WEBINAR - Microplastics Policies & Research Around the Globe
The Australasian Land and Groundwater Association (ALGA) together with The Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council (ITRC) is holding an expert panel on the latest news on microplastics policies, regulations, and research from both the US, Australia, and other countries. The Panel will include two US speakers and two Australian speakers. The Panel will compare different countries responses and have a discussion on next steps for microplastics.
This online event is FREE for all registrants!
Time will be allotted for audience questions and answers.
Moderators:
Patricia Catherwood Reyes
Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council (ITRC)
Patricia Catherwood Reyes has been the Director of the ITRC since October 2015. Patty is a recognized leader in environmental sustainability and energy with experience at the federal, state and congressional levels targeting technology transfer, stakeholder outreach, and policy development. Ms. Reyes is a senior manager with broad knowledge of federal agency processes: budgeting; planning; communications; information and risk management; and training. Previously, Patty served as a Presidential appointee and senior advisor to the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Environmental Security providing policy recommendations and strategic advice on the Departments' environment, safety and occupational health communications with Congress, States, federal agencies, industry, non-government organizations and the public. Ms. Reyes also served as an environmental analyst at the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment and at the National Governors' Association, during which she participated in a detail to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for State cleanup programs. Patty holds an MPA degree in Environmental Systems from the American University, Washington, D.C.
Matthew Potter
Australasian Land & Groundwater Association (ALGA)
Matthew Potter has been the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ALGA since June 2022. Matthew has 29 years of experience in the environmental services industry. Over his career he has worked across many facets of industry, including as a consultant, regulator, and contractor. This unique experience enables Matthew to appreciate the wide and varying needs of the industry. Matthew is committed to driving engagement and collaboration across the contaminated land and groundwater sector.
Expert Panellists:
Valerie Hanley
California Department of Toxic Substances Control
Dr. Valerie Hanley is a Senior Toxicologist in the Human and Ecological Risk Office at the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) in Sacramento, CA and the co-leader of the ITRC Microplastics Team. Valerie has been with DTSC since 2008 and an active participant of ITRC since 2015.
Valerie evaluates human health risk assessments for a variety of sites and is involved in DTSC's Safer Consumer Products program. Valerie earned a bachelor’s degree in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology from The University of California (UC) Santa Cruz in 2001 and her PhD in Comparative Pathology from UC Davis in 2007. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at UC Davis in Respiratory Toxicology in 2008.
Kim Nimmer
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality
Kim Nimmer is an environmental program consultant with over 25 years of professional experience in a variety of sectors and programs. She is co-leader for ITRC’s Microplastics Team and is also co-leading a group on ITRC’s Contaminants of Emerging Concern Team. Kim has been with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Water Resources (NC DWR) since 2003. During that time, Kim has served as DWR’s first Emerging Compounds Coordinator; the Interbasin Transfer Program Coordinator, regulating the movement of large volumes of water between the state’s river basins; and grant program manager of the federal 319(h) grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which supports the protection and restoration of waters impaired by nonpoint source pollution. Kim has worked in private consulting, the non-profit sector, and Wisconsin state government, working on stream restoration projects, site assessments for Superfund and Brownfields sites, and the development of state technical standards for soil and water conservation practices. Kim holds an M.S. in Water Resources Management from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and a B.S. in Geology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Julia Jaeger
Eurofins
Dr. Julia Jaeger is a Technical Specialist at Eurofins Environment Testing Australia & New Zealand. Julia graduated with a Master in Food Chemistry and holds a PhD in Physical Chemistry. In the past 10 years, she has worked in different sectors, ranging from atmospheric chemistry to food and forensics strengthening her knowledge in Analytical Chemistry. In 2019, she has set up a laboratory for commercial microplastic testing utilizing the Laser Direct Infrared (LDIR) Chemical Imaging System. Furthermore, she developed methods for the analysis of microplastics in different environmental and food matrices. Furthermore, Julia has expertise in the analysis of organic contaminants, especially VOCs and pesticides utilizing Mass Spectrometry.
Kevin Thomas
Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS)
Professor Kevin Thomas is Director of the Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS) at The University of Queensland, Australia. Kevin is an environmental health scientist with a particular interest in understanding the environmental exposures associated with contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) with the goal of protecting environmental and human health.
His current research is focused on understanding human exposure to plastics pollution and developing mass spectrometric analytical methods for characterizing plastics and other CECs. His team is focused on better understanding how plastics cycle in the environment with the aim of reducing exposure. Other interests include assessing community-wide health status through analysing wastewater (wastewater-based epidemiology), establishing alternative approaches to exposure monitoring, for example explanted silicone prostheses and wristbands.
Author of over 300 peer-reviewed papers and Associate Editor for the journal Science of the Total Environment, Kevin is a strong collaborative researcher having founded the international SCORE network on sewer biomarker analysis for community health assessment (see www.score-network.eu).