QAEHS at NCEC

10 Sep 2019

QAEHS staff Prof Kevin Thomas, Dr Fisher Wang and PhD student Phil Choi attended the 10th National Conference on Environmental Chemistry in Tianjin China, August 2019. QAEHS Director, Prof Thomas gave a keynote address on ‘Exploring the potential of a global emerging contaminant early warning network through the use of retrospective suspect screening with high-resolution mass spectrometry’, PhD student Phil Choi gave a keynote address on ‘Wastewater as a matrix for studying emerging contaminants and public health: the Australian experience’ and Dr Wang gave a presentation on ‘Chlorinated paraffins in ambient air: Brisbane (Australia), Dalian (China) and Hanoi (Vietnam)’.

L-R: Phil Choi, Kevin Thomas, Fisher Wang

PhD student Phil enjoyed the conference, “The National Conference on Environmental Chemistry in Tianjin, China, had by far the most grandiose, pompous and impressive opening ceremony I have witnessed. There were lights, cameras, music, and patriotic speeches. I tried to deliver a simple and engaging presentation as many in the audience seemed to have limited English skills. While many of the presentations were in Chinese, some of the ones presented in English were amazing. In absolute terms, the environmental burden of anthropogenic activity in China is much higher than here in Australia. However, the presentations often showed great reductions in the space of just a few years, which is truly commendable. It was good to learn how environmental chemistry stewardship is being increasingly important in China. My favourite part of the trip was watching a group of jolly old men diving into the river from a bridge in the middle of the city.”

The Environmental Chemistry Professional Committee of the Chinese Chemical Society (CCS) initiated the biennial National Conference on Environmental Chemistry (NCEC) in 2002. From then on, NCEC has gradually developed into a high-end academic forum for Chinese and foreign scholars to present their latest research in environmental chemistry, and explore potential collaboration in a variety of fields. The 10th NCEC took place at Nankai University, Tianjin, China, with the theme of “Facilitating the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution, Launching a New Era of Environmental Science”.

 

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