PEOPLE Newsletter | April 29, 2022

PEOPLE & PARTNER EVENTS
Early Bird Registration: PEOPLE 2022 International Conference (hybrid), August 23-26, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, CanadaPlatinum sponsors: NSERC | PEI Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action
Silver sponsors: Genomic Atlantic | UPEI Faculty of Science
Coffee break sponsors: City of Charlottetown | Town of StratfordAbstract submission is now closed, receiving over 100 abstracts internationally. We invite you to join us at the conference in Charlottetown PEI and online for special early-bird discount rates. Register for early bird by May 31, 11:59 pm Eastern Time. We encourage you to book accommodations as early as possible since hotels are sold out quickly in the summary in PEI. Find out more about the conference venue and accommodation, UPEI campus accommodation included.Upcoming – Workshops and short courses to be annouced!
Stay tuned for more information on the conference website.
Find out more about Sponsorship Opportunities.
Early Bird Registration

Plenary Keynote Speaker – Dr. Jesse (Jingxu) Zhu

Distinguished University Professor and Canada Research Chair
Director of Particle Technology Research Centre
Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
Western University

Bio: Dr. Jesse Zhu is a Distinguished University Professor and Canada Research Chair at Western University in Canada.  He is also a Fellow of Royal Society of Canada, Canadian Academy of Engineering, Engineering Institute of Canada and Chemical Institute of Canada. 
With a B.Eng. from Tsinghua University (1982) where he also worked for 2 years as a Junior Lecturer, and a Ph.D. from the University of British Columbina (1988), he first worked as a Research Scientist for Shell in Europe and UBC for a couple of years.  In 1993, he joined Western University where he attained full professorship and established the Particle Technology Research Centre in 1999.  As a world leading academic in particle technology, Zhu has 500 referred journal publications, 50 plus patents, and over 260 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows supervised.  In addition to fundamental research, he is particularly active in technology development and transfer, with some commercialized or being commercialized.  
Zhu has received many awards including the R.S.Jane Memorial Award (the highest from Canadian Society of Chemical Engineering), the Elsevier Lifetime Achievement Award (the highest particle technology award from American Institute of Chemical Engineers), the Professional Engineers Engineering Medal, and the Hellmuth Prize for Achievement in Research (the highest from Western University).

Dr. Zhu will give a talk on “A compact and self-contained wastewater treatment technology for in-situ and community wastewater treatment”

Abstract: As a newly developed efficient multiphase reactor, the liquid-solid Circulating Fluidized Bed is perfect BioReactor (CFBBR) that provides very efficient liquid-solid contact (and therefore higher productivity) while incorporating two or more bio-reaction systems together to allow seamless integration. Although fluidized beds have been know to have many advantages, only single stage or isolated multiple stage fluidized beds have been used so far.  This technology has been licensed to a London-base company (Renix, www.renix.ca) which has marketed it as a RenixUIX (fluidized bed uninterrupted ion exchange) technology and has successfully developed new applications for several industries such as food, beverage and mining industry… Continue reading

IOSSC 2022 Call for Abstracts & Open for Registration

hat brings experts from around the world to present their latest research in the field of oil spill science including spill prevention, contingency planning, and environmental rehabilitation.The International Oil Spill Science Conference (IOSSC) 2022 in Halifax, Canada is now open for registration. The event is co-hosted and partnered with the Multi-Partner Research Initiative of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Industry Technical Advisory Committee (ITAC), Oil Spill Research Group of Concordia University, PEOPLE Network, and Discover Halifax. Check out this exciting program t
Conference website | Twitter: @IOSSC2022
Abstract deadline: June 17, 2022
Early bird registration: August 31, 2022
Call for Abstracts: Session 4.10 – SETAC North America 43rd Annual MeetingThe SETAC North America 43rd Annual Meeting will be held in Pittsburgh and online on November 13th to 17th, 2022 – calling for abstracts for session 4.10 “Fate, Effects, Mitigation, and Monitoring of Oilfield Contaminants in Aquatic Environments”. Welcome oral and poster presentations highlighting innovative studies on legacy and emerging oilfield contaminants in aquatic environments. Read session description

Session Chairs: Xiaomeng WangDiane OrihelBaiyu Zhang

Please provide a tentative title via email at your earliest convenience, and then submit your abstract online before June 2nd, 2022. Submitting an abstract does not guarantee acceptance or placement in this session.

Submit an Abstract
PEOPLE Seminar “From micro- to nanoplastics: what we don’t know but should” Successfully held

PEOPLE Seminar “From micro- to nanoplastics: what we don’t know but should” was successfully held on April 13, hosting 80+ attendees from multiple institutions. This research seminar was organized by PEOPLE CREATE team “Monitoring, sampling, characterization, and database development”, led by Dr. Manuel J. Rodriguez (Université Laval) and Dr. Helen Zhang (Memorial University).

