Mehdi Soltanian, UTS
PhD /research area:
– Environmental engineering
– Geo-environmental engineering
– PFAS remediation and transport in soil and groundwate
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Title of Thesis:
Investigating PFAS transport through enhanced landfill clay liners
Supervisor/Lecturer:
Prof. Brett Turner
My PhD research focuses on the transport mechanisms of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in soil, with an emphasis on the influence of clay minerals. Specifically, I investigate how environmental factors such as pH, ionic strength affect the mobility and retention of PFAS. A key aspect of my study examines the adsorption and desorption behavior of PFAS on clay surfaces, particularly kaolinite and montmorillonite, under different geochemical conditions. Additionally, I explore the driving forces and inhibiting mechanisms governing PFAS transport, including hydrophobic interactions, electrostatic forces, and air-water interfacial effects. My research aims to advance the understanding of PFAS fate in contaminated environments and contribute to the development of effective remediation strategies and risk assessment models for environmental management.
Expected Date of Publication/Date Published
I already have couple of publications, and they can find at google scholar. I just mentioned some of them below that are highly relevant. In addition, I am writing other papers under supervision of Prof. Turner.
- PFOA-contaminated soil remediation: a comprehensive review.
- Optimizing Solar Powered Electrokinetic Remediation of Chromium Contaminated Groundwater: One Step Closer to a Sustainable Solution
- Review of Phytoremediation for Arsenic-Contaminated Soils: Mechanisms and Challenges
- Ecological and human health risk assessment of sites with heavy metal contaminated soils in Isfahan metropolitan
Ryan Grant, RMIT University
PhD /research area:
Environmental engineering
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Title of Thesis:
Mine Tailings as a Secondary Source of critical minerals
Supervisor/Lecturer:
Dane Lamb, Associate Professor
As society and technology advances, its reliance on critical minerals grows each year. This has greatly increased the scale of worldwide mining which has, in turn, decreased head grades and increased the amount of mine waste produced in the form of tailings. Tailings, when mismanaged, causes immense environmental disasters worldwide in the form of extreme acidification of groundwater and waterways.
The research I am conducting for my PhD, first includes determining the critical mineral content of a series of tailings storage facilities in Victoria and New South Wales. These facilities included the New Bendigo Gold Project, Costerfield mine, Sunny Corner mine, Broula King mine, Lucky Draw mine, and Cargo mine. After analysing the characterisation dataset, it was determined that critical elements of interest at high concentrations in these tailings were arsenic, antimony, bismuth, and tellurium. In order to inform extraction and recovery critical elements, a detailed mineralogical study has been undertaking, including characterisation of critical elements are present and in what concentrations, as well as the mineralogical state of these critical elements. This investigation was intended to inform extraction methodologies.
Following, a Sequential Extraction Process, which included reacting the tailings samples in water soluble, physisorption, reduction, and oxidation reactions, has been conducted to determine where in the tailings the critical minerals lie, and the method best fitted to extract the critical mineral. Current work being conducted includes the assessment of recovery techniques of tailings samples with multiple chemicals to determine effective reaction strategies to reliably react and extract critical elements in question from the tailings samples.
The goal of this research is to test and determine effective, scalable processes to extract critical minerals from mine tailings. This in turn will help test reliable approaches for lowering the amount of potentially toxic elements in tailings, while determining a more economical pathway in the sourcing of critical minerals for modern society.
We would welcome anyone who has access to mine tailings, historical or modern, and is interested in investigating content of critical minerals of interest, as well as to test extraction pathways for those tailings, to contact us. Additionally, we welcome anyone with questions or comments relating to our process to contact us.
