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| 6th International Workshop on Chemical Bioavailability in the Terrestrial Environment 7–9 September, 2011 |
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Invited Speakers The first group of invited speakers for the 6th International Workshop on Chemical Bioavailability in the Terrestrial Environment has been confirmed. Further details of additional speakers will be posted to the website as information becomes available. Quick links Ellen Brand, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), the Netherlands
Dr Joop Harmsen, senior scientist, Wageningen-UR, the Netherlands
Dr Werner Kördel, Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology
Prof Paul Nathanial, University of Nottingham, UK
Dr J. Julio Ortega-Calvo, Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiologia de Sevilla, Spain
Prof Kirk Semple, Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, United Kingdom
Prof Erik Smolders, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
Dr Hirofumi Tsukada, Department of Radioecology, Institute for Environmental Sciences, Japan
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Ellen Brand (MSc) has been working at the Dutch National Institute for
Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) since 2006 as a researcher on soil
contamination. She started her work with human health risk assessment of
contaminated sites but quickly adopted several additional topics, including:
bioavailability of contaminants for soil ecosystems, advising
(international) governments on soil policy related topics, management of
human exposure models (e.g. CSOIL model), soil and groundwater risk
assessment of landfills and co-development of the tool FEAT (Flash
Environmental Assessment Tool), which is currently being used by the United
Nations to assess the impact of chemical spills on humans and nature area’s
after natural disasters. Before RIVM, Ellen completed here master study of
Environmental Sciences at the Wageningen University and Research center
(WUR) in the Netherlands. During this study she did research on desorption
of Drins from river sediments and in this way became familiar with the
concept of bioavailability of contaminants and Tenax extractions. At RIVM
she used this knowledge to advice on the implementation of bioavailability
within the ecological risk assessment of contaminated soils. 
Dr Harmsen works at the research institute, Alterra, belonging to the
Wageningen University and Research Centre. He holds a BSc in Analytical
Chemistry from Laboratorium School Deventer, and an MSc in Chemistry
from Utrecht University with specialisations in analytical chemistry
and soil pollution. In 2004 he received a PhD degree for his thesis 'Landfarming of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and mineral oil contaminated
sediments'. Since 1974, he has occupied positions as Head of the Water Quality
Laboratory, Head of the Department Environmental Chemistry, Lecturer in
Environmental Chemistry, and senior scientist at of one of the organisations of
Wageningen UR. He has engaged in international activity in projects and as a speaker or
chairman in workshops and congresses. He is active in (inter)national
standardisation (NEN, ISO, CEN) in order to translate scientific concepts to
practical methods for risk assessment. He leads the Dutch delegation within
ISO/TC190 and CEN345. He chairs the working group of ISO on bioavailability
and the working group on chlorinated compounds. In his field of research he
connects the fate of contaminants with risks and possibilities for site
development. Examples are (1) bioremediation of sediments combined with
beneficial use of the site;
(2) immobilisation of heavy metals in water
saturated systems; and
(3) reduction of bioavailability. In his research he looks for equilibrium between the environmental risks caused by man, the
possibility of nature to recover, and the necessity of adding technologies to
help nature. He applied his research in projects within the Netherlands,
Turkey, Tatarstan, Egypt, Mali, Mauretania, Botswana and Paraguay. 
Dr.
Kördel received his diploma in chemistry
with a focus on biochemistry and, later, his Phd (Dissertation) from the
University of Marburg, Germany. His expertise lies in the areas of
environmental fate and metabolism, exposure of organisms, availability and
bioavailability of substances. His career has included positions as a
scientist at the University of Marburg, and scientist at the Fraunhofer
Institute for Toxicology and Aerosol Research (which later changed its name
and emphasis to Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology). From 2002 – 2007
he was Head of Ecological Chemistry department at Frauenhofer, which again
changed its name and major target to Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology.
He has also worked at Frauenhofer as the Deputy to the Applied Ecology
Division Director; Director of the Applied Ecology Division; and Deputy to
the Executive Director of the Institute. In 2009 he retired as Division
Director. Dr Kördel is a member of ISO/TC 190, Soil Quality, Subcommittee SC
7 soil and site assessment and the corresponding national groups. He is also
a Titular Member of the IUPAC Chemistry and the Environment Division, and a
member of the OECD/UBA-working group for the development of physico-chemical
test methods; Advisory Committee on Existing Chemicals (BUA) of the German
Chemical Society); GDCh-Section, ‘Environmental chemistry and
Ecotoxicology’; and ‘Methods of Soil Assessment’ Commission of the German
Federal Ministry of Environment. 
