Our Team

Ed Gazendam, Ph.D., P.Eng., is the Founder, President and Sr. Geomorphologist of Water’s Edge with over 25 years of professional experience.

Ed holds Bachelor, Master, and Doctorate degrees from the University of Guelph. In addition, Ed also has specialized training in natural channel design, sediment transport and open channel hydraulics from UC Berkeley and Johns Hopkins Universities.

Extensive training and experience have allowed Ed to complete a wide variety of river projects ranging from environmental assessments to riverbank stabilization designs, both locally and internationally.

Ed is a member of the provincial Natural Channels Initiative Committee and co-author of the provincial policy document entitled “Adaptive Management of Stream Corridors in Ontario”. He is also a Director with the Canadian Water Resources Association – Ontario Branch, registered with the Professional Engineers of Ontario and a member of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers (Hydraulics).

Ed enjoys travelling and fly-fishing (for which there is never enough time available).

Ferdous Ahmed, Ph.D., P.Eng., is the Sr. Water Resources Engineer at Water’s Edge and is a licensed Professional Engineer in the Province of Ontario. Ferdous holds Bachelor, Master and Doctorate degrees in Water Resources Engineering. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Alberta in 1994 and since then he also received specialized training in HEC HMS, HEC RAS, Mike SHE, Mike Hydro, Mike Flood, and SMS/SRH 2D modelling.

Having worked for a local Conservation authority for over 20 years as well as many years in consulting, Ferdous has conducted over 40 Floodplain Analysis and Mapping studies in Canada and reviewed over 80 flood studies in Canada and USA. These studies included hydrologic & hydraulic modeling as well as the preparation of floodplain mapping.

Dr. Ahmed has over twenty-five years of experience in water resources engineering with extensive knowledge of river hydraulics, fluvial geomorphology, computational hydraulics, sediment transport, river training, erosion control, bank protection works, as well as the design of weirs, culverts, groynes, levees, canals, water intakes, sedimentation ponds, and stilling basins.

Ferdous enjoys long hikes, observing nature, and reading widely on science, arts and society.

Nik Gazendam, C.Tech., CAN-CISEC is a Project Manager at Water’s Edge with over 15 years of direct experience in data collection, analysis, design, implementation, and monitoring of channel related projects. Nik has a diploma in Ecosystem Management from Fleming College, and since graduating he has also completed various specialized training courses and workshops that have increased his knowledge base.

His area of expertise includes fluvial geomorphic assessments, design, meander beltwidth assessments, floodline studies, CAD, and surveying. In addition, Nik is typically the project construction inspector for Water’s Edge channel construction projects.

With his project involvement and experience Nik has developed good relationships with many agency and company staff members, which aids in the communication, timing, and completion of jobs.

Nik loves spending time with his family, playing sports, being outdoors, and cheering on his favourite sports teams.

Eric Gazendam is a Senior Technician at Water’s Edge. Eric has over 5 years of experience in surveying and CAD work. He is also working on completing a diploma in Civil/Environmental Engineering Technology at Conestoga College and has completed various training courses and workshops.

His current areas of expertise include surveying, design, 2D and 3D CAD, data analysis, along with water level and flow data collection. Eric has completed many geomorphic surveys and natural channel design projects, as well as prepared CAD drawings for submission to clients, agencies and contractors.

Eric is in the process of renovating his home while still finding time for adventure with his family.

Ryan Good, M.A.Sc., EIT is a Water Resources Specialist at Water’s Edge. His bachelor’s degree is in Environmental Engineering from the University of Guelph. His Master’s degree is in Water Resources Engineering and research focused on fluvial geomorphology and sediment transport in streams.

His current areas of expertise include hydrologic and hydraulic assessments (using HEC-HMS, SWMHYMO and HEC RAS), stormwater management, LID, and monitoring installations with data downloading/processing, GIS, CADD and reporting.

Ryan has a lifelong interest in water which includes sailing and fishing, he also likes to share random facts, and play hockey.

