The HonourableRosa Galvez (born June 21, 1961,Peru)[1] is aCanadian Senator representingQuébec (Bedford) and an expert in pollution and its effects on human health. She was appointed to the Senate on December 6, 2016.[2][3]
As chair of Canada's Senate Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources Committee, and through the production of science and policywhite papers, Galvez has demonstrated the impact of evidence- and fact-based information on policy-making.[5] 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.[10][11]
Galvez is President of the ParlAmericas Parliamentary Network on Climate Change and Sustainability (PNCCS).[12] She has been an official participant atCOP25,COP26 andCOP27.[13]
She is the oldest daughter of Elias Rogelio Galvez Rodriguez (a mathematician and professor at San Marcos University in Lima, Peru) and Juana Rosa Tantalean Angeles (accountant and teacher).
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.[15]
Galvez earned her Bachelor of Civil Engineering at theNational University of Engineering inLima,Peru in 1985. After immigrating to Canada, she earned both her Master of Science (M.Sc.), Environmental Engineering Technology in 1989 and then her Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering in 1994 fromMcGill University.[16][17][18]
Galvez worked briefly for the Ministry of Housing in Lima, Peru and received professional training atSedapal (Servicio de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado de Lima).[citation needed] There she became interested in the remediation of contaminated sites. She worked with the Pan-American Center for Sanitary Engineering (Centro Panamericano de Ingenieria Sanitaria, CEPIS, of theWorld Health Organization, WHO), before moving to Canada in March 1986.[17]
From September 1986 to June 1994 while doing her master and Ph.D. studies atMcGill she worked as research assistant and later as Research Associate at the Geotechnical Research Centre, Civil Eng. Department.[19][17]
In 1994, Galvez joined the Department of Civil and Water Engineering atLaval University[14] and served as head of the department from 2010 to 2016.[20] she established an environmental researchlaboratory at Laval and raised $90 million for faculty research funding.[5]
Galvez was nominated to the Senate on December 6, 2016, on the advice ofJustin Trudeau, thePrime Minister of Canada.[1] As chair of the Senate Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources Committee,[21] she has shown how evidence- and fact-based communication from engineers can transform policy-making.[5] She has also served on the Senate Standing Committee on National Finance.[21]
Galvez is President of the ParlAmericas Parliamentary Network on Climate Change and Sustainability (PNCCS).[12] She has been an official participant atCOP25,COP26 andCOP27.[13] AtCOP25 in Madrid, Spain she was part of the delegation for the Executive Committee of PNCCS.[22][23] AtCOP26 she was a signatory of a call "to empower all members of society to engage in climate action".[24] As well as attendingCOP27, Galvez participated as a panellist at the GLOBE COP27 Legislators Summit.[25]
Galvez has studied the 2013Lac-Mégantic rail disaster and resulting oil spill, in which 6.3 million litres oflight 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.[5][7][8][27][26]
For the Government of theNorthwest Territories, Galvez has conducted studies of mining and lands sustainability. She has discussed cumulative impacts of theSite C Dam, a hydroelectric project on theMackenzie River watershed proposed by British Columbia.[28][29]
Advanced study of unconventional oil behaviour, innovative emergency measures to surface water oil spills: protection of water sources (September 30, 2016, to September 29, 2019)[30]
Centre de recherche sur l'eau (CentrEau) (May 1, 2017 – April 30, 2022)
Effective implementation of sustainable remediation by the use of novel eco-processes and emerging genomic tools (April 1, 2017 – March 31, 2022)
Institut Hydro-Québec en environnement, développement et société (IHQEDS), (May 1, 2011, to April 30, 2019)
Knowledge Network on Mining Encounters and Indigenous Sustainable Livelihoods: Cross-Perspectives from the Circumpolar North and Melanesia/Australia (MinErAL) (April 1, 2016 – March 31, 2022)
Lac Mégantic : évaluation stratégique de l'urgence environnementale, outils intégrés d'évaluation des impacts cumulatifs, transformation et transport de contaminants (April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2018)
Suivi environnemental de la mise en lumière du pont Jacques-Cartier, (December 19, 2016 – March 11, 2019)
Valorisation des plastiques de la collecte sélective en matériaux composites - Étude de cas chez Gaudreau Environnement Inc. (January 1, 2015 – July 27, 2018)
As a Senator, she has led the creation of white papers on aligning Canadian finance with climate commitments (2023), recovering from theCOVID-19 pandemic,[31] and Canada's building code in the context of climate change, adaptation, and sustainability (2019).[21]
Galvez sponsored the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act which was adopted in June 2021.[13]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.[10][11]
de Santiago-Martín, Ana; Guesdon, Gaëlle; Galvez, Rosa (2016). "Plants for Constructed Wetlands as an Ecological Engineering Alternative to Road Runoff Desalination". In Ansari, A.A.; Singh Gill, S.; Gill, R.; Lanza, G.R.; Newman, L. (eds.).Phytoremediation: Management of Environmental Contaminants. Vol. 4. Springer International Publishing. pp. 233–266.
