Nature-based Solutions to Tackle Geoenvironmental Engineering Challenges
CME Department Seminar
September 5, 2025
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM America/Chicago
Presenter: Arif Mohammad, PhD, Cardiff University, United Kingdomy
Location: ERF Room 1047
Abstract: unicipal, industrial, and mining activities generate vast quantities of waste that pose significant risks to the geoenvironment, including soil, water, and air. Conventional management methods, while effective to some extent, often involve high costs, intensive energy use, and long-term environmental burdens. In recent years, engineering approaches inspired by natural processes have emerged as sustainable alternatives for extracting resources from waste originating from municipal, industrial, and mining activities. For instance, bioreactor landfills accelerate microbial decomposition of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste and generate methane gas by providing nutrients and regulating ambient conditions through leachate recirculation. However, in fully operational landfills, monitoring decomposition processes remains a significant challenge; therefore, this talk will highlight recent work focused on monitoring strategies. Additionally, the concept of Accelerated Supergene Processes in Repository Engineering (ASPIRE) has been proposed to create anthropogenic ores of critical or valuable metals.
Speaker Bio: Arif Mohammad is a lecturer at Cardiff University (UK) and a team member of the UNESCO chair team with a specialization in geoenvironmental engineering. He earned his B. Eng from Jadavpur University, and MTech and PhD from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India. His contributions span sustainable resource extraction projects, backed by national and international funding bodies like EPSRC (UK), DST (India), the MCGM, Mumbai, and landfill operators in India. He has published more than 25 papers in international journals and presented at several conferences in the field of geoenvironmental engineering. He is the recipient of the Environmental Geotechnics Prize (2023) for his paper related to sustainability associated with geoenvironmental and geotechnical engineering.
Date posted
Sep 7, 2025
Date updated
Sep 7, 2025