Team
Bart Koelmans
Expert in the field of plastic pollution and scientific advisor in several international organizations such as the World Health Organization, United Nations and European Union.
His main interests and specializations are on the fate, effect and risk assessment of plastic (macro-, micro- and nanoplastic) pollution for the environment and human health.
Svenja Mintenig
(Assistant Professor)
Analytical chemist specializing in instruments and techniques to detect micro- and nanoplastics in different environmental compartments (sediment, water and biota).
​
​
Merel Kooi
(Assistant Professor)
Expert in theoretical concepts related to plastic pollution and modelling transport and fate of microplastics in the freshwater environment. Her main interests also include plastic biofouling and ocean modelling.
Sven Frei
(Associate Professor)
Expert in water quality modelling and microplastics in freshwater systems.
Derk van Grootheest
(PhD fellow)
Microplastic researcher focusing on the impact of biofouling on microplastic transport in rivers.
Wang Siting
(PhD fellow)
Analytical chemist focusing on the occurrence, fate and implications of microplastics on environmental and human health in a suite of drinking water sources. Her fieldwork takes place in China and the Netherlands, focusing on the rivers Yangtze and the Rhine respectively.
Dung Thuy Nguyen
(PhD fellow)
Environmental chemist focusing on detection and impact of microplastics in agricultural soil.
Vera de Ruijter
(Postdoc)
Ecotoxicologist specializing in effects of micro- and nanoplastics on marine and freshwater organisms and risk assessments of plastic pollution on the environment. Her interests also include car tire dusts and associated chemicals.
Berte Mekonen Belay
(PhD fellow)
Ecotoxicologist specializing in effects of macro- and microplastics on trophic interaction between species and ecosystem functioning. He performs large scale mesocosm experiments on plastic pollution.
Yutong Guo
(PhD fellow)
Environmental scientist focusing on probabilistic models of microplastic transport and risks across scales.
Margherita Barchiesi
(Postdoc)
Environmental engineer focusing on microplastics in the urban watercycle and strategies for microplastic volume estimates.
Yvette Mellink
(PhD fellow)
Plastic pollution scientist specialized in developing models that simulate the sources, pathways and fate of macro- and microplastics in the environment.
Ira Wardani
(PhD fellow)
Environmental scientist focusing on water quality modelling and health risk assessment, with a specialisation on probabilistic exposure modelling and physiologically based pharmacokinetic models.
Taylor Lane
(Postdoc)
Toxicologist and environmental chemist with expertise in evaluating the maternal transfer of pollutans, reproductive toxicology, chemical fate, and exposure.
Yanning Qiu
(Postdoc)
Environmental scientist focusing on standardizing and harmonizing exposure data for the risk assessment of microplastic particles for humans.
Collaborators and alumni
PhD graduate & collaborator
Project: Development of human exposure probabilistic modelling framework for microplastics
PhD graduate & collaborator
PhD thesis: Effect assessment of nano- and microplastics in freshwater ecysostems (2020).
PhD graduate & collaborator
Project: PLASTICOD
PhD thesis: Sediment toxicisty testing and prospective risk assessment of organic chemicals (2015).
Collaborator
Project: Effects of aged polyethylene microplastics on aquatic organisms
Affiliation: Alcalá University
Changgui Pan
Collaborator
Project: Microplastic occurrence in a freshwater food web
Affiliation: Guangxi University
Ellen Besseling
PhD graduate
PhD thesis: Micro- and nanoplastics in the aquatic environment: from rivers to whales (2018).