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Invited Speakers The first group of invited speakers for the 5th International Contaminated Site Remediation Conference has been confirmed. Further details of additional speakers will be posted to the website as information becomes available.
Presentation title: Advancing Technologies for Soil and Groundwater Remediation Abstract:A variety of physical, biological, and chemical technologies exist for destruction or removal of contaminants in soil and groundwater. Recent trends in remediation science will be discussed, including highlights of emerging technologies that promise to improve efficiency and lower costs of reaching remediation goals. Biography: Dr. Mork earned a B.S. in chemistry from the University of California at Davis, and a PhD in inorganic chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley. His industrial research experience spans the fields of petrochemical catalysis, high-throughput experimentation, nanotechnology, and environmental chemistry. He is a co-author of numerous technical papers and patent applications on aspects of organometallic chemistry, catalysis, materials science, and environmental chemistry. He joined Regenesis in 2006, where he currently serves as Director of Research and Development.
Presentation title: Environmental contaminants and children's health: International collaborations in large scale birth cohort studies Biography: Dr Nakayama holds an MD and a PhD in public health. He is an expert on exposure science, especially relating to compounds of emerging concern such as persistent organic compounds, fluorinated chemicals, endocrine disrupters, pharmaceuticals and personal care products. In 2005, he was invited to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and researched exposure to perfluorinated alkyl compounds. After moving to EPA’s engineering laboratory to work on risk management of emerging contaminants, Dr Nakayama joined the National Institute for Environmental Studies in Japan in in 2011. He is a lead exposure scientist for the Japan Environment and Children’s Study, a longitudinal birth cohort study involving 100,000 mothers and children. Recently, in collaboration with EPA, Dr Nakayama has been combining biological assays and analytical chemistry as part of his research on risk management of chemical mixtures in the environment.
Presentation title: Petroleum Vapor Intrusion: The Current Science of Investigation and Mitigation Abstract: There is an extensive explosion of PVI research currently and numerous guidance documents being produced on the subject. Vast resources are being utilized by environmental agencies and companies to investigate petroleum discharges for VI when in fact very few sites actually necessitate mitigation. Focused investigations on the limited potential PVI sites is essential. Biography: Mr Boyer is an Environmental Scientist at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP). He has worked with NJDEP since 1988 where he is a principal in developing vapour intrusion policy. He is co-author of NJDEP’s Vapor Intrusion Guidance (2005) and the updated NJDEP Vapor Intrusion Technical Guidance (2012). As co-team leader for the Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council (ITRC) Vapor Intrusion Team, Mr Boyer was a primary writer for the ITRC companion documents VI Pathway: A Practical Guideline and VI Pathway: Investigative Approaches for Typical Scenarios (2007). He is an instructor for the ITRC’s Vapor Intrusion Classroom Training and is currently co-chair of the ITRC Petroleum Vapor Intrusion Team. Mr Boyer has written vapor intrusion articles for publications that include the American Bar Association and EM (Environmental Managers).
Presentation title:Exploiting the potential of nano-scale iron for environmental clean-up Abstract: Although the potential of iron for environmental clean-up has been exploited for many years, with the introduction of nano-scale zero valent (nZVI) variants the opportunities have increased enormously, but still largely remain unexplored and fully exploited. Their high reactivity for contaminant removal, reaction longevity and low toxicity/cost are just a few of the features that make them so appealing for remediation (metals and organics) of contaminated sites and recovery of resources from end-of-pipe waste waters. The current and future opportunities nZVI offers for providing sustainable de-contamination will be discussed including their role in new hybrid approaches which encompass biodegradation technologies. Biography: Although he originally trained and worked as a microbial ecologist, Ian is a Professor of Engineering Science. His research group specialises in environmental biotechnology, with particular focus on the manipulation of micro-organisms using physical and engineered approaches (ultrasound, particle acceleration and nanomaterials) for industrial waste water treatment and remediation. Current research projects include the development of microbial based end-of-pipe clean-up systems for treating spent metal working fluids, exploiting nanomaterial-microbial cells interactions, microbial conversion of green waste to useful products, and development of novel nanomaterial-based biocides. He has published over 100 papers, held grants from a broad range of sources (particularly industry), and is an active member of the international peer review system.
Presentation title: Sustainable redevelopment – subservient remediation: when sustainable remediation is not enough Biography: Paul Nathanail is Professor of Engineering Geology at the University of Nottingham and managing director of specialist contaminated land consultants Land Quality Management Ltd. His interest in sustainable remediation stems from a long track record in the broader field of sustainable urban land management. The concept is 'trending' and in danger of losing its impact through misuse on company websites and marketing literature. The plethora of spreadsheets, programs and applets purporting to diagnose sustainable remediation are in danger of cloaking a simple concept with overly elaborate, time consuming and expensive procedures. The middle ground in achieving a step change in how we remediate is to use simple tools and approaches to help identify those remedies likely to deliver optimal net social, economic and environmental benefits.
