water and soil, management of hazardous waste, wastewater, municipal solid waste and residues, and assessments of environmental impact and risk. She has advised community and governmental organizations at local, national and international levels.
Major contributions include advising the Commission for Environmental Cooperation on international agreements between Canada and the United States and Quebec and Vermont to protect the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. She has also worked to protect Lake Champlain. Société Radio-Canada nicknamed her “La Dame du Lac” for her work on the restoration of.
Galvez has studied the 2013 Lac-Mégantic rail disaster and resulting oil spill, in which 6.3 million litres of light crude oil contaminated air, water and soil. Her research on this catastrophic event, its remediation, and the preparedness of cities to deal with unconventional oil emergencies has been internationally recognized.
For the Government of the Northwest Territories, Galvez has conducted studies of mining and lands sustainability. She has discussed cumulative impacts of the Site C Dam, a hydroelectric project on the Mackenzie River watershed proposed by British Columbia.
She has received research funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and others. Research grant areas include:
  • Advanced study of unconventional oil behaviour, innovative emergency measures to surface water oil spills: protection of water sources
  • Centre de recherche sur l'eau
  • Effective implementation of sustainable remediation by the use of novel eco-processes and emerging genomic tools
  • Institut Hydro-Québec en environnement, développement et société,
  • Knowledge Network on Mining Encounters and Indigenous Sustainable Livelihoods: Cross-Perspectives from the Circumpolar North and Melanesia/Australia
  • Lac Mégantic : évaluation stratégique de l'urgence environnementale, outils intégrés d'évaluation des impacts cumulatifs, transformation et transport de contaminants
  • Suivi environnemental de la mise en lumière du pont Jacques-Cartier,
  • Valorisation des plastiques de la collecte sélective en matériaux composites - Étude de cas chez Gaudreau Environnement Inc.
As a Senator, she has led the creation of white papers on aligning Canadian finance with climate commitments, recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, and Canada's building code in the context of climate change, adaptation, and sustainability.
Galvez sponsored the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act which was adopted in June 2021.
Galvez has proposed Bill S-243, the Climate-Aligned Finance Act, in hopes of creating dialogue about the finance sector's potential to attract capital for transitioning to a low-carbon economy. The Bill highlights the increasing risks associated with the Canadian financial sector's “wait and see approach” to addressing climate change, and proposes eight recommendations for financial institutions.

Awards

Rosa Galvez has received many awards, including the following:

Selected publications

White papers

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Books

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Journal papers and book chapters

  • Galvez, R. 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.
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