Kerry Rowe, a distinguished Canadian civil engineering researcher at Queen's University, leads the geotechnical engineering charge for improving global environmental safety. His pioneering work on landfill barrier systems and more recently on mine waste is having a profound effect in ensuring long-term protection of water and land resources worldwide.

Rowe's four decades of research have encompassed a comprehensive understanding of landfill barriers' intricate workings, including leachate collection layers, plastic liners (geomembranes), and clay liners. His approach integrates theoretical analysis, rigorous laboratory studies, and extensive field investigations. His groundbreaking numerical model predicting the lifespan of landfill drainage layers was validated through a unique 12-year full-scale experiment.

Rowe has addressed critical issues like geomembrane performance under various environmental stresses, such as chemicals and elevated temperatures. His findings have reshaped design approaches, promoted the longevity of liner materials, and modified construction practices so that facilities can now provide more than 550 years of service, far surpassing previous capabilities.

Rowe's impact extends globally, as he advises on over 150 projects worldwide and influences the development of regulatory standards in Canada, Australia, South Africa, and beyond. His work not only enhances environmental safety, but also mitigates risks associated with emerging contaminants in landfills and the environmental impacts of mine waste.

Kerry Rowe's research provides indispensable tools for safeguarding our environment for generations to come. His methods are pivotal to sustainable waste management practices globally.

Dr. Kerry Rowe is a pioneer of geoenvironmental engineering who has single-handedly transformed the knowledge foundation of landfill barrier systems around the world. Rowe’s early research identified how large municipal and industrial waste landfilling sites were being approved without regard for landfill design measures that could prevent long-term leakage and escapes of leachate to the environment. His research and experimentation identified newly engineered criteria for landfill design that could prevent significant groundwater problems. This work has resulted in two commercialized computer-modelling tools, named POLLUTE and MIGRATE, that are widely used to guide the safe development of waste containment sites around the world. These sophisticated but convenient programs are used globally by engineers to evaluate the suitability of proposed landfill designs and to establish systems that will result in safer landfill facilities. His research is also used for waste containment applications, including bottom liners and covers for mine waste and containment systems for chemical spills.

Rowe’s research has had a remarkable influence in Canada and around the world. His work has impacted regulations, design practice and construction practice worldwide. He has advised over 180 waste disposal, contaminant remediation, hydrology, dam and tunnelling projects and has provided innovative solutions for environmental cleanup at geographical sites extending from Canada’s Arctic to the Antarctic. Moreover, his work has significantly impacted landfill standards on three continents.