Contact
Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Engineering - Civil and Environmental Engineering Dept
- marslan@ualberta.ca
Overview
Area of Study / Keywords
Treatment Wetlands Nature-based Solutions Impact Assessment Arctic Environment Environmental Microbiology Contaminant Fate & Transport Sustainable Water Management
About
Dr. Muhammad Arslan, PhD, P.Biol., is an environmental scientist dedicated to solving complex water pollution and ecosystem-restoration challenges in industrial and northern environments. His expertise spans sustainable water management, environmental impact assessment, contaminant fate, and nature-based remediation.
With more than a decade of international experience across academia, government, and industry, Dr. Arslan has led multidisciplinary projects addressing oil sands tailings, produced water, PFAS, and contaminated watersheds. His work combines aquatic science, environmental microbiology, field research, and Indigenous ecological knowledge to develop practical, climate-resilient strategies for water treatment, reclamation, and environmental stewardship.
Dr. Arslan earned his doctorate from RWTH Aachen University in Germany and is a registered Professional Biologist. He has authored or co-authored more than 50 scholarly outputs, including publications in Nature Sustainability, Water Research, Chemical Engineering Journal, and Cell Reports Sustainability. He has collaborated with government agencies, Indigenous partners, academic institutions, and major energy-sector organizations. He currently serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Alberta and contributes to environmental initiatives that connect scientific innovation with practical, lasting impact.
Research
Dr. Arslan’s research addresses a question central to responsible resource development: what happens to contaminated water and disturbed aquatic ecosystems after industrial operations end? He investigates the biogeochemical and microbial processes that determine whether contaminants persist, transform, or diminish—and how these processes can be directed toward sustainable recovery.
From oil sands pit lakes and tailings-affected waters to produced water and disturbed watersheds, his work connects molecular-scale processes with field-scale environmental outcomes. His expertise encompasses dissolved organic matter, naphthenic acids, PFAS, and microbial controls on water quality in cold-region environments. He explores how constructed wetlands, biofiltration, and other nature-based systems can support the treatment and long-term closure of industrial water bodies.
Rather than treating water chemistry, microbial ecology, and landscape recovery as separate challenges, Dr. Arslan brings them together through field investigations, controlled experiments, demonstration studies, and advanced data analysis. Working collaboratively with Indigenous partners, he also helps connect Indigenous ecological knowledge with Western scientific approaches to support community-informed assessment, resilient reclamation, and lasting environmental stewardship.
Teaching
Dr. Muhammad Arslan approaches teaching as preparation for the decisions environmental professionals must make beyond the classroom. Rather than presenting scientific concepts in isolation, he connects theory with field experience, real environmental data, and case studies drawn from large-scale water, reclamation, and impact-assessment projects.
Courses taught include:
• Environmental Impact Assessment (EnvE 302)
• Physical and Chemical Processes in Wastewater Treatment (CivE 622)
His teaching combines problem-based learning, flipped-classroom activities, and project-based assignments that challenge students to examine evidence, work across disciplines, and develop defensible solutions to complex environmental problems. Dr. Arslan also supervises undergraduate and graduate research in water-treatment technologies, wetland restoration, and environmental monitoring, guiding students from research-question development through study design, data interpretation, and scientific communication.
Announcements
Dr. Muhammad Arslan welcomes inquiries from researchers, communities, and industry partners interested in collaborative work at the intersection of nature-based solutions, industrial water treatment, environmental assessment, and ecosystem restoration.
Potential opportunities include collaborative research, co-supervised student projects, and research internships that connect environmental science, engineering, and sustainability. Interested students are encouraged to contact Dr. Arslan with a brief description of their research interests, relevant experience, and proposed area of study. Opportunities are subject to project alignment, supervisory capacity, and available funding.