Presentation title: The USA’s Intrastate Technology and Regulatory Council’s (ITRC) approach to advancing innovative cleanup solutions Abstract: The ITRC is a key catalyst in the United States to promote acceptance of innovative remediation strategies through development of Technical and Regulatory documents using integrative and consensus-based teams of regulators, academia, industry, and technology vendors. The ITRC model has advanced approaches to more successfully cleanup complex contaminated sites, such as those impacted by non-aqueous phase liquids. For this keynote, three ITRC members, representing different perspectives, will provide a joint, “conversational” approach to describing ITRC’s approach to addressing difficult remediation challenges and promoting acceptance of innovative strategies and/or paradigm shifts to achieve better cleanup solutions. Biography: Naji Akladiss, P.E. is a project manager with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Remediation in Augusta. He has worked for the Department since 1989. He has experience in environmental technologies and Superfund remediation. Naji is the leader of the Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council (ITRC) Bioremediation of DNAPLs Team He has also served as the ITRC state Point of Contact from Maine. Naji earned a bachelor's degree in applied sciences in 1975. He is a professional engineer in Maine
Presentation Title: Recent Trends and Developments In Asbestos In Soil (ASBINS) – US EPA Perspective Biography: Ms. Wroble – who holds a BA in Biology and Environmental Science and an MS in Environmental Health (Toxicology) – has over 20 years’ experience as an environmental toxicologist for both the US EPA and as a consultant for federal and state regulatory agencies. Specialising in asbestos, Julie has worked on sites including landslides with naturally occurring asbestos, Libby vermiculite exfoliation facilities, and housing developments contaminated with asbestos-containing materials. Julie is one of three co-chairs of the Asbestos Technical Review Workgroup, a group of US EPA scientists working on sampling, analysis, and risk assessment issues relating to asbestos and has also held invited positions at the Johnson conference, World Asbestos conference and World Health Organisation’s Regional Forum on Environmental Health in Southeast and East Asian Countries. She was also one of the primary authors of EPA’s Framework for Investigating Asbestos-Contaminated Superfund Sites.
Presentation Title: Bio-Nanotechnological Approaches to Environmental Remediation Abstract: The rapid industrialization and technological advances over the past century has on the one hand improved the quality of life and increased life expectancy, however, on the other hand has seriously compromised our environment. Large quantities of toxic inorganic and organic compounds introduced in the environment as a result of industrialization activities are posing serious health risk to humans. Cleanup of contaminated water and soil and prevention of future contamination from these compounds pose a serious technological challenge. Several physico-chemical methods for treating these pollutants have been developed and tested. However, these approaches are extremely costly, non-selective, introduce secondary contaminants or deplete important nutrients. Bio-based treatments, also called bioremediation, are considered to be eco-friendly and cost-effective, and are gaining acceptability in environmental cleanup applications. Bioremediation employs either naturally existing or engineered microorganisms or enzymes to either accumulate or transform pollutants to less or non-toxic compounds. Development of biotechnological tools for molecular, genetic and metabolic engineering has accelerated the advancement of designer biological materials for several bio-based remediation processes. In this presentation, I will present examples from our research group on engineering microorganisms and microbial pathways for enhanced removal of organic pollutants such as organophosphate pesticides/nerve agents, p-nitrophenol, etc., and heavy metals such as Cadmium, Mercury, Arsenic, etc. Biography: Dr. Ashok Mulchandani is a Professor in the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the University of California and the Editor-in-Chief of the Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology journal. He is elected Fellow of the American Association for Advancement of Science and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. He has received several honors and awards including Research Initiation Award from the national Science Foundation and Faculty Participation Award from the Department of Energy. He has delivered several Plenary and Keynote lectures. Prof. Mulchandani has published over 225 peer-reviewed journal publications, 13 book chapters, 12 conference proceedings articles, over 200 conference abstracts and edited four textbooks. Prof. Mulchandani’s primary research interest is in the broad area of “Bio-Nanotechnology” with goals of developing novel (bio)analytical devices/assays, (bio)remediation technologies and (bio)nanomaterials.
Presentation Title: Groundwater Co-Contaminant Behavior of Arsenic and Selenium: Implications for Remedy Selection Biography: Dr. Richard Wilkin is an environmental geochemist at EPA’s National Risk Management Research Laboratory. His research deals primarily with groundwater contaminants and the biogeochemical processes controlling the fate of these contaminants. A major focus of his work has been the application and development of permeable reactive barriers and monitored natural attenuation for remediation of groundwater impacted by metals and radionuclides. Dr. Wilkin received a Ph.D. in Geosciences from the Pennsylvania State University. He serves on the editorial boards of the journals: Chemical Geology, American Mineralogist, and Geochemical Transactions. |
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Ben Mork - Regenesis, USA
Shoji Nakayama - National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan 
John E. Boyer - ITRC Petroleum Vapor Intrusion Team Co-Lead, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, USA
Ian Thompson - University of Oxford, UK
Paul Nathanail - University of Nottingham & Land Quality Management Ltd, UK
Naji Akladiss - State of Maine Department of Environmental Protection (Team Lead, ITRC Integrated DNAPL Site Strategy Team), Portland, Maine USA
Julie Wroble - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10
Dr. Ashok Mulchandani, Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, the University of California, USA 
Richard T. Wilkin, Ph.D. Geochemist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, USA