John Cherry holds geological engineering degrees from the University of Saskatchewan and the University of California Berkley, and earned a Ph.D. in hydrogeology from the University of Illinois. He joined the University of Waterloo in 1971, concentrating on field studies of the migration and fate of contaminants in groundwater, and continues research as a Distinguished Professor Emeritus. He has co-authored the textbook Groundwater and several chapters in the book on dense chlorinated solvents and other DNAPLs in groundwater. He is the Director of the University Consortium for Field-Focused Groundwater Contamination Research and is now based at the University of Guelph.