Rowe holds the Canada Research Chair in Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering at Queen’s University where he is also the Barrington Batchelor Distinguished University Professor.  His professional practice and research relevant to the short course have covered contaminant migration through soil and rock, hydrogeological/geotechnical/civil engineering aspects of landfill design, containment and remediation of contaminated sites from the Arctic to the Antarctic, geosynthetics, hydro dams, tailings storage facilities and tailings dams. He is a past President of the International Geosynthetics Society, the Canadian Geotechnical Society and the Engineering Institute of Canada.  He has been selected to present some of the world’s most prestigious named geotechnical lectures including the Giroud Lecture (2002), Rankine Lecture (2005), Manuel Rocha Lecture (2006), Casagrande lecture (2011), Karl Terzaghi Lecture (2017), Croce Lecture (2017) and Mercer Lecture (2019). In 2013, the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering created a named lecture to honour his pioneering contributions to geoenvironmental engineering, the ISSMGE R. Kerry Rowe Lecture. In 2021, the International Geosynthetics Society created the Kerry Rowe Lecture to honour his seminal contributions to the development of geosynthetic engineering. He has received nnumerous awards and been elected a Distinguished Member of ASCE,  Foreign Member of the US National Academy of Engineering, and a Fellow of the Royal Society (London, UK), UK Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society of Canada, and the Canadian Academy of Engineering.  He has been appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada (O.C.), Canada’s highest Civilian Honour.