She’s leading a lab that’s influencing public policy around pressing environmental challenges
Age: 35
Shira Joudan is an optimist.
“I think it’s almost an act of rebellion to be optimistic,” she says. Studying the environmental effects of PFAS, also called “forever chemicals,” might sound like a downer. While Joudan acknowledges the impacts of these chemicals in the environment, she also says a lot of what’s in the media is oversimplification.
As head of the Joudan Lab at the University of Alberta, she leads undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral researchers investigating chemicals in the environment, where those chemicals go and if they break down. The research influences scientists’ understanding of these chemicals, informing public policy decisions. It’s also inspiring the next generation of researchers.
“A student was measuring a contaminant in the air this summer. He was taking a sample every week and he found that after one of our rainy weeks, the amount of that contaminant in the air decreased,” Joudan explains. “No one had that specific scenario for Edmonton.”
The lab’s work has been funded in part by the Chemical Management Plan of Canada, which regulates the general use of chemicals across the country.
Joudan’s natural disposition for looking on the bright side keeps her grounded in the positives of her work, influencing students to be better critical thinkers and science communicators, whether that’s in their careers or at the dinner table at Thanksgiving.
“A classic example is the ozone hole, right?” Joudan says. “The Montreal Protocol has helped bring that ozone layer back. It can feel like doom and gloom, and of course, I feel that as well, but if the option is to be sad versus trying to do something, I think we should try to do something.”
This article appears in the November-December 2026 issue of Edify
