Michael R. Templeton is Professor of Public Health Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Imperial College London, as well as the Oxfam and Water For People / Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair in Global Sanitation Technology, since 2022. He is also Co-Chair of Imperial College London's Global Development Hub.

He is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and has served on strategic advisory groups and technical review panels for the World Health Organization, the UK Research and Innovation Global Challenges Research Fund, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the Swedish Research Council. ​

Professor Templeton's research group conducts fundamental chemistry- and microbiology-based research that underpins applications for solving public health challenges related to sanitation in developing countries, through the pioneering use of science-based approaches to designing, testing, and implementing novel onsite sanitation technologies. It typically combines laboratory work, fieldwork, and mathematical modelling.

This research is highly inter-disciplinary, often including collaborations with researchers in the natural sciences (e.g. biology), medicine / public health, and the social sciences (e.g. behavioural science).

The group’s research typically collaborates with partners overseas in countries including Ethiopia, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Ghana, Nepal, and India.

Prof Templeton’s research has led to significant impacts on-the-ground in several developing countries, by shaping policies and implementing novel appropriate technologies.

Andy is the sanitation & water supply sector specialist for Oxfam, with over 35 years of professional WASH experience working in low-income countries and fragile states.

His experience includes multiple categories of humanitarian crisis and response, protracted disasters, post emergency planning and long-term development.

Andy joined Oxfam in 1990 becoming the Public Health Engineering team leader in 2002. Andy has focused on improving technologies and approaches in sanitation, bulk and household water treatment, evaluations as well as leading a number of innovation projects for emergency response and long term sustainability. Andy was the WASH focal point for the 2nd edition of Sphere in 2004 and is currently co-lead of the global cluster FSM technical working group. He led the Emergency Wash Sector Gap analysis in 2013 and currently in 2020.

Carlos Batarda is the Global Advisor for WASH Market System Development at Water For People. Prior to joining Water For People in 2019, he worked for the World Bank and the European Union. An engineer by training, Carlos likes to think about practical, out-of-the-box ways to accelerate progress on access to water and sanitation, especially in Africa. Beyond international development, Carlos is a passionate reader and weightlifter.

Laure is a post-doctoral Research Associate in the Environmental and Water Resource Engineering section of the Civil and Environmental Engineering department at Imperial College London. Her research is multidisciplinary, exploring the multi-disciplinary aspects of delivering potable water supply and sanitation in developing countries, with the aim of improving public health.

She holds an MEng degree and a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering, both from Imperial College.

Her PhD and early post-doctoral research employed citizen-science couples with mobile phone apps to deliver strategies for collecting information on potable water supply and consumption in data-scarce settings and developing countries. This data could assist thestakeholders improve water supply and re use inequities.

Her current position as the Sanitation Advisor to Oxfam and Water for People has her designing, developing, and testing novel onsite sanitation technologies and faecal sludge management processes for application in developing countries, conducting research and coordinating parallel activities at Imperial.

Laure is also a part of the ELMO (Enhancing the Learning Model and Opportunities for University Engineering Education) project where she leads the work package on improving diversity and inclusion in admissions processes and teaching in Higher Education Partnerships in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as in the engineering profession, to improve engineering practices locally.

Maria is a PhD student at Imperial College London, working on a project aligned with the Transition to Zero Pollution Initiative of the SSCP DTP, and jointly supervised by Prof Michael Templeton and Dr Geoff Fowler.

The focus of her project is the assessment of novel treatment technologies, such as pyrolysis, that offer opportunities to develop a holistic Faecal Sludge Management approach. This will provide wider environmental benefits through resource and energy recovery from faecal sludge. 

Maria obtained a MEng in Civil Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens (Greece). She then completed an MSc in Environmental Engineering at Imperial College London. After working at a global engineering consultancy, she joined Imperial College London as a PhD student in 2020.

Aiman is a PhD student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Imperial College London. Her research focuses on novel ways to develop improved on-site sanitation technologies by improving septic-tank design, which aims to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal 6.

Aiman has a bachelor’s degree in biology and a minor in economics from the George Washington University, USA, and a master’s degree in economics and public policy from Sciences Po Paris, Ecole Polytechnique, and ENSAE, France.

Mengru is a PhD student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Imperial College London supervised by Prof Michael Templeton. Her research aims to investigate the effects of latrine additives on on-site sanitation system performance, by conducting comprehensive trials under both laboratory and field conditions to explain and optimise the underlying mechanisms.

Mengru obtained a BEng in Environmental Engineering from Nanjing University of Information, Science and Technology and University of Reading in 2021 and then completed an MSc in Environmental Engineering at Imperial College London with Distinction in 2022.

Yogesh is a PhD student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Imperial College London, where he works under the supervision of Prof Michael Templeton and co-supervision of Dr Laure Sione. His research focuses on understanding and improving Tiger Worm Toilets, which involve utilizing a worm-based ecosystem to convert human waste into vermi-compost and liquid effluent. The research includes field investigations of operating Tiger Worm Toilets and a laboratory analysis of the compost and effluent quality. The research will also examine the user experience, cost-effectiveness, and safety management aspects associated with Tiger Worm Toilets that are already in use in India and possibly other locations in Africa.

Yogesh obtained BTech in Civil Engineering with a minor in Construction Project Management from MIT Academy of Engineering Pune, India. He then completed his MSc in Environmental Engineering at Imperial College London.

Adhin is a PhD student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Imperial College London, under the guidance of Prof. Michael Templeton and co-supervised by Dr. Laure Sione. Her research is focused on enhancing sanitation through the modification of traditional septic tanks, with humanitarian emergency scenarios in mind.

Adhin holds a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia, and subsequently pursued her Master's in Water Resources and Environmental Management at Leibniz Universität Hannover, Germany. Prior to her doctoral studies, she accumulated six years of experience as a process engineer at a German company specializing in aeration for wastewater treatment and two years of experience as a lecturer at Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia.