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CV

Professional Summary

I am a Masters of Environmental Studies (MES) student specializing in Sustainability Management in the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development at the University of Waterloo. I recently graduated with a Bachelors of Applied Science (BAS) specializing in Environmental Engineering from the University of Waterloo in 2020. I have a wide range of research, work and community involvement experience. My passions focus on a sustainable future through industry and education. I have various technical and soft skills such as, public speaking, data analysis, professional writing, and MATLAB. My passion, drive and hard work always lead me to be a key component to every team I've been apart of and the work I've done has left lasting contributions.

Skills

Outreach  Communications     Social Media    Public Speaking 
Leadership 
  MATLAB    Total Station    Spectrophotometer

Adobe Photoshop, In Design & Illustrator    Microsoft Suite 

Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP)    Acid Digestion    Loop Antenna 

Work Experience

Sept. 2020 - Apr. 2021

Environment Faculty Teaching Assistant

University of Waterloo

  • Assisted undergraduate students in the Environment and Business program with their Capstone Projects through detailed report feedback and one-on-one meetings

Sept. 2018 - Apr. 2020

Assistant Volunteer Coordinator

Frontier College

Frontier College is a non-profit organization that provides free tutoring services to children and youth in the community

  • Lead seven team members in recruitment and program planning

  • Management and data tracking of six tutoring programs in the community

  • Maintenance of volunteer database to track and manage member involvement

  • Coordination duties for recruitment events including advertisement, internal scheduling, and supervision

  • Created presentations and conducted training sessions

  • Improved organization presence within the Waterloo Region by writing blog and Facebook posts

Aug. 2019 - Apr. 2020

Hult Prize Campus Director

The Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business

Hult Prize challenges young people to solve the world’s toughest issues by empowering them to make for-good for-profit businesses. 

  • Communication and coordination with teams, mentors, judges and volunteers

  • Organized five events with over 100 participants

  • Promotional material design, and social media management

May 2019 - Aug. 2019

Affordable Energy for Humanity (AE4H) Project Assistant

Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy (WISE)

AE4H is a global consortium of researchers and practitioners committed to ending energy poverty through the sustainable deployment of clean technology

  • Collaboratively planned conference for sustainable energy experts to tackle the energy access challenge. Including transportation for international participants, communications materials (agenda, website, advertisement materials, etc) and catering.

  • Reported on the energy access challenges and solutions that were identified during the conference and their connections to complex systems

  • Advertised AE4H Queen Elizabeth Scholars opportunity to undergraduate students through promotional materials and social media

  • Compiled an informational database about social impact engineering in response to identified shortcomings of UW Campus communications to undergraduate students

  • Supported the Sustainable UW initiative on becoming carbon neutral by 2050

Jan. 2018 to Dec. 2018

Mine Impacted Water Treatment Research Assistant

University of Waterloo

Dept. Chemical and Nanotechnology Engineering: Mine Impacted Waste Water

Conducted selenium treat-ability study on raw mining wastewater by running a series of photocatalytic reactions

  • Scaled and tested treatment process to increase reaction kinetics and volume

  • Optimized photocatalytic reaction conditions within design parameters using reaction data statistics

  • Modelled degradation of Selenate in mining wastewater through photocatalysis using MATLAB and ANSYS FLUENT

  • Converted a stationary batch-scale reaction system to a flow-through system

  • Designed and constructed a flow-through reaction system by re-outfitting an existing stationary batch-scale system

  • Designed an industrial-scale continuous flow-through reactor system based on research findings

  • Collected experimental data by preparing reaction samples for acid digestion and conducting ICP analysis

Sept. 2016 - Jun. 2018

Engineering Education Research Assistant

University of Waterloo

Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Engineering Education

  • Wrote paper for publication at the American Society of Engineering Education conference on student learning through hands-on activities

  • Analyzed and documented research related to engineering education through online surveys, class grades and reflection reports

  • Designed activities and wrote grants to improve Civil, Environmental and Geological Engineering curriculum with design team

May 2017 - Aug. 2017

Field Research Assistant

University of Waterloo

Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Open Channel Flow

  • Tracked sediment transportation using loop antenna and total station

  • Analyzed precipitation in streams by monitoring water levels with gauging station

