Volunteer Spotlight Karl Bowles
1. Why did you choose to get involved with ALGA?
I first learned about ALGA when I joined a State Government department to do risk assessment and chemical prioritisation. ecoforum and branch events were a great help to me learning more about contaminated land and were great opportunities to socialise at the same time. The blend of consultants, labs, industry, regulators and researchers is a great formula for identifying important issues from diverse viewpoints and sharing ways to manage them.
2. Given your role with the upcoming PFAS Event Series, why do you think this event is important to our sector at this time?
We’ve learned an enormous amount about PFAS over the last five years, but there are still many gaps, both in the science and in policy. This is a great time to step back and consider what those gaps are, and what is practicable to achieve. It’s very important to hear from a wide range of stakeholders, to understand the diversity of opinions and priorities. Having an event with representation from US and Europe is a great opportunity, given the global nature of the problem and that managing PFAS is progressing at different paces in each region. This event puts us on a good footing to work together to leverage our respective strengths.
3. Thinking about your time volunteering at ALGA, what are three qualities that you believe make a volunteer leader most successful for their committee?
Willingness to commit time and thought is the biggest requirement. ALGA is a volunteer organisation and it feeds off the strengths of its members. We’re all busy, and it can be hard to find extra time, but when we manage this, the Specialist Interest Groups and Branches thrive and are of most benefit. Curiosity is another great attribute. When information pops up in a news feed or something heard from a colleague, having the curiosity to follow up on what it is and what it means, is what turns a snippet into something useful to share. Which leads to the third quality, willingness to share information. The interest groups and branches are all about ALGA’s commitment to sharing. Yes, there are times when we need to protect sensitive information, but for the most part, we all benefit from having a strong industry with well-informed practitioners and other stakeholders.
4. What is the most rewarding aspect of volunteering with ALGA?
The people. The people on the Emerging Contaminants of Concern Specialist Interest Group have changed over time, but there have always been great, enthusiastic people to work with. We’ve been fortunate to have some great committee Chairs, and that really, really helps. I’d extend this to being involved with ALGA more generally. Attending face-to-face ALGA events is something I always enjoy. One of my biggest joys in life is learning, and being surrounded by enthusiastic, capable and well-informed people, helps me develop myself in a fun way.
5. Thinking about the future of ALGA and the role it plays in the sector, what excites you the most about continuing to be part of ALGA and our volunteer community?
Having recently moved to Jacobs, I’m very pleased to be supported by Jacobs in continuing with the Emerging Contaminants Interest Group. When you commit time and achieve something of benefit to the members and the industry, that feels great. I think the upcoming PFAS Event with ITRC and NICOLE is a great example of that. Organising these events is not trivial, but so many people get the benefit, and it is great to have some part in that.
6. This month’s theme for Cronicle is on PFAS. Thinking about PFAS contamination, what do you believe are the three biggest challenges for us as an industry to tackle together to sustainably manage this contaminant in the future?
One challenge is working towards a common understanding of what is practicable for cleaning up PFAS contaminated land and water. This is a very difficult space given complexities such as uncertainties in the toxicology, the large areas of land that can be impacted, and the many stakeholders involved. Developing approaches such as So Far As Reasonably Practicable (SFARP) will hopefully provide widespread benefits.
Second is developing approaches to managing PFAS that are better able to retain the resource value of impacted materials such as soil, concrete or asphalt. This could mean development of new technologies that remove the PFAS, rather than destroying the PFAS and the matrix, but that’s not the only way forward. Having better risk assessment approaches could open the door to cost effective approaches to material reuse, rather than needing destructive technologies or disposing as waste. Developing improved analytical methods to estimate PFAS mobility in the environment will be key to this. Immobilising PFAS in soil is a great step in this direction, but over time there may be more that can be done.
Number three is making sure learnings are well communicated among practitioners, so that the quality of response to PFAS contamination and pollution is high. The ITRC website and training are great examples of how information can be disseminated well. This goal is well aligned with what ALGA is and does. High quality consistent messaging can also help impacted industries (clients) and impacted communities deal with the complex and seemingly contradictory messages that come out of media sources.
Dr Karl Bowles
Jacobs Australia
Dr Karl Bowles is a Senior Principal Environmental Scientist with Jacobs. He specialises in the fate & transport and impacts of chemical contaminants, and has 30 years of experience within research, consultancy, university, and government sectors. PFAS has been a focus of Karl’s for nearly ten years, providing specialist technical advice to government and industry clients, including as a contractor to the Australian Department of Defence. He previously contributed substantively to Australia’s national guidance for environmental PFAS. Karl is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Queensland and is actively involved in PFAS research.
Article Published on 21/04/2023
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