Presentation title: Human exposure to microplastics: methodological considerations, exposure doses and health effects

Dr. Kurunthachalam Kannan is the Deputy Director of the Division of Environmental Health Sciences at Wadsworth Center,  New York State Department of Health.  He is also a Professor at the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, State University of New York at Albany.  He has published over  900 research articles in peer-reviewed journals and is the top 5 most highly cited researchers in Ecology/Environment globally.  He is known for his work on the discovery of perfluorochemicals in the global environment, among several others.  Currently his research is focused on biomonitoring of human exposure to organic pollutants.  He is one of the top leaders in the field of human biomonitoring and exposure assessment. Dr. Kannan is a recipient of several international awards and honors throughout his career and to name a few, he has won Governor’s gold medal in 1986 and SETAC’s Weston F Roy Environmental Chemistry award in 1999.

Presentation Title: Data Agnostic Machine Learning Approaches for the Fast and Scalable Detection of Microplastics by Microspectroscopy

Benedikt Hufnagl is a passionate chemometrician and entrepreneur. One of his main interests is the problem of providing accurate data on the occurrence of microplastics. He is the founder and CEO of Hufnagl Chemometrics GmbH, an Austrian software company providing products and services in the field of chemometrics. He has been involved in microplastics research since 2016, developing one of the first machine learning models for μFTIR imaging during his PhD studies. In 2019, he joined ISO as Austrian delegate to contribute to the development of standards from a data science perspective. He served as CTO of Purency GmbH and is now focused on the development of the next generation of machine learning approaches for the analysis of microplastics.

Presentation Title: Plastic Transformation by Design: A Systems Approach Linking Biology, Engineering, and Circular Lifecycles

Professor Ali Abbas is internationally recognised for his leadership in process systems engineering, circular economy, and sustainable innovation. He is the Founding Director of the Waste Transformation Research Hub and Chair of the ‘Australian Circular Economy Conference’ (ACEC). Professor Abbas leads pioneering research on plastic waste transformation, including microbial and fungal biodegradation, plastic recycling process engineering, and lifecycle solutions to tackle the global plastics crisis. He was awarded the 2023 Eureka Prize finalist for innovative sustainability research, is the inaugural Chief Circular Engineer of Australia, and was named one of the global Top 100 Climate Leaders by The Independent (UK) in 2024. Professor Abbas has founded multiple technology startups and led partnerships across academia, government, and industry, advancing research translation in clean energy and industrial systems.

Presentation Title: Microplastics in Agriculture – IAEA’s action

Prof. Fang Wang joined the International Atomic Energy Agency as a Soil Chemist in 2025. Her career includes positions at the Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Technical University of Munich, RWTH Aachen University, the Helmholtz Centre Munich, and Michigan State University. Her research focuses on soil pollution and remediation, with emphasis on emerging contaminants. She has published over 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals, including The Innovation, Environmental Science & Technology, and Water Research.

She has received several prestigious awards, including the Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship for Experienced Researchers (Germany) and the Shennong Young Talent Award from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China. She was recognized for her significant contributions to Sino-German scientific collaboration. She serves on the Steering Committee of the FAO International Network on Soil Pollution, the Standing Committee of the International Union of Soil Sciences, the International Panel on Chemical Pollution, co-Editor-in-Chief of Environmental Technology & Innovation, and Academic Editor of The Innovation.

Microplastics in seafood supply chains

Prof. Bronwyn Gillanders completed her PhD at the University of Sydney and has held three ARC fellowships before commencing a tenured academic position. She leads a research group comprising postdoctoral researchers, PhD and Honours researchers addressing critical issues (including marine debris) facing aquatic ecosystems. She and her team have investigated the extent and type of microplastics in seafood, reviewed evidence of impacts from microplastics on seafood, and developed a method for detection and quantification of a broad suite of compounds in marine samples including seafood. Her team in collaboration with researchers from around Australia, and drawing on international directives and collaborations, also led the development of field and laboratory guidelines for microplastics in marine and coastal environments. Her research has significantly advanced our understanding of marine environmental issues including microplastics in seafood which has contributed to sustainable fisheries and marine ecosystems. She has had the privilege to supervise over 100 students to completion including 60 Hons and 50 PhD researchers. She has edited several books and has almost 300 journal publications.

