Satinder. K. Brar is Professor at Civil Engineering Department at York University. She graduated with a Master’s degree in Organic Chemistry from National Chemical Laboratory (Pune, India) and with a Master’s degree in Technology in Environmental Sciences and Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay, Mumbai, India) and with a Ph.D. in Environmental Biotechnology from INRS (Quebec, Canada) in 2007. After a short post-doctoral fellowship at McGill University, she started her career as Assistant Professor at Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS, Quebec). Her research interests lie in the development of finished products (formulations) of value-added bioproducts based on wastewater and wastewater sludge, such as enzymes, organic acids, platform chemicals, biocontrol agents, biopesticides, butanol and biohydrogen. She is also interested in the fate of endocrine disruptive compounds, pharmaceuticals, nanoparticles, and other toxic organic compounds during value-addition of wastewater and wastewater sludge in order to find suitable biological detoxification technologies.
She is a recognized leader in her field of advanced and applied biotechnology, be it about the value-addition of residuals or the holistic treatment of emerging contaminants in the environment. Her research has transcended frontiers and is now adapted all around the world. For example, her research on biopesticides and biofertilizers using wastewaters is now applied in Vietnam, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Thailand, Mexico and India. In fact, she is frequently invited to give talks in different international forums and conferences, about a wide-ranging subject of applied biotechnology. For example, she was invited by German, Mexican, Indian and Chinese Academy of Sciences to share her experiences on solid waste value-addition and fate of emerging contaminants. She has been counted amongst the most outstanding and innovative world-class researchers whose accomplishments have made a major impact in her field. She has been invited by different grant agencies worldwide (including France, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Poland, Austria, Malaysia, Australia, US, Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, among others) as reviewer and expert in panels which talks volumes about her exceptional research prowess and expertise.