Emerging Contaminants in the Environment

Dr. Hemen Sarma is a Professor in the Department of Botany at Bodoland University, India, whose multidisciplinary research spans plant sciences, environmental sustainability, nanobiotechnology, and agriculture. His work advances understanding of plant-environment interactions and sustainable agricultural practices, focusing on emerging pollutants, plant-microbe interactions, and biochar technology. Recognized internationally, Dr. Sarma was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London and received the UNESCO-TWAS award for science popularization in the Global South. He is also acknowledged among the top 2% of most cited authors worldwide. His academic career spans over two decades, including a PhD in Botany with specialization in plant and environmental pollution from Gauhati University, India, and postdoctoral fellowships at institutions such as the University of Texas at El Paso, USA. Delfina C Dominguez is a Professor at The University of Texas at El Paso, USA. She completed her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from New Mexico State University and postdoctoral studies from The University of Virginia. Her research interests include Molecular diagnostics, antimicrobial resistance and calcium signaling in Bacteria The focus of Dr. Dominguez’s work is in bacterial physiology and pathogenesis. Currently, she has active collaborations with other investigators to develop and validate point of care devices for rapid identification of pathogens as well as clinical biomarkers. Dr. Dominguez has over 46 publications to including conference papers and book chapters, and over 900 citations. Wen-Yee Lee is Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at University of Texas at El Paso, USA. She completed her Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Engineering from the University of Texas at El Paso, and Postdoctoral Research from Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. Dr. Lee studies organic pollutants in the environment, and their impacts on human health. Her research area is a unique field in the chemistry department and is in line with the university’s vision in interdisciplinary research. Dr. Lee was a 2016 Interdisciplinary Research Fellow awarded by UTEP Office of Research and Sponsored Projects and the Office of the Provost. As an IDR Fellow, Dr. Lee organized the Water Research Group which include researchers from UTEP, Texas A&M, NMSU, New Mexico Tech, and three international universities to study water quality at local, regional, and global scales. Dr. Lee’s research interests are method development, determination of organic pollutants in the environment, and their impacts on human health. Dr. Lee has over 65 publications including conference papers and over 885 citations.

• 1. Understanding emerging contaminants in soil and water:current perspectives on integrated remediation approaches 2. Emerging environmental contaminants—current status,challenges, and technological solutions 3. Anticancer drugs in the environment: environmental levels and technological challenges 4. Exposure to 1,4-dioxane and disinfection by-products due to the reuse of wastewater5. Transport, fate, and bioavailability of emerging pollutants in soil, sediment, and wastewater treatment plants: potential environmental impacts6. Pharmaceutical and personal care products in the environment: occurrence and impact on the functioning of the ecosystem 7. Excessive pharmaceutical and personal care products in the environment cause life-threatening diseases 8. A broad perspective on antimicrobial resistance in coastal waters 9. Environmental fate and transportation of perfluorinated compounds 10. Engineered nanomaterials: threats, releases, and concentrations in the environment 11. Plastic pollution in marine and freshwater environments: abundance, sources, and mitigation12. Electronic waste: an emerging contaminant in the geo- environment 13. Effects of pesticides on human physiology, genetics,and evolution 14. Integrative behavioral and ecotoxicological effects of nanoparticles 15. Determination of multiclass emerging contaminants using QuEChERS method16. Removal of quinolone antibiotics from wastewaters and sewage sludge 17. Chemosensing technology for rapid detection of emerging contaminants 18. Methods of bisphenol A detection by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-Ms) in human breast milk and foodstuff 19. Microalgae as whole-cell biosensors in the prospective assessment of toxic effects of emerging contaminants 20. The mixture of agricultural pesticides and their impact on populations: bioremediation strategies 21. Assisted and amended technology for the sustainableremediation of emerging contaminants 22. Bioremediation of cytostatic pharmaceutical and personal care products and emerging technologies 23. Removal of antimicrobial resistance determinants from wastewater: a risk perspective on conventional and emerging technologies 24. Novel nanomaterials for nanobioremediation of polyaromatic hydrocarbons