Featured Publications
Kashaf Farooq, Muhammad Arslan, Samina Anwar, Maryam Noor, Muhammad Afzal
Biochemical Engineering Journal. 2026 March; 10.1016/j.bej.2025.110045
Saman Liaqat, Muhammad Arslan
2025 October; 10.20944/preprints202510.0519.v1
Kamran Siddique, Aansa Saleem, Muhammad Arslan, Muhammad Afzal
Sustainability. 2025 July; 10.3390/su17136226
Muhammad Arslan, Muhammad Usman, Mohamed Gamal El-Din
Water Research. 2025 May; 10.1016/j.watres.2025.123253
Jia Li, Muhammed Arslan, Lingling Yang, Mohamed Gamal El-Din
Journal of Environmental Management. 2025 April; 10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.125050
Xinge Fu, Hui Zuo, Zhouhao Wang, Pengyin Shang, Zhuoyu Li, Jin Li, Yali Zhan, Qinghong Wang, Muhammad Arslan, Mohamed Gamal El-Din, Chunmao Chen
Journal of Environmental Management. 2025 April; 10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.124870
Survival strategies and assembly mechanisms of microbial communities in petroleum-contaminated soils
Wenyi Lu, Yi Zheng, Yi Wang, Jiayu Song, Yibin Weng, Wenfeng Ma, Muhammad Arslan, Mohamed Gamal El-Din, Dingyuan Wang, Qinghong Wang, Chunmao Chen
Environmental Research. 2024 December; 10.1016/j.envres.2024.119857
Hafiza Hira Iqbal, Abdul Qadir, Sajid Rashid Ahmad, Muhammad Ahsan Riaz, Ayesha Riaz, Naeem Shahid, Muhammad Arslan
Sustainability. 2024 October; 10.3390/su16219257
Yun Zhou, Xiaochun Wang, Muhammad Arslan, Xiangtong Zhou, Zhiren Wu, Jianxun Liu, Xueyan Li, Mohamed Gamal El-Din
Chemical Engineering Journal. 2024 September; 10.1016/j.cej.2024.153475
Muhammad Arslan, Chelsea Benally, Jochen A. Müller, Muhammad Usman, Jerry Hanna, Mohamed Gamal El-Din
Cell Reports Sustainability. 2024 August; 10.1016/j.crsus.2024.100149
Foroogh Mehravaran, Muhammad Arslan, Xiaoying Fan, Mohamed Gamal El-Din
Chemical Engineering Journal. 2024 August; 10.1016/j.cej.2024.152595
Maha Rehman, Sascha Wetters, Peter Nick, Muhammad Jamil, Muhammad Arslan, Rehan Naeem
Sustainability. 2024 July; 10.3390/su16156400
Jia Li, Muhammad Usman, Muhammad Arslan, Mohamed Gamal El-Din
Water Research. 2024 July; 10.1016/j.watres.2024.121757
Muhammad Arslan, Muhammad Usman, Mohamed Gamal El-Din
Water Research. 2024 May; 10.1016/j.watres.2024.121502
Muhammad Afzal, Muhammad Arslan, Salman Younus, Jochen A. Müller, Muhammad Usman, Momina Yasin, Muhammad Aamer Mehmood, Tanveer Mehdi, Ejazul Islam, Muhammad Tauseef, Samina Iqbal
iScience. 2024 April; 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109361
Muhammad Arslan, Samina Iqbal, Ejazul Islam, Mohamed Gamal El-Din, Muhammad Afzal
STAR Protocols. 2023 December; 10.1016/j.xpro.2023.102671
Full-Scale Floating Treatment Wetlands in Pakistan: From Performance Evaluation to Public Acceptance
Muhammad Arslan, Kamran Siddique, Jochen A. Müller, Razia Tahseen, Samina Iqbal, Ejazul Islam, Saddam Akber Abbasi, Muhammad Usman, Mohamed Gamal El-Din, Muhammad Afzal
ACS ES&T Water. 2023 November; 10.1021/acsestwater.3c00228
Muhammad Arslan, Soliu O. Ganiyu, Dustin M.E. Lillico, James L. Stafford, Mohamed Gamal El-Din
Chemical Engineering Journal. 2023 February; 10.1016/j.cej.2023.141390
Peng Cheng, Muhammad Usman, Muhammad Arslan, Huanqing Sun, Li Zhou, Mohamed Gamal El-Din
Fermentation. 2023 January; 10.3390/fermentation9020133
Scientific Reports. 2022 December; 10.1038/s41598-022-08517-1
Phuong Minh Nguyen, Muhammad Arslan, Uwe Kappelmeyer, Ines Mäusezahl, Arndt Wiessner, Jochen A. Müller
Chemosphere. 2022 December; 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.136605
Syed Wajid Ali Shah, Mujaddad ur Rehman, Muhammad Tauseef, Ejazul Islam, Azam Hayat, Samina Iqbal, Muhammad Arslan, Muhammad Afzal