MEMBER NEWS
Dr. Bing Chen appointed as the UArctic Chair in Marine and Coastal Environmental Engineering

Dr. Bing Chen, Director of PEOPLE Network, has been appointed as the UArctic Chair in Marine and Coastal Environmental Engineering. UArctic chairs are internationally leading scientists and engineers who act as drivers for academic development in content areas relevant to the Arctic. Positions are selected globally and collaboratively appointed by UArctic and its nominating institutions.

As one of the newest UArctic chairs, Dr. Chen will establish and sustain a world-leading research program dedicated to marine and coastal environmental sustainability and community resilience in the Arctic and other cold regions by targeting two challenging and critical areas over the next five years: “preventing and responding to oil/chemical spills” and “managing and mitigating non-regulated persistent and emerging contaminants”.  Read more (1) (2)

JOB OPPORTUNITY
Job Posting – GRRB Fisheries/Forestry Biologist

The Gwich’in Renewable Resources Board (GRRB) is a co-management Board located in Inuvik, Northwest Territories. The GRRB is currently seeking a motivated full-time Fisheries/Forestry Biologist. This position is responsible for management planning, research, technical advice, relationship building and consultation related to fisheries and forestry in the Gwich’in Settlement Area (GSA). Job Post

Starting Salary: $85,500.00 per year
Benefits: Northern Allowance ($15,278.90), relocation package, RRSP’s, and health and benefits coverage
Closing Date: Thursday, May 12, 2022 by midnight (MST)

SPOTLIGHT ON MEMBERS
PEOPLE Knowledge and Skills set Co-Lead on Impact on Seafood and Human Health
Dr. Atanu Sarkar
Associate Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health
Faculty of Medicine
Memorial University
Dr. Atanu Sarkar was trained in medicine and public health in India and further studied environmental studies at Queen’s University, Ontario. Currently, he is an Associate Professor, at the Division of Community Health and Humanities, Faculty of Medicine and cross appointed at the Department of Biology. His research interests are environmental contaminations and adverse health impacts, climate change, food security, infectious diseases and Indigenous health. He is particularly passionate about community-based research. He has received funds from NSERC, CIHR, SSHRC and other federal funding agencies. He is one of the founding directors of a not-for-profit organization, Food Producers Forum. He is the vice chair of the Ethics and Philosophy Committee of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology.

Relevant publications:

  • Babichuk N, Sarkar A, Mulay S, Knight J, Bautista JJ, Young CJ. (2022) Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) in Marine Fish and Dietary Exposure in Rural Coastal Communities in Newfoundland, Canada. EcoHealth. (accepted)
  • Sarkar A. (2022) Addressing Consumerism and the Planetary Health Crisis: Behavioral Economics Approach in Public Policy. Frontiers in Energy Research (accepted).
  • Combden S, Forward A, Sarkar A. (2021) COVID-19 pandemic responses of Canada and United States in first six months: a comparative analysis. International Journal of Health Planning and Management.
  • Rahman A, Sarkar A, Yadav OP, Achari G, Slobodnik J. (2021) Potential human health risks due to environmental exposure to nano- and microplastics and knowledge gaps: a scoping review. Science of The Total Environment.
  • Blanchard P, Babichuk N, Sarkar A. (2020) Evaluating the use of synchrotron X-ray spectroscopy in investigating brominated flame retardants in indoor dust. Environmental Science and Pollution Research.
SPOTLIGHT ON PEOPLE HQP
Cory Ochs, M.Sc. Biology, Memorial University
Supervisor: Dr. Atanu Sarkar, Memorial University
Cory initially worked as an ecologist and earned an M.Sc. in Biology (University of Windsor, 2015). During her studies, she bridged research paradigms to generate interdisciplinary insights, a research value she carried to subsequent roles. A research assistantship with the Ocean Frontier Institute’s Social Licence & Planning in Coastal Communities research module (Memorial University of NL) precipitated into an M.Sc. in Medicine (Community Health and Humanities) opportunity under the co-supervision of Dr. Atanu Sarkar and Dr. Kapil Tahlan. Her current research focuses on the roles of policy, certification programmes, and stakeholder perspectives in strengthening antimicrobial stewardship and occupational health and safety in Canadian salmon aquaculture. Additionally, she is conducting scoping reviews on landfill contributions to aquatic system pollution by POPs. She aims to pursue a career in policy to address the growing impact of One Health challenges on aquatic systems and the people intrinsically connected to these vital resources.

Selected publications:

  • Cavalli, L.S., López Gómez,, M.A., Ochs, C., Neis, B., Jopia, C.T. (2022). Salmon Mass Mortality Events and Occupational Health and Safety in Chile Aquaculture. Aquaculture (Under review)
  • Ochs, C., Neis, B., Cullen, K., & McGuinness, E. J. (2021). Occupational safety and health in marine aquaculture in Atlantic Canada: What can be learned from an analysis of provincial occupational injury compensation claims data? Aquaculture, 540, 736680.
  • Ochs, C. L., Suntres, T., Zygowska, A., Pitcher, T., & Zielinski, B. S. (2017). Organization of glomerular territories in the olfactory bulb of post‐embryonic wild chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha. Journal of Morphology, 278(4), 464-474.

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