Lucy Lu, M. Sc., G.I.T., is a River Scientist at Water’s Edge specializing in fluvial geomorphology and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). She typically completes meander beltwidth analysis, fluvial geomorphic analysis, monitoring, GIS analysis, and reporting. She received her Master of Science (M. Sc.) from McGill University in Physical Geography, specializing in biogeochemistry of wetlands. Her Bachelor of Science (B. Sc.) is from University of Western Ontario where she studied Earth Sciences and Geology. During that time, she has researched geoarchaeology, stable isotopes, and economic geology. She is a Geoscientist in Training, licensed under the Association of Professional Geoscientists in Ontario (APGO). Lucy enjoys painting, being creative, and discussing environmental issues. She enjoys being outdoors on or by the water.

Tim Antonio is a water resource scientist at Water’s Edge with over 11 years working in rivers studying their flow. Tim has a B.A.Sc. degree in Civil Engineering and Minor in Preventative Engineering from the University of Toronto. His current area of expertise includes Hydraulic & Hydrologic Modelling & Analysis, GIS, water stage-discharge data collection, and hydroacoustics. 

Tim, enjoys thinking of new ways to do things by working to prevent flooding and the increasing impact of water on our society. Tim has worked extensively across Northwestern Ontario during droughts, historical high water, and winter ice conditions. He has worked with First Nation communities, Government & Industrial sectors to provide solutions to unique challenges with water resources.

Tim loves enjoying wildlife photography from a canoe or reading a good book. These days the camera is used for capturing his young family’s adventurous moments and reading lots of kids books.

Asal Montakhab, M.Sc., Ph.D. (Apr. ’23) is a River Scientist at Water’s Edge. Her Bachelor’s degree is in Civil Engineering and her Master’s degree is in Hydraulic Engineering. She is currently completing final edits on her PhD thesis on fluvial hydraulics and sediment transport in streams at the University of Waterloo.  As part of her PhD she developed a program to obtain highly accurate rating curves for creeks by eliminating the need for costly velocity or discharge field measurements.

Asal’s current area of expertise includes fluvial geomorphic and hydraulic assessments (e.g. HEC HMS and HEC RAS). Asal has also developed an erosion analysis methodology, which is applied to design and assessment projects.

Asal enjoys travelling, playing soccer with friends, and dance. Her favourite type of dance is Persian Miniature Dance but also enjoys Salsa and Swing.

Deepthi Varadhan, Ph.D., is a Sr. Water Resource Scientist and Hydrologic/Hydraulic Modeller at Water’s Edge.

Deepthi holds Bachelor, Master and Doctorate degrees. As part of her PhD, she conducted extensive research on risk and damage assessment and management of droughts, floods, and hurricanes and undertook multivariate flood and drought risk and vulnerability modeling under the impact of climate. She also evaluated the impact of Low Impact Development (LID) practices of rainwater harvesting and pervious pavements for stormwater management.

Deepthi also has specialized training in hydrologic modelling (SWMM, HEC-HMS, and SWAT) and hydraulic modelling (HEC RAS) as well as certifications in applied statistics, SAS programming, and water quality monitoring. Her experience using hydrologic and hydraulic modeling in support of climate change assessments has been applied in Canada, the US, the Middle East, and India.

Dr. Rajsekhar’s extensive experience has enabled her to be an Editorial Board Member as well as Invited Expert Reviewer on many notable peer-reviewed journals.

Deepthi enjoys painting, traveling, and gardening.

Eh Klay Law  is a graduate from the Civil Engineering Program at Mohawk College and is working on the field crew and as a Civil Technologist at Water’s Edge.

His current areas of expertise include Civil 3D, surveying, and data analysis. Eh Klay has assisted in the completion of various geomorphic surveying and channel design projects, as well as prepared CAD drawings for submission to clients, agencies and contractors.

Ehklay enjoys playing soccer year-round and you can find his music on YouTube.