My current work focuses on leadership and coordination of PFAS programme delivery in the Chemicals Programme at the Environment Agency, cutting across legacy contamination issues, sector prioritisation and risk evaluation work, engagement with regulated industry and permitting process; and working collaboratively with other government agencies to influence and direct national approaches on management of chemicals, including PFAS.

Dr. Dora Chiang is Global Principal for PFAS and emerging contaminants at Jacobs. She has 25 years of consulting experience and has multiple global practice leader and technical director roles throughout her career. Since 2012 she has collaborated with universities and clients to investigate the nature and extent of PFAS and other emerging contaminants, develop and demonstrate innovative solutions that separate, concentrate, and destroy PFAS, and strategize source reduction for PFAS management sustainably and safely.  She is an invited speaker at national and international conferences, author of multiple peer-reviewed journal articles, technical lead of numerous local, state, federal, industrial projects.  She serves as principal investigator (PI) of multiple US DOD funded PFAS technology development projects.  

Ali is an assistant professor in the Civil Engineering department at the University of St. Thomas, where she helps students learn to solve complex problems.  In her research, she applies systems thinking to emerging contaminants to better understand economic, environmental, and human health impacts of their use, management, and treatment.  Prior to joining St. Thomas, Ali spent ten years in consulting designing and troubleshooting water and wastewater treatment systems.

Emma has worked in Water Quality for over 8 years working in a variety of roles including Customer Service Water Quality Scientist, Operational Catchment Manager and Continuous Improvement Specialist. In 2022 Emma took up the role of Senior Catchment Specialist at Southern Water and more recently, along with her colleague Beth, set up the Catchment PFAS Working Group, bringing together 20 water companies from across the UK and Channel Islands.

Emil is a consultant with a background in materials chemistry, specializing in the mitigation and phase-out of PFAS materials. His work includes substituting fluoropolymers in high-performance products, developing AI solutions for PFAS mitigation, educating production companies on PFAS avoidance, and assisting the textile industry in phasing out and identifying PFAS in products and processes.

Shalene Thomas is the Senior Global Emerging Contaminant Program Manager for Battelle. She has more than 26 years of experience in environmental consulting that includes nearly 18 years of experience supporting per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) evaluations. She has supported State, Federal and industrial clients in 32 different states in nine of the 10 USEPA regions as well as in Europe, Australia and Canada.

I have spent nearly 5 years of my career within the Environment Agency. The first few years were spent in a national operational role, in which I monitored compliance with and enforced regulations on Persistent Organic Pollutants, mercury and REACH. I now sit as an advisor in the Chemicals Regulatory Development Team, helping to shape the EAs regulatory approach for PFAS. Over the past few years most of my focus has been regarding sites which use, or have historically used, PFAS containing firefighting foams.

Dirk NUYENS PhD sc is a Senior Partner of ERM and Global Account Director for 3M and has more than 25 years of experience in the management of ESG enterprise business risks for large multinational companies.

Dirk oversees one of the largest PFAS projects in Europe (3M Zwijndrecht/Antwerp, Belgium), managing the environmental liabilities (including the decommissioning & waste management) and the complex stakeholder communication within an evolving regulatory & policy context, and 3M deciding to step out of PFAS manufacturing. 

I am a hydrogeologist at the BGS, having recently earned my BSc in Geology from the University of East Anglia. During my studies, I completed a placement year with Norfolk County Council’s closed landfill team. With them, I completed my dissertation looking at PFAS behaviour and fate from landfill sources across sites in Norfolk. Currently, my main areas of interest and expertise are in groundwater contamination and water quality, particularly with Emerging Organic Contaminants.

Dr. Mohamed (Moha) Ateia Ibrahim is Group Leader with the U.S. EPA, Office of Research and Development. Moha combines his expertise in environmental chemistry and materials chemistry to develop and evaluate innovative water treatment technologies to remove and/or degrade emerging contaminants, such as PFAS and microplastics. In parallel, Moha has initiated and is currently leading a multi-agencies project to evaluate the environmental impacts of PFAS-replacement chemicals and formulations in firefighting foams and consumer products. He is a member of the Weapons Systems and Platforms Technical Committee of fluorine-free foams (F3) for the U.S. Department of Defense’s SERDP-ESTCP Program. Moha is also an Adj. Assistant Professor at Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Department, Rice University.