Sustainability. 2022 October; 10.3390/su142114216
Rashid Iqbal, Muhammad Tahir Khan, Hazrat Bilal, Muhammad Mahran Aslam, Imtiaz Ahmed Khan, Shameem Raja, Muhammad Arslan, Phuong Minh Nguyen
Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal. 2022 October; 10.1080/10807039.2022.2120846
Bioresource Technology. 2022 September; 10.1016/j.biortech.2022.127346
Journal of Cleaner Production. 2022 April; 10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.130927
Chemical Engineering Journal. 2022 April; 10.1016/j.cej.2022.134579
Science of The Total Environment. 2022 April; 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151961
Bioresource Technology Reports. 2022 February; 10.1016/j.biteb.2021.100909
Muhammad Arslan, Muhammad Afzal, Naser A. Anjum
Sustainability. 2022 January; 10.3390/su14031268
Science of The Total Environment. 2022 January; 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150212
SUSTAINABILITY. 2022 January; 10.3390/SU14031268
Bioresource Technology. 2021 December; 10.1016/j.biortech.2021.125844
Science of The Total Environment. 2021 December; 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149570
Water. 2021 November; 10.3390/w13223311
Water. 2021 October; 10.3390/w13202882
Science of The Total Environment. 2021 September; 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147272
Science of The Total Environment. 2021 August; 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146742
Journal of Cleaner Production. 2021 May; 10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126648
Science of The Total Environment. 2021 March; 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143760
Aysha Akram, Nain Tara, Muhammad Asaf Khan, Saddam Akber Abbasi, Muhammad Irfan, Muhammad Arslan, Muhammad Afzal
Water and Environment Journal. 2020 December; 10.1111/wej.12551
Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences. 2020 December; 10.1016/j.sjbs.2020.09.054
Science of The Total Environment. 2020 November; 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140969
Journal of Hazardous Materials. 2020 November; 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.122807
Muhammad Arslan, Bin Xu, Mohamed Gamal El-Din
Science of The Total Environment. 2020 November; 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140709
Bioresource Technology. 2020 October; 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.123687
Sustainability. 2020 May; 10.3390/su12093731
Lei Zhang, Yanyan Zhang, Jordan Patterson, Muhammad Arslan, Yanjun Zhang, Mohamed Gamal El-Din
Science of The Total Environment. 2020 May; 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137028
Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences. 2020 May; 10.1016/j.sjbs.2019.12.011
Abdul Qadeer Wahla, Samina Anwar, Jochen A. Mueller, Muhammad Arslan, Samina Iqbal
Journal of Hazardous Materials. 2020 May; 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2019.121493
Sustainability. 2020 March; 10.3390/su12062353
Chemosphere. 2020 February; 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.124890
Muhammad Tayyab Ahsan, Razia Tahseen, Abida Ashraf, Abid Mahmood, Muhammad Najam-ul-haq, Muhammad Arslan, Muhammad Afzal
World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology. 2019 December; 10.1007/s11274-019-2757-z
BMC Genomics. 2019 December; 10.1186/s12864-019-5886-8
International Journal of Phytoremediation. 2019 November; 10.1080/15226514.2019.1633253
Zahid Hussain, Muhammad Arslan, Ghulam Shabir, Mumtaz Hasan Malik, Muhammad Mohsin, Samina Iqbal, Muhammad Afzal
Science of The Total Environment. 2019 October; 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.05.414
