Meet the Team

Just as we believe it is important for you readers out there to know the work we are doing, we also believe it is important for you to know who we are. In this post, you will meet the members of the Environmental Quality Research Group who work tirelessly to deliver high quality research in the field of environmental science and policy.

The Staff

 Dr Nick Voulvoulis is the group’s leader and is an expert in water and environmental management especially where science and engineering interface with public policy. His research focuses on the development of methods for assessing emerging contaminants (sources, pathways, fate and impacts), with emphasis on waste and wastewater treatment processes. Nick has built a dynamic group of research staff and PhD students in the area of environmental quality management, with a focus on chemicals in the environment and their fate during waste and wastewater management practices.

Claire Hunt has worked on a wide range of water projects at Imperial for nearly ten years, as Yorkshire Water Research Fellow, as Water Management Option convenor and recently Pollution Management Option co-convenor, and currently on a NERC Innovation Internship. In her current role she is spending spend six months at Defra with the Joint Water Evidence Group investigating diffuse pollution in the urban water environment and identifying and assessing gaps in data and knowledge.

Dr Alexandra Collins is a Research Associate focusing on the integrated management of water resources, the identification and management of multiple stressors on aquatic ecosystems and the use of science and evidence in environmental decision making. Alexandra is currently working alongside the members of the Joint Water Evidence Group to coordinate research in water and land management across Defra and she will be working as a NERC Knowledge Exchange Fellow this November.

Natalia Petrou is a research and administrative assistant in the Environmental Quality Research Group. She conducts research on environmental quality related projects, deals with the course curriculum management and carries out academic and administrative tasks in support of the group. Her main research interests lie in the area of sustainable development and the potential use of new technologies to that end. Furthermore she likes learning foreign languages and so far speaks 9 foreign languages.

Emily Langley BSc, MRes, is a research and administrative assistant in the Environmental Quality Research Group at the Centre for Environmental Policy. Her main interests lie in the area of contemporary environmental issues, and the compatible tools, alternative technologies and policies for sustainable environmental management. Emily graduated from the University of Durham with a BSc in Physical Geography and an MRes in Glacial Hydrology, specialising in GIS, remote sensing and data analysis.

 The Students

 Aisha Gloudon is currently completing her PhD, entitled The Development and Application of Rock and Soil Geochemical Baselines for Environmental Studies in Mining Districts: Collahuasi and Los Bronces Mining Districts as Case Studies.  Her research is in conjunction with Anglo American Chile and focuses on the reuse of rock and soil geochemical data from metallogenic studies to quantify naturally occurring concentrations of potentially harmful elements and assess any risks posed by these to human health and the environment.

 Aida Al Awar is a fourth year PhD student looking into the effects of a needs based approach on the success of water and sanitation aid projects in the developing world. She is interested in all areas of development and hopes to work in the field, specifically in the area of water provision and management.

Young suk Lee is a fourth year PhD researcher and his main theoretical interest lies in ‘water security’. His research focuses on the development of an assessment framework and indices for water security. Particular topics include: the economic and physical analysis of water availability and water related risks, the comparison of water security related indices and indicators

 Kofi Mbuk is a second year PhD researcher with interest in the energy market. In his research, Kofi is developing a model on how to measure energy security from a systems perspective taking into account the interconnections energy has with other systems such as the water-land-food nexus.

Karl Dominic Arpon is a second year PhD researcher looking at the importance of a systems approach to policy-making to improve overall water management and policy implementation as part of the GLOBAQUA project. He is keen on expanding his knowledge regarding the interdisciplinary aspects of the water environment from integrated catchment management to ecosystem service provision.

Alozie Alaoma is a second year Doctoral research student whose research interest is underpinned on management of mineral active regions. Alozie’s research engages systems approach as a holistic tool to management of activities bordering resource extraction to ensure sustainable extractive and environmental regime.

Norfaradila (Fara) Jaafar is currently a second year as a PhD student. Her research is centred on the need for the effective treatment of antibiotics in sewage treatment plant. The focus of her research involves the determination of related factors (source, occurrence and fate) of critically important antibiotics in order to make recommendations for reducing pathways of these compounds in the environment.

Theodoros Giakoumis is a first year PhD researcher also looking at the importance of systems thinking and ecosystem services as part of the GLOBAQUA project. His research will involve an in-depth analysis of multiple stressor interactions, the link between Water Framework Directive monitored elements and ecosystem service provision in order to improve the evidence that supports the need for management.

Iman Hayat is a first year PhD researcher with interest on stakeholder engagement strategies in integrated catchment management to address the presence of pesticides in drinking water resources. She is currently undertaking research in collaboration with the Catchment and Coastal Management Team at Anglian Water Services.

Ioannis Souliotis  is a first year PhD student at the Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London. Additionally, he is the Administrative Head of the Department of Food, Water, Agriculture, Forest Biodiversity Economics and Management of the International Centre for Research on the Environment and the Economy (ICRE8). He obtained his MSc in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics from the University of Copenhagen and his BSc in Economics from the Athens University of Economics and Business. He is an affiliated Researcher at ATHENA RC and has is participating in the following projects: GLOBAQUA (FP7), TROPOS (FP7), BRIGAID (Horion 2020).

And last but not the least…

Meet Hector the team’s playful companion (the office will surely be a dull one without this little puppy).

hector

Stay tuned for more updates.

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