  • Assessed empirically and theoretically proposed particle size prediction equations by modelling with MATLAB

  • Documented literature related to geomorphology and open channel flow of northern Ontario rivers

Jan. 2017 - May 2017

Waste Water Lab Research Assistant

University of Waterloo

Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Anaerobic Bioreactors

  • Monitored Anaerobic Bioreactor efficiency through measuring total and solid carbon oxygen demand (TCOD and SCOD) with photo-spectrometer

  • Measured total and volatile suspended solids (TSS and VSS) levels throughout the reactor with microfibre filters

  • Analyzed lab data to confirm proper reactor performance through normalizing data with calibration

Sept. 2016 - Dec. 2016

Waste Management Project Assistant

The Region of Waterloo

  • Conducted research on different waste management techniques and sustainable energy resources with waste management team

Aug. 2015 - Apr. 2016

Operations Technician

The Regional Municipality of York

  • Configured installation and maintained traffic lights through configuring and managing communication equipment with XML scripts

Education

2020 - Current

School of Environment, Enterprise and Development, University of Waterloo

Masters of Environmental Studies (MES), Sustainability Management

2014 - 2020

University of Waterloo

Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS), Environmental Engineering

2014

Organisme de Séjours Educatifs Français

High School International Schooling Experience

Workplace Hazardous Materials Information Systems (WHMIS) (2014) 

Saskatchewan Graduated Drivers License (2012)

Apr. 2020 - Apr. 2021

Newcomer Online Mathematics Tutoring

Frontier College

Frontier college is a Canadian national literacy organization with a focus on providing free literacy support to students and adults within Canada.

  • work with elementary and middle school students who have newly immigrated to Canada 

  • review and complete online mathematics and science course material during school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic

May 2016 - Dec. 2019

Communications, Co-President & VP Internal

Engineers Without Borders - University of Waterloo Chapter

The chapter works to support the national organization with its goal to end global poverty through systemic change. 

Communications (May 2019 to Dec. 2019)

  • promotional material design, photography of events, and sharing of chapter events and projects on social media

Co-President (Jan. 2018 to Apr. 2019)

  • led and coordinated a team of six executives

  • ensured appropriate communication within the club and acted as liaison between the executives and the national organization

  • hired a Junior Fellow to go overseas to work on an EWB project by coordinating advertisement, interviews and pre-departure preparation

  • projects operating within the organization include: running youth workshops, developing podcasts, fundraising events, organizing week-long Waterloo visits for African professionals, hiring a fellow to contribute to an international project, developing ethically minded UW course material incorporated into first year courses

VP Internal (May 2016 to Dec. 2017)

  • coordinated one day retreat for executives to gain leadership skills, be exposed to inspiring projects and to do long term chapter planning

  • organized housing, meetings and schedule for two Professionals from Africa

  • participated in chapter outreach on and off campus: High School presentations, on campus booths, social events and podcasts

Apr. 2019 - June 2019

Reading Buddies Program Tutor

Frontier College

Frontier college is a Canadian national literacy organization with a focus on providing free literacy support to students and adults within Canada.

  • read and played educational literacy games with elementary school students

Sep. 2016 - Jun. 2017

Somalian Canadian Association of Waterloo Region (SCAWR) Program Tutor

Frontier College

Frontier college is a Canadian national literacy organization with a focus on providing free literacy support to students and adults within Canada.

  • provided homework assistance to elementary and high school students

Jan. 2017 - Dec. 2017

Outreach Volunteer

Women in Engineering (WIE)

Women in Engineering (WiE) supports current female engineers, students and encourages the next generation of women to pursue careers in engineering.

  • lead tours, activities and workshops with the outreach team to inspire female high school students and their parents

May 2015 - Aug. 2015

Clubs Coordinator

Federation of Students (Feds)

An organization on campus of the University of Waterloo which works to be a support and a voice for the students. They manage all clubs, events and advocacy on campus. 