Expected Date of Publication/Date Published
June 2025
Miss Shailja Data, University of Auckland, New Zealand
PhD /research area:
Investigating PFAS Occurrence in New Zealand and Assessing Bio-Based Sorbents for Short-Chain PFAS Mitigation
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Title of Thesis:
Detection and Management of PFAS in Aotearoa
Supervisor/Lecturer:
– Erin Leitao (Associate Professor, Chemical Sciences, University of Auckland)
– Lokesh Padhye (Associate Director, NYS Center for Clean Water Technology, Stony Brook University)
– Melanie Kah (Associate Professor, Environment, University of Auckland)
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a broad class of anthropogenic fluorinated chemicals known for their extreme stability, strong carbon-fluorine bonds, and amphiphilic nature. These properties make PFAS highly resistant to water, oil, high temperatures, and degradation. Introduced in the 1940s, PFAS quickly became ubiquitous in industrial and consumer products such as outdoor gear, food packaging, cosmetics, household furnishings, electronics, and firefighting foams. However, the same properties that make PFAS useful also make them persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT), hence the name forever chemicals. The extensive use of PFAS has led to their detection in various environmental media, including water, soil, sediments, air, and aquatic and terrestrial biota. Even remote regions like Mt. Everest and the Arctic have shown PFAS contamination, indicating their susceptibility to long-range transport. Human exposure to PFAS can occur through various pathways, namely ingesting contaminated food and water, inhaling indoor dust, dermal contact, and occupational exposure. Once in the body, PFAS bind to proteins and accumulate, leading to adverse health effects such as immune suppression, increased cancer risks, and reproductive and developmental issues. Therefore, PFAS contamination is a global environmental and public health challenge highlighting the need to understand the extent of PFAS contamination by identifying and prioritizing locations for monitoring, regulation, and remediation.
Although Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) has no PFAS manufacturing facility, PFAS have been detected in various environmental media due to historical use, particularly in firefighting foams. Studies have found PFAS contamination in stranded coastal dolphins, urban waters, soil, and groundwater at defence and aviation sites. This highlights the need to identify contamination sources and assess exposure risks. Potential secondary sources include wastewater discharges, landfill leachates, and imported consumer products containing PFAS. Despite existing studies, knowledge gaps remain regarding PFAS exposure pathways in NZ. The aim of my PhD is to broaden the scope of PFAS exposure assessment and contribute to effective monitoring and management strategies.
Drinking water contamination is a significant pathway for human exposure to PFAS, mainly in industrialized nations. As part of this research, drinking water samples were collected from various locations across NZ for PFAS analysis. Though the PFAS levels were below some of the world’s strictest regulatory thresholds, ongoing monitoring remains essential to ensure long-term water safety. Next, we measured PFAS in household dust as it serves as another potential exposure route due to the extensive time spent indoors and the widespread presence of PFAS in consumer products. Dust samples were collected via a citizen science programme and allow correlating PFAS levels in dust with household characteristics and lifestyle factors to understand the sources of PFAS. Different flooring products were also investigated as part of dust studies, as PFAS is known to impart moisture and stain protection through coating and surface treatment.
To complement this monitoring work, another aspect of my PhD looks at developing a sorbent suitable for removing short and ultra-short chain PFAS from water. As regulatory efforts have led to the phasing out of long-chain PFAS, they have often been replaced with regrettable short-chain PFAS alternatives which have not been adequately assessed for environmental and health risks. Conventional treatment methods such as activated carbon and ion exchange resins, effective for long-chain PFAS, are less efficient for short-chain PFAS due to their lower adsorption potential and high mobility. Additionally, their regeneration and reuse pose sustainability challenges. Given these concerns, our research explores the potential of a bio-based sorbent to remove SC-PFAS from water by functionalizing native NZ plant fibre. Known for its exceptional strength, rigidity, and cultural significance, this plant fibre can be modified to enhance its hydrophilicity, making it a local, sustainable solution for short-chain PFAS remediation.
Although levels reported to date in NZ tend to be lower than in other developed nations, continued vigilance is essential. Managing PFAS contamination in NZ requires a transdisciplinary approach that integrates scientific research, policy, indigenous knowledge, and community engagement.
Expected Date of Publication/Date Published
February 2026
Shefali Bhardwaj, UNSW
PhD /research area:
Environment microbiology and Bioremediation
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Title of Thesis:
Microbial and Enzymatic Mechanisms in Aerobic PFAS Fluorotelomer Biotransformation
Supervisor/Lecturer:
Mike Manefield (Professor)
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent organohalides with adverse health effects. My thesis explores microbial mechanisms in PFAS biodegradation, focusing on fluorotelomer-based compounds and their bacterial transformation. Landfill leachate samples were analysed to profile PFAS contamination and associated bacterial communities. Aerobic enrichments using 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonate (6:2 FTS) as a sulfur source identified dominant phyla—Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes—along with nine high-quality metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs), including Rhodococcus pyridinivorans and Acinetobacter indicus.
