Nadja Kunz is Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Mine Water Management and Stewardship (NSERC, Tier 2), jointly appointed across the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs (SPPGA) and the Norman B Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering (NBK) at the University of British Columbia (UBC).

The overarching goal of Nadja’s research program at UBC is to quantify and mitigate the risks associated with the mining sector’s use of water from diverse perspectives. She adopts an interdisciplinary toolkit, ranging from the development of engineering and geospatial models to anticipate potential water-related risks, to qualitative field and interview research to identify the constraints and opportunities for transitioning the mining sector towards more sustainable water and waste management practices.

Nadja holds several leadership roles at UBC centred on convening interdisciplinary teams across UBC and with external partners (including industry and Indigenous representatives) to resolve complex challenges associated with the resources sector. This includes co-leading the academic direction of the Future Minerals Initiative (since 2025, together with Sara Ghebremusse), and co-leading the Water Stewardship theme for the Bradshaw Research Initiative on Mining and Minerals (BRIMM) (since 2020, together with Roger Beckie). Nadja also serves as a Distinguished Fellow with the Peter P. Dhillon Centre for Business Ethics in the UBC Sauder School of Business (since 2024), a Faculty Associate of the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES) (since 2018), and is a member of the Executive Committee for the Data Science Institute (since 2025).  Beyond UBC, Nadja have been an Adjunct Research Fellow with the Sustainable Minerals Institute at UQ since 2018, and served as an Executive Advisor to the Liveris Academy at UQ since 2024.

Nadja obtained her PhD from the Sustainable Minerals Institute (SMI) at The University of Queensland (UQ) in Australia where she remains an Adjunct Fellow (since 2018).  She is also an Executive Advisor to the Liveris Academy at UQ (since 2024).  Nadja holds a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering (First Class Honours) and a Bachelor of Business Management (Dean’s Honour Roll), both from UQ. Following her PhD, Nadja spent two years as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Eawag Aquatic Research Institute in Switzerland.

In addition to her academic credentials, Nadja maintains close links to practice. Prior to joining UBC, she consulted as a Water Specialist for the International Finance Corporation where she has provided technical expertise to a Voluntary Code of Practice on Water Management for the South Gobi Region in Mongolia. Currently, she is supporting the development of online educational material for IFC’s Disclosure to Development program. Since 2021, Nadja is a board member of Genome British Columbia, and she was previously Chair and UBC Representative of the Academic Advisory Board for the Canadian International Resources and Development Institute (CIRDI) (2017-19). In her early career, Nadja gained 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 consulted for Anglo Gold Ashanti in South Africa.

In her spare time, Nadja is an avid outdoor enthusiast and particularly enjoys rock-climbing, mountaineering and skiing.

Read all of Prof. Nadja Kunz’s publications here.