Associate Course Director, Humanitarian Water Engineering; Technical Advisor, Safe Water Optimization Tool
Research Team

James is a water, sanitation, and public health engineering specialist with over ten years of experience in programme delivery, cluster coordination, research, policy development, and capacity building, supporting countries across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
His work has involved the set-up of community health centres in Sierra Leone during the Ebola outbreak, coordinating contingency planning ahead of the Mosul offensive in Iraq and designing water supply and sanitation programs in South Sudan, Myanmar, Liberia, Iraq, Ukraine, Nigeria and Lebanon.
Over the past few years, he has developed a professional focus on appropriate market-based approaches, quality assurance and accountability, and data science applications in the field of WASH. He has contributed to several projects in these focus areas and co-authored technical guidance on Market Based Approaches for WASH and Quality Assurance and Accountability.
Prior to his work in the humanitarian sector, James co-founded a social enterprise in the UK focused on developing products to address barriers to safe drinking water access for households in rural communities, using designs that can be manufactured locally.
He completed a Masters in Product Design Engineering, a program jointly delivered by the University of Glasgow and the Glasgow School of Art, in 2009, combining mechanical engineering with human-centred design.
You may also be interested in...
Shaping Future Health Leaders Through Experiential Learning: Success Stories from the World Health Assembly Simulation (WHA SIM) 2025
The World Health Assembly Simulation (WHA SIM) 2025 conference, held at York University’s Second Student Centre from April 30 to May 1, was a resounding success. Hosted by the School of Global Health, with support ...Read more about this Post
Lassonde team developing new tool for detection of microplastics in water
Researchers at the Lassonde School of Engineering at York University are working to develop innovative methods for the detection of microplastics in bodies of water. Recently, a group of researchers successfully designed and prototyped an ...Read more about this Post
Dahdaleh Institute researchers contribute to York's achievements towards the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals
In June 2020, York University launched its new University Academic Plan 2020-2025 (UAP), which included a university-wide challenge to elevate York’s contributions to the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The new UAP serves as ...Read more about this Post