Viju is an experienced Chemical Engineer with over 15 years of  specialized experience in the development of novel materials and  sustainable technologies. She currently leads PA’s Sustainable  Materials Innovation and Transformation division, where she drives  cutting-edge initiatives focused on biobased materials, biomaterials,  and PFAS-free technologies. Her work is centred on delivering  innovative solutions that support sustainability across a wide range of  industries. 

She is at the forefront of large-scale programs aimed at replacing  conventional PFAS-based coatings with sustainable, PFAS-free  alternatives in industries including packaging, medical devices, and  related sectors. 

She works closely with academic institutions, industry leaders, and  clients to foster breakthrough innovations in the PFAS space. By  leveraging PA’s extensive technical network, she drives the  development of cutting-edge treatment technologies that address  complex sustainability challenges. 

She plays a pivotal role in transitioning these technologies from the  laboratory to commercial application, ensuring that scientific  advancements are effectively scaled and brought to market.

Linda Gaines is an environmental engineer and environmental health scientist. She has worked on environmental site assessments, water and wastewater work, air permits, and hazardous waste permits. After earning her Professional Engineer’s license, she earned her Ph.D. focusing on environmental health. She maintains the Regional Screening Levels and is the Superfund subject matter expert for PFAS.

Profile coming soon...

Jo Lloyd PhD is Partner in ERM’s Sustainable Product and Supply Chain team. A chemist with 25 + years chemical management experience, including REACH and Substances of Concern, Jo has led projects providing input on EU REACH restriction consultations on PFAS, microplastics and other plastic additives and input on WBCSD SDG roadmap. Jo works with industry associations related to the fluoropolymer supply chain including oil and gas, semiconductor, electronics and manufacturing sectors.  She also routinely leads product stewardship due diligence and compliance assessment projects.

Beth has over 7 years of experience in Catchment Management within the water utilities industry. In her current role as a Catchment Management Specialist at Southern Water, she focuses on developing and implementing strategies to protect drinking water quality. Alongside her colleague Emma, Beth facilitates the Catchment PFAS Working Group, which brings together 20 water companies from across the UK and Channel Islands. This group aims to address the challenge of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) in water sources. Recently, Beth has been involved in catchment investigations to identify and understand the sources of PFAS that are impacting raw water quality.

Michael S. Wong, Ph.D, is professor and chair of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Rice University (Houston, Texas). He is also professor of Chemistry, of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and of Materials Science and Nano Engineering. He holds the Tina and Sunit Patel Chair in Molecular Nanotechnology. He is Research Thrust Leader in the NEWT (Nanotechnology Enabled Water Treatment) Center and in the Rice WaTER Institute. His research team has authored over 200 publications, cited over 17,000 times. He received the Lawrence K. Cecil Award, the highest environmental honor in chemical engineering. He is a Fellow of AIChE, ACS, and RSC.

Anna Forsgren, Product Compliance & Sustainability manager at Marshall Group, has long experience in the chemical, regulatory and sustainability field.

Former at companies like Intertek, WSP and Akzo Nobel her experience include chemical advisory and testing services, project management of major RoHS and REACH implementation projects for Swedish and international companies, as well as advising and training in health, safety and environmental legislation, environmental auditing, sustainability and environmental programs within chemical industry, construction and real estate sectors.

Her current work at Marshall involves certification of audio electronics for a global market combined with improving the product sustainability and reducing hazardous substances.

Nin has 25 years' experience in the effective management of environmental liabilities and successful redevelopment of brownfield sites in the UK, Europe, MENAI and APAC. He has held a number of technical and management roles in consultancy as well as delivering turnkey demolition and remediation projects globally. His current role at AWS is focussed on bolstering and managing our infrastructure as we continue to meet customer demand.