Environmental conference tackles pollution solutions

Cawthron Institute is the major sponsor of an upcoming conference aimed at tackling the worldwide issue of manufactured contaminants in the environment.

Around 200 leading academics and representatives from industry and government agencies are expected to attend the 3-day Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Australasia Conference in Nelson, New Zealand, on 25 to 28 August. Cawthron Institute is an organiser and Gold Sponsor of this year’s event.

“The potential risks associated with human-made contaminants in our freshwater and marine environments are a key challenge throughout the world,” says Dr Louis Tremblay, conference chair and Cawthron Institute Environmental Toxicologist.

“Data collected from all over the world shows an increasing level of manufactured contaminants in our environment, yet we have very limited knowledge of their potential impacts on humans and our ecosystem. While we may know about the risk of single contaminants, we don’t know enough about the potential effects of contaminants once they mix together in the receiving environment.”

Photo caption: Cawthron environmental toxicologist Louis Tremblay is keen for scientists, regulators and industry to work together on pollution solutions – before it's too late. Photo credit: Tim Cuff

The annual SETAC Australasia Conference aims to explore ways science can address the multiple environmental issues caused by pollution. The theme of this year’s conference is ‘a system approach to environmental management’. It includes more than 100 presentations on pollution monitoring and management around the world, including degradation of water quality, the persistence of human made contaminants in our ecosystems, and environmental impacts of resource extraction, such as land-based and offshore mining.

“We want to get scientists, regulators and industry working together on novel solutions to these increasing environmental issues – before it’s too late,” says Dr Tremblay.

Keynote speakers include Malcolm Rands, founder of New Zealand-based Ecostore; Alistair Boxall, from the University of York; Gary Rielly, the Sustainability and Quality Leader for Methanex New Zealand Limited, Karen Lavin, Senior Adviser for the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment; and Nicole Hill, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Tasmania. New Zealand’s Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) will also host a workshop at the conference to encourage greater interaction between regulators and researchers. The workshop includes presentations by representatives from the EPA, Ministry for Primary Industries, and WorkSafe New Zealand.

A highlight of the conference will be a workshop on the Global Horizon Scanning Research Prioritisation Project, a SETAC initiative aimed at gathering and ranking the most important future research questions identified by academics, regulators and industry specialists from around the world.

The conference will be officially opened on 26 August by New Zealand’s Minister for the Environment, Hon Dr Nick Smith.

SETAC Australasia Conference discussion topics include:

- Metal toxicity and environmental chemistry

- The environmental effects of shipwrecks

- Environmental impacts and management of resource extraction

- System approaches to sustainable biowastes management

- Overview of the revision of the Australia/New Zealand Water Quality Guidelines

Find out more about the conference at www.setac2015.org.nz

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