Rhodococcus sp. strain O3, isolated from compost, fully degraded 6:2 FTS within 96 hours. Proteomic analysis revealed key enzymes, such as α/β-hydrolases, ligases, and oxidoreductases, involved in PFAS defluorination. Dietzia aurantiaca strain J3, from landfill leachate, transformed fluorotelomer alcohols (6:2 and 4:2 FTOH) into fluorotelomer unsaturated carboxylates (FTUCA) and glutathione (GSH)-conjugated adducts, with β-oxidation enzymes playing a crucial role. This study is the first to report GSH conjugates and 5:3 FTCA adducts in prokaryotes, as well as experimentally identify eight-carbon PFAS-CoA adducts.
Strain J3 long-chain fatty acid-CoA ligase/ACS (WP_230928690.1) activated unsaturated fluorinated carboxylates, enabling β-oxidation-driven chain shortening. Notably, GSH adduct formation occurred independently of glutathione S-transferase (GST), underscoring GSH’s role in oxidative stress mitigation and PFAS degradation. These findings provide new insights into microbial PFAS metabolism, identifying enzymatic targets and biotechnological strategies for environmental remediation.
Published research
Click here to view the research paper
Weng Mun Ong, The University of Western Australia
PhD /research area:
Tracing the source(s) of excess sediments in Canning River pools
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Andrew Rate, Associate Professor at the UWA School of Agriculture and Environment
Expected Date of Publication/Date Published:
31st October 2025 (Deadline of research paper)
Monica Esmond, Griffith University
PhD /research area:
Hydrogeology
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Title of Thesis:
Exploring the application of novel environmental tracers to address hydrogeological questions about culturally and ecologically significant springs
Supervisor/Lecturer:
Professor Matthew Currell,
Head of Discipline, Civil & Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering & Built Environment, Griffith University
This research investigates the value of integrating ecological indicators (using environmental DNA) into hydrogeological studies. The project focuses on natural springs and their connected above and below ground waters in the eastern margins of the Great Artesian Basin in Queensland. Waters in the Surat Basin study area support important cultural and ecological values as well as economic interests. Springs, surface and groundwaters are being analysed for a suite of environmental tracers (isotopes and hydrogeochemical parameters) along with environmental DNA (eDNA), to explore if this novel combination of abiotic and biotic indicators can generate new insights or understandings about hydrological processes and water quality impacts. Targeted field campaigns are underway, generating new data from both an undisturbed site and an area undergoing anthropogenic change (agriculture and resource development). This comparative case study will allow for evaluation of the method’s potential application in environmental baseline and impact assessments, as well as in the context of monitoring and evaluation of water resources.
Expected Date of Publication/Date Published:
December 2025
Jianguo Liu, UWA
PhD /research area:
Hydrology/ Civil/ Environmental engineering
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Title of Thesis:
Observing and attributing soil moisture heterogeneity in deep sands by fusion of multiplesensor types
Supervisor/Lecturer:
Sally Thompson/ Associate Professor,
Co-director Centre for Water and Spatial Science,
Co-chair Environmental Engineering
This study aims to quantify water content in the vadose zone using technologies such as ERT, FDR, and neutron moisture meters. First, it verifies feasibility by comparing controlled laboratory conditions to uncontrolled field conditions. Next, it incorporates machine learning or data fusion methods to address the differences between lab and field environments and improve data accuracy across spatial and temporal scales. Finally, it integrates all feasible approaches to provide a comprehensive view of water content changes in two-dimensional space over time. By doing so, this research establishes a complete workflow for monitoring soil moisture, which can be linked with surface hydrological fluxes to enhance our understanding of water dynamics in the vadose zone.
Expected Date of Publication/Date Published
Later 2025
