PlasticUnderground
Integrated Cross-Sectoral Solutions to Micro - and Nanoplastic Pollution in Soil and Groundwater Ecosystems
Recent evidence of increasing accumulation of micro- and nanoplastics (MnP) in soils and groundwater raise severe concerns by agricultural and water industries, food manufacturers, regulators, environmental interest groups and citizens. Private and public sectors require detailed understanding of environmental and public health risks posed by MnP in soils and groundwater. The PlasticUnderground Doctoral Network creates supra-disciplinary intersectoral capacity for analysing the fate, transport and impacts of MnP in soils and groundwater to develop solutions for reducing their environmental and public health risks, supporting the EC’s circular plastic economy strategy.
Project Vision
The central aim of the PlasticUnderground Doctoral Network is to deliver international scientific excellence through research and training on solutions to the emerging crisis of MnP pollution in subsurface ecosystems in soils and groundwater.
The research program includes unique training opportunities in environmental and social science, ecotoxicology, soil science and aquatic ecology, analytical chemistry, agronomy, data science and numerical modelling as well as responsible innovation, method standardization for use in regulatory decision making and risk assessment. The integrated training programme will prepare Doctoral Candidates with skill sets that are urgently required in agricultural, water, chemical, and manufacturing industries, environmental and regulatory agencies, academia, and the public sector and includes training provision by key stakeholders that will directly benefit from the training in this network.
Associate Partners
Contact
Management & Steering Group
Network Coordinators
Dr. Stefan Krause (University of Birmingham and Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1)
Dr. Laurent Simon (Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1)
Network Scientific Manager
Dr. Zoraida Quiñones-Rivera (Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1)
zoraida.quinones@univ-lyon1.fr
Legal/Financial Manager
Naïma Hamacha (Lyon Ingenierie Projets)
Director of Training
Prof. Iseult Lynch (University of Birmingham)
Director of Research
Prof. Đurađ Milošević (University of Niš)
Director of Innovation
Dr. Georgia Melagraki (NovaMechanics)
Equal Opportunity Champion
Dr. Viviana Re (University of Pisa)
Communications Champion
Prof. Denise Mitrano (ETH-Zurich)
IP and Ethics Officers
Dr. Florence Huynh (PolyMateria)
Prof. Andrew Dove (University of Birmingham)