It’s election season for IGS North America. With the 2025 – 2026 Board Elections, we transition from Dr. Ben Leshchinsky (Oregon State University) to Dr. Kristin Sample-Lord, PE (Villanova University) as chapter President. Thank you, Ben! Our colleague John Allen (MBCC) now moves off the board after six years of support. Thank you, John, for you support of the chapter. Additionally leaving the Board are Lilma Schimmel (S&ME) and Dr. Joseph Scalia IV (Colorado State University), who have given us years of support as Vice Presidents. Thank you, Lilma and Joe!
Election invitations have gone out to chapter members from our elections system (Election Buddy).
The 2025-2026 ballot has us seeking a President-Elect (two-year term) and two Vice Presidents (four-year terms). There are also two additional survey questions regarding (a) the Biennial General Assembly, which will be held March 4 in Louisville during Geotechnical Frontiers 2025 and (b) the Call for Abstracts to the 13th International Conference on Geosynthetics (13 ICG), which IGS North America will host in Montreal in September 2026.
President-Elect Candidate
Vice President Candidates
President-Elect
Dr. Fady Abdelaal
Fady B. Abdelaal, Ph.D., P.Eng., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada and a Research Director at the GeoEngineering Centre at Queen’s-RMC. His research expertise involves polymeric and bituminous geosynthetic barrier systems for geoenvironmental applications, with a focus on understanding
their long-term degradation behaviour. His work spans the use of geomembranes in solid waste landfills, low-level radioactive
waste containment, potable water reservoirs, and mining operations. Additionally, he investigates the long-term interface shear strength of geosynthetic barrier systems, contaminant diffusion through geomembranes, and the performance of geosynthetic liners in cold regions. His research is funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and Mitacs. This research involves collaboration with various geosynthetic manufacturers and installers, consulting firms,
private sector companies, and mining companies. To date, his publications have won three Best Papers awards and two were selected as the Editor’s Choice in the top journals in the field.
Dr. Abdelaal currently serves as a Council member and Educational Committee Chair of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS), vice President – University Outreach for IGS-North America, and the Academic support for the delivery of projects, IGS Technical Committee barriers (IGS-TC B). He was the immediate past Chair of the Geosynthetic Division of the Canadian Geotechnical Society (CGS). He also serves on the editorial boards of Geotextiles and Geomembranes, Geosynthetics International, and Frontiers for Built Environment Journals as well as an Associate Editor for the Environmental Geotechnics Journal. Dr. Abdelaal was the Educational co-chair of the GeoAmericas 2024 conference and currently serves as the Technical co-chair of the 13 th International Conference on Geosynthetics (ICG13, 2026).
Vice President
Dustin Taylor, PE
Dustin Taylor is a licensed professional geotechnical engineer with more than 15 years of engineering experience with a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Oklahoma and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Washington with a focus in Geotechnical Engineering. Dustin was born and raised in Elk City, Oklahoma and currently resides in Seattle, Washington where he has lived for the past 12 years. He is a past president of the ASCE Geo-Institute Seattle Chapter with over 750 members winning the Best Chapter Award as president in 2021. Dustin was the first two-term president in over 45 years and oversaw the completion of the commitment to the Holtz Fellowship with over $600,000 available to provide financial assistance to students pursuing careers in geotechnical engineering. Dustin is passionate about volunteering within the civil engineering community to advance the geotechnical engineering profession. He is actively involved in the Geo-Institute as Committee Liaison for the Sustainability in Geotechnical Engineering committee, the Webmaster for the Geosynthetic committee as well as the Region 8 Representative for the Local Involvement Committee. He is also the Job Shadowing Lead for the International Geosynthetic Society Young Members Committee. Besides his engineering career, Dustin enjoys family, friends, food, traveling, nature, fitness, and music.
Vice President
Tamara Tuttle
Tamara Tuttle is a business consultant devoted to helping companies tell their story and increase their reach and profits, so they can grow healthy and give back to their communities. She has an international background and extensive experience in science of technical products sales–especially regarding geosynthetics for environmental applications like waste containment, water management, erosion control or mining. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, her consulting focuses on business development and international strategy. She helps clients to consolidate sales, communicate better their technical offerings, launch new products, or measure and manage their customer experience.
Among her many geosynthetics industry activities, Tamara Tuttle is Co-Chair of the International Marketing Committee of the 13th International Conference on Geosynthetics (13 ICG Montreal 2026). Her extensive international work has involved business in 100+ countries, and she has provided market research & intelligence, assisted in entries to new territories, and facilitated business relationships where two or more countries, languages, and cultures are involved. Her marketing, sales, and consulting work has helped generate more than USD $60 million in revenue for global manufacturers, construction companies, media platforms and engineering firms.
We are the North American Chapter of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS), serving and representing infrastructure and sustainability professionals in Canada and the United States.
