Boojum Research Limited: The R&D carried out by the company has led to the development of methods in which oxidation of pyrite surfaces is reduced by biofilms, iron, and sulfates(the components of acid mine drainage) are reduced in the sediment by other microbes, and contaminants are removed from wastewater by macrophytes and algae. In all these projects, we have endeavored to develop solutions that are environmentally sustainable, economic, and effective over the long term.  Our projects have been carried out in cooperation with various mining companies, foreign governments, and government research organizations. These Ecological Engineering technologies have been implemented at a number of base metal, coal, and uranium mine sites across Canada, the U.S., Germany, Australia, Brazil, and China.

We are a virtual company, with no formal office. Boojum’s core researchers, Margarete Kalin (Switzerland and Canada), Dr. William Wheeler (USA), and Dr. Carlos Paulo (Portugal) work independently but collaborate on all our projects.  This staff consults with experts such as Dr. Günther Meinrath (Germany), Dr. Sören Bellenberg (Germany), Dr. Bryn Harris (Canada), Mike Sudbury (Canada), and Ron Benn (Canada).  Wieslaw Poliszot (Canada) and Martin Smith (Canada) are past core researchers who continue to contribute to Boojum’s research and production.

Over the course of more than 35 years, we have assembled an extensive mining environmental database containing the chemical and physical profiles of more than 150 mine waste management areas.  The database is electronic, housed on a number of computers in North America and Europe.  Our library of project reports, compiled over more than 35 years, is available to all researchers through the Mining and the Environment Research Literature Information Network (MERLIN) at the J. N. Desmarais Library at Laurentian University in Sudbury.

Margarete Kalin is the president and founder of Boojum Research Limited. The ‘swamp doctor’ has applied her expertise and technologies to remediating effluent streams from coal, uranium, base metal, and precious metals mine and mill sites in North and South America and Europe. As an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto and Ryerson University, she has taught courses and advised students in the application of ecological engineering principles to the mining industry.  She has written or co-authored and published over 500 scientific papers, book chapters, and reports on aspects of her fieldwork and research. Her work has been summarized in the 2022 book: “Mine Waste and Water, Ecological Engineering and Metals Extraction Sustainability and Circular Economy”.

Margarete won the Noranda Land Reclamation Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Land Reclamation in 1993.  In May 2004, she received the CIM Distinguished Lecturer Award and, in August 2005, the Teck-Cominco Environmental Award. She is a Qualified Environmental Professional with the Institute of Environmental Practice and a Senior Ecologist with the American Ecological Society.

Margarete currently resides in Switzerland, where she continues to write, review and teach in the area of ecological engineering and mine site restoration.  She travels extensively for meetings, projects, and leisure. In 2020 she received an honorary Ph.D. from Laurentian University located in Sudbury Ontario Canada. Margarete has been invited to the nomination process for the 2023 MDPI World Sustainability Award.

For further information or a PDF of Margarete’s full CV please send an email to: margarete.kalin@utoronto.ca