Nadja Kunz obtained her PhD from SMI in 2013, and thereafter spent two years as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Eawag Aquatic Research Institute in Switzerland. She has a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering (First Class Honours) and a Bachelor of Business Management (Dean’s Honour Roll), both from the University of Queensland.
Since January 2017, Nadja is an Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia, in a joint appointment between the UBC School of Public Policy and Global Affairs and Norman B Keevil Mining Engineering. She leads an interdisciplinary research team focused on improving water management and governance within the global mining sector. Her projects focus at two geographical scales of analysis: (1) within the mine lease, and (2) within mining regions. At the mine site level, Nadja develops novel models to improve quantification of water risk and to analyze trade-offs such as energy use and societal impact. At the regional level, she studies the evolving role of the mining sector in water stewardship and governance. Nadja is especially interested in how mining can best contribute towards the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG6, which focuses on the provision of water and sanitation.
In addition to her academic credentials, Nadja maintains close links to practice. She provides technical expertise to the International Finance Corporation, contributing to a Voluntary Code of Practice on Water Management among mining companies in the South Gobi Region in Mongolia, as well as other projects globally. Nadja is also a member of the Academic Directorate for the Canadian International Resources and Development Institute (CIRDI). Previously, Nadja gained extensive operational experience in the mining, oil and gas sector within Australia, including at the Northparkes copper/gold mine, Yarwun Alumina Refinery and BP’s Bulwer Island refinery. She has also worked in corporate sustainability reporting for Rio Tinto and contributed to sustainability strategy for Anglo Gold Ashanti in South Africa.