Photo for Muhammad Arslan

Muhammad Arslan, PhD, PBiol

Contact

Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Engineering - Civil and Environmental Engineering Dept
Email
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


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


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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