Professor Nathanial is a Professor of Engineering Geology at the University of
Nottingham, and Managing Director of Land Quality Management Ltd. His
research teaching and consultancy interests span the spectrum of risk-based
contaminated land management and sustainable urban regeneration. His team developed decision support tools for site investigation design, human
health risk assessment and remediation strategy selection, and pioneered
the use of bioaccessibility in UK human health risk assessment. 
Dr Jose-Julio Ortega-Calvo is a scientific researcher at IRNASE-CSIC,
Seville (Spain) and head of the research team 'Biodegradation and
Bioremediation'. He has experience in microbiology and environmental
chemistry, working on bioavailability and biodegradation of organic
pollutants for the last 17 years. He is the author of 51 SCI publications with
an
H-number of 19. After obtaining his Ph.D. in 1991, he worked on different
aspects of microbial ecology during postdoctoral stays in Amsterdam
University (the Netherlands) and Cornell University (USA), and obtained a
permanent position as tenured scientist at IRNAS in 1996. He has worked
as an invited researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science
and Technology (EAWAG) in Dübendorf, Swizerland (1997); in the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, USA (2003); and at the University of Oxford, UK
(2009). Dr. Ortega has leading national and
international research projects, including 11 projects (total cost 1.6
million euro) since 1997. Other activities include: associate editor of
Journal of Environmental Quality (2006-2011), organiser of the 4th
International Workshop on Chemical Bioavailability in the Terrestrial
Enviroment in 2006, and Chairman of the Scientific and Local Organising
Committees of the 20th annual meeting of SETAC Europe 'Science and
Technology for Environmental Protection' in Seville in 2010. 
Professor Semple is the Director of Postgraduate Studies in Lancaster
Environment Centre at Lancaster University. Since his appointment in 1995,
he has strategically developed and managed an active research team,
supported by excellent analytical and microbiological facilities. The main
fields of research interest include understanding fundamental processes
affecting organic contaminant-biota interactions in soils; availability of
pesticide residues in soils, and risk assessment and bioremediation of
contaminated land. A particular area of expertise lies in organic
contaminant bioavailability in soil, and it is in this area where his
reputation is best known internationally. Funding has come from UK research
councils; Government agencies; the European Union; environmental
consultancies, and industry, all of which equates to over £2 million in
funding over the last 16 years. Output from these areas has led to the
publication of over 130 peer-reviewed journal and international conference
papers.
Professor Smolders holds a PhD in soil science from the Katholieke
Universiteit Leuven, where he now teaches ecotoxicology and environmental
chemistry. He conducted post-doctoral studies at Imperial College (U.K.); at
the CSIRO, Division of Soils in Adelaide, South Australia; and at UW-Madison
(WI, USA). His research focuses on bioavailability of contaminants and
nutrients in soil and water, linking environmental chemistry with ion uptake
and toxicity. His bioavailability research has been applied to a range of
toxic metals, phosphate and radionuclides in higher plants, algae and
microorganisms. This research finds applications in environmental and
agronomic studies. His current projects focus on dissolved organic matter in
soil and surface water, metal speciation, chemistry and availability of
phosphate in soil and water, soil transport processes, risk assessment, and
effects of metals on soil microbial processes. Prof. Smolders is chair of
the Scientific Committee of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and
Chemistry (SETAC – about 5000 members worldwide) and is a member of the
International Committee of the International Society for Trace Element
Biogeochemistry (ISTEB). He is also Associate Editor of the Journal of
Environmental Quality. He has been an advisor for deriving environmental
limits in different regulations in EU, and has been responsible for the risk
assessment of Cd for the European Union (legislation before REACH) and
contributed to similar documents for Pb, Ni, Cu, Zn, Co and Sb. He is also a
member of the commission BIO4 of the Fund for Scientific Research (FWO –
Vlaanderen) until 2013. 
Dr Tsukada is Chief of Aomori Prefectural committee (radiation dose
assessment for reprocessing plant and related facilities) and a Committee
member of Japan Radioisotope Association. His expertiese lies within
radioecology, with emphasis on geochemistry and health physics, including:
study on cycling and transfer mechanisms of the radionuclides in the
atmospheric environment and in the soil-plant system, determination of
transfer parameters and influencing soil properties, environmental risk
assessment and counter-measures. He has been a guest researcher of National
Institute of Radiological Sciences and is editor of the Journal of Nuclear
Science and Technology (Atomic Energy Society of Japan).