  • Maintained appropriate communication to support all charity clubs by answering questions, emailing updates and ensuring member satisfaction

Oct. 2015 - Mar. 2016

Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP) Program Volunteer

Southlake Regional Health Center

Southlake is a health centre dedicated to positive patient experience. HELP is specifically designed to help elderly patients who after an accident experience a state of delirium. Contributions;

  • Aid patients with activities and games to stimulate positive brain activity

Jan. 2015 - Apr. 2015

Teaching Assistant

The Esperanza Project

An after school English program in the Dominican Republic for children in the community. Teaching the students is done through fun games and projects to keep students engaged.

  • Planned and lead science, math and art classes

  • Coordinated and helped students with an after school photography club, fashion club, and hair club

Extracurricular & Volunteer

2022

Canada Graduate Scholarship - Masters (CGSM)

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)

A scholarship of $17500 to a masters student for their masters thesis . The objective of the scholarship is to help develop research skills and assist in the training of highly qualified personnel by supporting students who demonstrate a high standard of achievement in undergraduate and early graduate studies.

2021

School of Environment, Enterprise and Development First Scholarly Publication Award

An award of $1000 given to a master’s student in any SEED graduate program who publishes, as first-author, their first peer-reviewed publication.

2020

University of Waterloo Graduate Experience Award

An award of $5000 given to an incoming master’s student with an outstanding application based on community leadership and academic achievement.

2017

SaskPower Scholarship

An award of $1000 given based on community leadership and academic achievement.

2017

Sir Sandford Flemming Work Term Report Award

A $300 award given to the student with the highest quality work term report. Report written on particle size prediction in gravel bed streams using theoretical models proposed in literature.

2017

Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA)

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)

This award is a $5000 scholarship aiming to support students assisting with natural sciences and engineering research to stimulate their interest and to encourage them to undertake graduate studies.

2017

Learning Innovation and Teaching Enhancement (LITE) Grant

Research of Dr. Rania Al-Hammoud

Formulated grant application for “CivE Days: Enhancing Student Learning by Providing a Failure Risk Free Environment and Experiential Learning Opportunities”

  • valued at $5,000 – granted (July 2017)

 

Formulated grant application for “Strengthening Student Knowledge through Instructional Videos of Hands-on Activities”

  • valued at $30,000 – granted (December 2016)

2017

First Place Poster Competition

Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA)

Created a poster on the research done for the project, “Strengthening Student Knowledge through Instructional Videos of Hands-on Activities” and presented it at the annual CEEA Conference. The first place award was given based on project impact, quality of poster and presentation. 

Awards

Publications

Sustainable Menstruation

Farley, K., Tariq, M., Giesinger, K. (Accepted 2022). Sustainable Menstruation in Canada: bridging the gap between social and environmental menstrual issues. Northern Blood. 

Economic Development

Giesinger, K., Wilson, J. (2021). The System of Economic Development and its Complexity. Economic Development Journal of Canada. 

Mine Impacted Water Treatment

Holmes, A., Ngan, A., Giesinger, K., Gu, F. (Accepted 2022). Tunable Production of Elemental Se vs H2Se Through Photocatalytic Reduction of Selenate in Synthetic Mine Impacted Brine: Engineering a Recoverable Se Product. ACS ES&T Engineering.

Holmes, A., Giesinger, K., Ye, J., Milan, E., Ngan, A., & Gu, F. (2019). A non-biological option for Se removal by photocatalytic reduction of selenate in mine-impacted water containing high concentrations of sulfate and nitrate. Canadian Land Reclamation Association (CLRA) National Conference. 

 

Holmes, A.B., Giesinger, K., and Gu, F. (in preparation). Factors affecting kinetics of photocatalytic reduction of selenate over TiO2 in mine impacted water. For submission to Chemosphere. 

 

Holmes, A.B., Giesinger, K., Ye, J., and Gu, F. (In preparation). Selective removal of Se through selenate specific photocatalytic reduction over TiO2 in the presence of nitrate and sulfate in mine impacted water. For submission to Water Research. 

Engineering Education

Giesinger, K., Phillips, S., Al-Hammoud, R., & Carroll, C. (2018, June). CivE Days: Enhancing Student Learning by Providing a Failure Risk Free Environment and Experiential Learning Opportunities. American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE).

 

Gibson, C. Giesinger, K. Al-Hammoud, R., & Brodland, W. (2018, June). Strengthening Student Knowledge Through Instructional Videos of Hands-on Activities. Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA-ACEG).

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