Canadian Water Network (CWN) is thrilled to announce the addition of Giba Barrie as the engagement and knowledge mobilization specialist to our Wastewater-Based Surveillance (WBS) Program team. She joins WBS Program Manager Talia Glickman and our collaborators at the National Centre for Collaboration on Infectious Diseases (NCCID).

“I am super passionate about knowledge mobilization,” says Giba. “I possess a background in social work, and I always saw first-hand the great impact mobilizing knowledge has on different communities.” In this knowledge mobilization role, she will help health authorities interpret the meaning of wastewater-based surveillance data for their communities and communicate these results to decision-makers and the public.

Giba comes to CWN with experience related to synthesizing complex information, discerning key trends and crafting informed policy recommendations. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Psychology from the University of Calgary. After working with low-income communities in Calgary, Giba was inspired to pursue her Master’s in Public Health at Western University.

During her public health studies, Giba completed her practicum with the National Advisory Committee of Immunization at the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). She then worked as a policy, research, and initiatives advisor at York Region and contributed to strategic planning and policy-related projects. Most recently, Giba returned to PHAC and joined the Science in French team as a research analyst, where she supported PHAC’s mandate of increasing the amount of science-related content produced in French across the agency.

Giba explained that she is “excited to be working with such a great team and advancing her knowledge mobilization skills.” She especially looks forward to “the chance to collaborate with a diverse and extensive network of leaders across Canada’s public health and wastewater sector.”

Please join us in welcoming Giba to CWN’s team.