Hamna Saleem, Muhammad Arslan, Khadeeja Rehman, Razia Tahseen, Muhammad Afzal
Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences. 2019 September; 10.1016/j.sjbs.2018.01.014
Muhammad Afzal, Muhammad Arslan, Jochen A. Müller, Ghulam Shabir, Ejazul Islam, Razia Tahseen, Muhammad Anwar-ul-Haq, Amer J. Hashmat, Samina Iqbal, Qaiser M. Khan
Nature Sustainability. 2019 August; 10.1038/s41893-019-0350-y
Munazzam Jawad Shahid, Muhammad Arslan, Muhammad Siddique, Shafaqat Ali, Razia Tahseen, Muhammad Afzal
Ecological Engineering. 2019 August; 10.1016/j.ecoleng.2019.04.022
Phuong Minh Nguyen, Muhammad Afzal, Inaam Ullah, Naeem Shahid, Mujtaba Baqar, Muhammad Arslan
Environmental Science and Pollution Research. 2019 July; 10.1007/s11356-019-05320-w
Journal of Cleaner Production. 2019 April; 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.01.258
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH. 2019 January; 10.1007/S11356-019-05320-W
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT. 2019 January; 10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2019.05.414
ECOLOGICAL ENGINEERING. 2019 January; 10.1016/J.ECOLENG.2019.04.022
NATURE SUSTAINABILITY. 2019 January; 10.1038/S41893-019-0350-Y
Biotechnology Letters. 2019 January; 10.1007/s10529-019-02644-y
Mujtaba Baqar, Muhammad Arslan, Saddam A. Abbasi, Uzma Ashraf, Anam Khalid, Hina Zahid
Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health. 2018 November; 10.1080/19338244.2017.1371106
PeerJ. 2018 October; 10.7717/peerj.5792
Zahid Hussain, Muhammad Arslan, Mumtaz Hasan Malik, Muhammad Mohsin, Samina Iqbal, Muhammad Afzal
Journal of Environmental Management. 2018 October; 10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.07.057
Hamna Saleem, Khadeeja Rehman, Muhammad Arslan, Muhammad Afzal
International Journal of Phytoremediation. 2018 June; 10.1080/15226514.2017.1413334
Science of the Total Environment. 2018 January; 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.07.163
Polish Journal of Environmental Studies. 2018 January; 10.15244/pjoes/68425
Clean - Soil, Air, Water. 2018 January; 10.1002/clen.201800120
Amjad B. Khalil, Neelamegam Sivakumar, Muhammad Arslan, Hamna Saleem, Sami Qarawi
BioMed Research International. 2018 January; 10.1155/2018/5862437
Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering. 2018 January; 10.1007/s13369-017-2622-z
International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology. 2018 January; 10.1007/s13762-018-2165-1
Polish Journal of Environmental Studies. 2017 January; 10.15244/pjoes/68157
Environmental Science and Pollution Research. 2017 January; 10.1007/s11356-015-4935-3
Human and Ecological Risk Assessment. 2017 January; 10.1080/10807039.2017.1292843
Enhancing Cleanup of Environmental Pollutants. 2017 January; 10.1007/978-3-319-55426-6_5
Novel Anoxybacillus flavithermus AK1: A Thermophile Isolated from a Hot Spring in Saudi Arabia
Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering. 2017 January;
Geological Quarterly. 2016 January; 10.7306/gq.1242
Pedosphere. 2016 January; 10.1016/S1002-0160(15)60084-4
Arabian Journal of Geosciences. 2016 January; 10.1007/s12517-016-2436-4
Muhammad U. Khan, Angela Sessitsch, Muhammad Harris, Kaneez Fatima, Asma Imran, Muhammad Arslan, Ghulam Shabir, Qaiser M. Khan, Muhammad Afzal
Front. Plant Sci.. 2015 January; 10.3389/fpls.2014.00755
Pakistan Journal of Scientific and Industrial Research Series B: Biological Sciences. 2015 January;
Muhammad Arslan, Muhammad Afzal, Imran Amin, Samina Iqbal, Qaiser M. Khan
PLoS ONE. 2014 October; 10.1371/journal.pone.0111208
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