Dr Karl Bowles

Karl specialises in the fate & transport and impacts of chemical contaminants, with a strong interest in emerging contaminants. He has 30 years of experience within research, consultancy, university and government sectors, and is currently a Senior Principal Environmental Scientist with Jacobs Australia. Karl has worked intensively on PFAS for almost 10 years, providing specialist technical advice to government, including as a consultant to the Australian Department of Defence where he is Strategic Lead for Technical Policy in the PFAS Investigation and Management Branch. He previously contributed substantively to the PFAS National Environmental Management Plan and is actively involved in research addressing key knowledge gaps for risk assessment and environmental management of PFAS. Earlier in his career, Karl focused on environmental and analytical chemistry of metals and organometals.

Karl is a Principal Investigator in a QAEHS research project, led by Dr Sarit Kaserzon, developing passive samplers for PFAS monitoring in environmental waters and wastewater. For this project, Karl provides an understanding of industry needs for sampling in the contaminated land sector, which is important for developing usable tools with real-world applications. Karl has previously collaborated on projects with QAEHS, researching aspects of PFAS in aquatic wildlife and seafood.