Presentation title: Monitoring and Assessment of Micro- and Nanoplastics (MPs/NPs) Pollution in Arab Region 

Adel Al-Gheethi is an Associate Professor of Environmental Technology and Microbiology whose research focuses on the environmental fate and remediation of emerging contaminants, including PFAS, MPs/NPs, and PPCPs. He serves as a Scientist and Strategic Partnership and Innovation Officer at crcCARE, Australia and is the Founder and Chairman of the Emerging Pollutants Network (EPN) under ASTF, Sharjah, UAE. Al-Gheethi is a Senior Collaborator with the Global Burden of Disease (GBD), at Washington University, and an Associate Editor for the Journal of Water Practice & Technology. His achievements are further recognized through professional distinctions as a European Engineer (Eur. Ing, Engineers Europe), a Chartered Engineer (CEng), and a Professional Technologist (P.Tech). He is a Visiting Academic at the University of Exeter, UK (2022, 2025) and previously at the University of Newcastle, Australia (2023–2024). Before joining crcCARE, he served as Associate Professor at the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, UTHM (2015–2023). Throughout his career, Al-Gheethi has supervised over 40 Master’s and PhD students, mentored several postdoctoral researchers, edited multiple scientific books, and authored nearly 100 peer-reviewed publications. His interdisciplinary work continues to advance sustainable solutions for pollution control and environmental health.   

Presentation Title: Sustainable aquatic microplastics management

Professor Bing-Jie (Bruce) Ni received his PhD degree in environmental engineering in June 2009. He is a full professor and former ARC Future Fellow at UNSW Water Research Centre. He has been working in the field of environmental technology and wastewater treatment, particularly the interface among process engineering, microbial biotechnology, materials science and mathematical modelling, focusing on the integration of these disciplines to develop innovative and sustainable technological solutions to achieve high-levels of pollutant removal from wastewater with a minimised carbon footprint and maximised energy recovery, in order to transform wastes or wastewater from a troublesome pollutant to a valuable resource and save large quantities of greenhouse gas emissions. He has secured over 40 competitive research grants totalling $20 million. His work, widely covered by Medias such as Nature Index and Inside Water, has earned 50+ prestigious awards. He served as Editor, Guest Editor or Editor Board for top journals such as Water Research and Environmental Science & Technology. He is a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher. He also holds many professional fellowships and currently serves on the ARC College of Experts.

Presentation title: Microplastic pollution across ecosystems: Sources, transport, and ecological impacts

Dr Shima Ziajahromi is a Lecturer at the School of Environment and Science and a member of the Australian Rivers Institute (ARI) at Griffith University. Her research focuses on the occurrence, fate, and toxicological impacts of microplastics and nanoplastics in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, with an emphasis on developing innovative methods for their identification and quantification. Dr Ziajahromi completed her PhD at Griffith University, where she investigated microplastics in wastewater treatment plants and their biological impacts on aquatic systems. During her PhD, she designed a novel sampling device for onsite sampling of microplastic and developed a validated methodology, recognised by the World Health Organization (WHO) in their Microplastics in Drinking Water (2019) report as one of the most accurate worldwide. In 2019, Dr Ziajahromi was awarded an Advance Queensland Industry Fellowship to investigate the “Risks of Microplastics in Biosolids to Soils and Agro-ecosystems.” More recently, she received the Queensland 2024 Young Tall Poppy Science Award in recognition of her research on microplastics and their toxic impacts. Dr Ziajahromi also serves as Australia’s representative on the OECD Steering Committee for developing international guidelines on the “Safety Testing of Nanoplastics.” Her work advances scientific understanding and informs public policy and regulatory frameworks to minimise microplastic pollution in Australia.

Presentation title: From here to there – clothing fibres as carriers of hazardous chemicals

Professor Sally Gaw is an environmental chemist at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. Her research is interdisciplinary, encompassing environmental toxicology, chemistry, and assessment of human exposure to chemical contaminants. Her passion for environmental chemistry was ignited as a child when she lived in Pacific Island nations. She has a particular interest in understanding how products we use in everyday life lead to environmental contamination and identifying how we can reduce the associated environmental burden.

Presentation Title: We are living in a sea of microplastics – so where to next with managing the problem?

Mark’s research expertise covers environmental contamination in aerosols, dusts, sediments, soil, water and potential risks to human health. His work has focused on mining and smelting emissions and depositions, as well as contamination in urban environments. Mark’s work is genuinely global with research, consulting and expert advice covering Australia, Africa, Asia, Chile, New Caledonia, Fiji, Indonesia, New Zealand, UK and the USA.

Presentation Title: From awareness to action: The UN initiative on microplastic detection in agricultural soils

Sergejus Ustinov is a soil pollution specialist with expertise in geology, geochemistry, and ecotoxicology. He holds a BSc from Trinity College Dublin and an MSc from the University of Amsterdam. Sergejus has industrial experience in ecotoxicology in Ireland and Belgium, working as a scientific consultant on the environmental impact of various hazardous chemicals. Since 2021, he has been with the FAO, coordinating projects on soil pollution and sustainable soil management. His key activities include developing technical guidelines for soil pollution management, conducting field experiments for soil remediation using Nature-based Solutions and managing the International Network on Soil Pollution (INSOP).