Daniel S. Alessi is a professor and the Encana Chair in Water Resources in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Alberta, who specializes in environmental geochemistry and geomicrobiology. Since 2013, his research group has focused on understanding the surface chemistry and reactivity of environmental materials such as iron oxides, bacteria, and biochar, on lithium extraction from oilfield brines, and on improving our knowledge of the water cycle in unconventional oil and gas operations.