Environmental chemistry of water, sediment, soil and air: Early career researchers meeting 2019
Thirty two early career scientists from all over the globe convened in Burlington House on 21st November 2018 to present their research and hear about career opportunities available to environmental chemists.
Following an introduction by the organiser, Dr Tom Sizmur (University of Reading), the first oral presentation was given by Gagan Matta (Gurukula Kangri University, India). Her work focused on water quality indexing for the river Ganga in Himalayan India, and raising awareness amongst the wider population with a view to improving conservation strategies for the river system. The next speaker was Jay Bullen (Imperial College London), who described the development and deployment of low-cost, portable instrumentation capable of discriminating between toxic and non-toxic forms of arsenic in groundwater. After this, Marijke Struijk (University of Reading) reported on the production, characterisation and application of clay-based absorbent materials for the removal of heavy metals from wastewater. The morning session closed with the keynote talk by Laura Woodward, Careers Specialist at the Royal Society of Chemistry. This presentation covered the fundamentals of job hunting, from where to look for jobs to writing a CV and preparing for interview. Ms Woodward stressed how candidates should focus on careers that they are genuinely interested in, as well as critically evaluating the transferrable skills acquired during their scientific training.
After lunch, Alfonso Rodríguez-Vila (University of Reading) gave an account of his work applying biochar to the soil from a reclaimed mine in Galicia (Spain), which was found to improve soil properties and promote plant growth. This was followed by Navya Cherian (Mahatma Gandhi University, India), who presented her work on the bioaccumulation of mercury in rice plants, based on field work in the coastal region of Kerala (India). Siti Syuhaida Mohamed Yunus (University of York) followed this with a presentation examining the fate of unused or expired medicines in and around York using Life Cycle Assessment.
Following a coffee break and the poster session, Angel Hojatisaeidi (London South Bank University) discussed her early results in developing and characterising a new class of sorbent materials for CO2 capture based on boron nitrate. Natasha Easton (University of Southampton) then gave an account of measurements and characterisation of particulate matter from port-related activities in multiple sites across Southampton. The last presentation before the final keynote was delivered by Tomás Sherwen (University of York) on the application of machine-learning techniques to improve the accuracy of sea-surface iodide concentration measurements.
In her keynote talk, Dr Monica Felipe-Sotelo, Lecturer in Radiochemistry and Analytical Chemistry at the University of Surrey, gave an account of her career in environmental chemistry to date, stressing how every step in her journey has been driven by the desire to work on something with a positive impact on society, as well as by a fascination for the multidisciplinary nature of the field.
The day closed with the award of prizes for best poster to Angeliki Kourmouli (University of Birmingham) and for best oral presentation to Jay Bullen (Imperial College London), both shown in Figure 1.
Following an introduction by the organiser, Dr Tom Sizmur (University of Reading), the first oral presentation was given by Gagan Matta (Gurukula Kangri University, India). Her work focused on water quality indexing for the river Ganga in Himalayan India, and raising awareness amongst the wider population with a view to improving conservation strategies for the river system. The next speaker was Jay Bullen (Imperial College London), who described the development and deployment of low-cost, portable instrumentation capable of discriminating between toxic and non-toxic forms of arsenic in groundwater. After this, Marijke Struijk (University of Reading) reported on the production, characterisation and application of clay-based absorbent materials for the removal of heavy metals from wastewater. The morning session closed with the keynote talk by Laura Woodward, Careers Specialist at the Royal Society of Chemistry. This presentation covered the fundamentals of job hunting, from where to look for jobs to writing a CV and preparing for interview. Ms Woodward stressed how candidates should focus on careers that they are genuinely interested in, as well as critically evaluating the transferrable skills acquired during their scientific training.
After lunch, Alfonso Rodríguez-Vila (University of Reading) gave an account of his work applying biochar to the soil from a reclaimed mine in Galicia (Spain), which was found to improve soil properties and promote plant growth. This was followed by Navya Cherian (Mahatma Gandhi University, India), who presented her work on the bioaccumulation of mercury in rice plants, based on field work in the coastal region of Kerala (India). Siti Syuhaida Mohamed Yunus (University of York) followed this with a presentation examining the fate of unused or expired medicines in and around York using Life Cycle Assessment.
Following a coffee break and the poster session, Angel Hojatisaeidi (London South Bank University) discussed her early results in developing and characterising a new class of sorbent materials for CO2 capture based on boron nitrate. Natasha Easton (University of Southampton) then gave an account of measurements and characterisation of particulate matter from port-related activities in multiple sites across Southampton. The last presentation before the final keynote was delivered by Tomás Sherwen (University of York) on the application of machine-learning techniques to improve the accuracy of sea-surface iodide concentration measurements.
In her keynote talk, Dr Monica Felipe-Sotelo, Lecturer in Radiochemistry and Analytical Chemistry at the University of Surrey, gave an account of her career in environmental chemistry to date, stressing how every step in her journey has been driven by the desire to work on something with a positive impact on society, as well as by a fascination for the multidisciplinary nature of the field.
The day closed with the award of prizes for best poster to Angeliki Kourmouli (University of Birmingham) and for best oral presentation to Jay Bullen (Imperial College London), both shown in Figure 1.
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Figure 1. Angeliki Kourmouli receives the prize for best poster from keynote speaker Dr Monica Felipe-Sotelo (left) and the ECG’s Professor Steve Leharne presents Jay Bullen with his prize for best oral presentation (right).