Guesdon, Gaëlle; de Santiago-Martín, Ana; Galvez-Cloutier, Rosa (October 2016). "Phytodesalinization potential ofTypha angustifolia,Juncus maritimus, andEleocharis palustris for removal of de-icing salts from runoff water".Environmental Science and Pollution Research.23 (19):19634–19644.Bibcode:2016ESPR...2319634G.doi:10.1007/s11356-016-7176-1.
Kagambega, N.; Galvez-Cloutier, R.; Ouattara, A.; Laflamme, M. (2014). "Assessment of the Neutralizing Capacity of High Purity Dolomite on the Highly Polluted Acid Mine Drainage".International Journal of Environmental Engineering and Natural Resources.1 (3):120–129.
Santiago-Martín, Ana de; Constantin, Boris; Guesdon, Gaëlle; Kagambega, Nicolas; Raymond, Sébastien; Galvez-Cloutier, Rosa (January 2016). "Bioavailability of Engineered Nanoparticles in Soil Systems".Journal of Hazardous, Toxic and Radioactive Waste.20 (1).doi:10.1061/(ASCE)HZ.2153-5515.0000263.
Galvez-Cloutier, Rosa; Guesdon, Gaëlle; Fonchain, Amandine (2014). "Lac-Mégantic : analyse de l'urgence environnementale, bilan et évaluation des impacts".Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering.41 (6):531–539.doi:10.1139/cjce-2014-0011.
Kamal, N.; Galvez, R.; Buelna, G. (2014). "Application of a solid phase extraction-HPLC method to quantify phenolic compounds in woodwaste leachate".Water Quality Research Journal of Canada.49 (3):210–222.doi:10.2166/wqrjc.2014.002.
Alves, Barbara S. Q.; Dungan, Robert S.; Carnin, Raquel L. P.; Galvez, Rosa; de Carvalho Pinto, Catia R. S. (May 2014). "Metals in Waste Foundry Sands and an Evaluation of Their Leaching and Transport to Groundwater".Water, Air, & Soil Pollution.225 (5): 1963.Bibcode:2014WASP..225.1963A.doi:10.1007/s11270-014-1963-4.
Morteau, Bertrand; Triffault-Bouchet, Gaëlle; Galvez, Rosa; Martel, Louis (2015). "Nutrient and Removal Kinetics Impacts on Salt Phytoremediation byAtriplex patula andTypha angustifolia".Journal of Environmental Engineering.141 (2).doi:10.1061/(ASCE)EE.1943-7870.0000889.
Saminathan, S.; Galvez-Cloutier, Rosa; Kamal, N. (2013). "Performance and Microbial Diversity of Aerated Tricling Biofilter for treating Cheese Industry Wastewater".Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology.170 (1):149–163.doi:10.1007/s12010-013-0148-8.PMID23483408.
Galvez, R. (2012) Two methods for the recovery of ecosystems affected by road runoff. InDrainage 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.
Galvez-Cloutier, Rosa; Saminathan, Sumathi K. M.; Boillot, Clotilde; Triffaut-Bouchet, Gaëlle; Bourget, Alexandre; Soumis-Dugas, Gabriel (May 2012). "An Evaluation of Several In-Lake Restoration Techniques to Improve the Water Quality Problem (Eutrophication) of Saint-Augustin Lake, Quebec, Canada".Environmental Management.49 (5):1037–1053.Bibcode:2012EnMan..49.1037G.doi:10.1007/s00267-012-9840-7.PMID22476666.
Morteau, B.; Triffault-Bouchet, G.; Galvez, R.; Martel, L.; Leroueil, S. (1 April 2009). "Treatment of Salted Road Runoffs UsingTypha latifolia,Spergularia canadensis, andAtriplex patula : A Comparison of Their Salt Removal Potential".Journal of ASTM International.6 (4):1–7.doi:10.1520/JAI102173.
Soumis-Dugas, Gabriel; Triffaut-Bouchet, Gaëlle; Galvez, Rosa; Martel, Louis (1 April 2009). "Ecotoxicological Assessment of an In-Lake Remediation Method".Journal of ASTM International.6 (4):1–14.doi:10.1520/JAI102181.
Galvez-Cloutier, Rosa; Sanchez, Michelle (1 November 2007). "Trophic Status Evaluation for 154 Lakes in Quebec, Canada: Monitoring and Recommendations".Water Quality Research Journal.42 (4):252–268.doi:10.2166/wqrj.2007.028.
Lassabatere, Laurent; Spadini, Lorenzo; Delolme, Cécile; Février, Laureline; Galvez-Cloutier, Rosa; Winiarski, Thierry (November 2007). "Concomitant Zn–Cd and Pb retention in a carbonated fluvio-glacial deposit under both static and dynamic conditions".Chemosphere.69 (9):1499–1508.Bibcode:2007Chmsp..69.1499L.doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2007.04.053.PMID17583773.
