Tamara Kondrachova graduated from Tomsk State University of Russia in 1988 as an Engineer Hydrologist with a Master in Engineering. Right after she worked in the oil and gas industry until 1994, where as part of a group acquired few patents in developing of old orphan oil production wells. Then she worked in the construction industry until she with her husband and two sons immigrated to Canada in 2000. She graduated from Centennial College with an Advanced Diploma in Environmental Protection Technology in 2003 and got a Hydrogeologist job with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), where she became heavily involved with variety of tunnelling projects undertaken by various municipalities and the Ministry of Transportation. In March, 2004 Tamara became a practising member of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario (PGO). In 2009 she got a Hydrogeologist/Environmental Manager position with the Municipality of York Region, where she has continued to be involved with large tunnelling projects providing her technical input on hydrogeological and geotechnical scopes over entire project’s cycle from planning to implementation for all water and wastewater projects built by York Region. In January 2020 Tamara has joined the U of T as a PhD student and then subsequently retired from York Region on November 30, 2021. Being nominated by the Tunnelling Association of Canada (TAC) in May 2021, Tamara represents Canada at International Tunnelling Association (ITA) Working Group 20, which is focused on development of the guidance documentation supporting resilient and sustainable development of underground spaces around the globe. Her research with U of T focuses on the analyses of common construction methods in order to improve the existing decision-making process that will best support sustainable expansion of the Greater Toronto Area’s subway system in the future.