Researchers, Prof Kevin Thomas, Dr Cassie Rauert, Dr Elvis Okoffo and Dr Grace Davies were joined by HDR students, Lily Pan and Gabe De la Torre at the 2nd Nano & Microplastics Australian Conference in Adelaide, South Australia in late March. Dr Rauert commented that: “It was wonderful to see the all the high quality plastics research conducted in Australia and for our students to have the opportunity to present in such company. The panel discussions on plastics use and recycling were particularly insightful.”
HDR student Gabe De la Torre, presented his work on Quantifying small antifouling paint particles in sediments by pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and was excited to have “the opportunity to showcase my most recent advances in my PhD and also connect with a lot of students and researchers sharing the same interest for microplastic pollution.”
It was also a unique opportunity for HDR student Lily Pan, “this was my first time attending a plastic-oriented conference. It was a wonderful experience; I presented the challenges I faced in my own research. I was also able to talk to students from other universities who work on similar projects, share stories, and got some helpful ideas from them.”
Prof Kevin Thomas gave a keynote presentation on Plastic Particles and Human Health: Addressing Analytical Challenges in Exposure Assessment, while other research presentations included:
- Dr Cassie Rauert presenting Spatial trends of tyre wear particles and tyre additive chemicals from a main Australian road.
- Dr Elvis Okoffo presenting Quantitative analysis or micro- and nano-particles in environmental samples by pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectrometry.
- Lily Pan presenting Assessing the translocation of nanoplastics (NPs) across in vitro human gut-blood and blood-brain barrier models.
