About: Alistair is Professor of Environmental Science based in the Department of Environment and Geography at the University of York in the UK. Alistair's research focuses on understanding the current and future risks of chemicals (including medicines, pesticides, metals, microplastics and nanomaterials) to ecological and human health.

Most pressing issue: As a society, we don't seem to learn from our past environmental mistakes and are very slow in embedding scientific advances into policy and regulation.  Over the past few decades our understanding of the risks of chemicals in the environment has increased enormously yet new chemical pollution challenges continually crop up. We should be doing a much better job to protect the planet.

Top tip for new researchers:  Collaborate with others from other disciplines and cultures. We will only be able to solve the challenges of chemical pollution through interdisciplinary and global collaboration. It is also immense fun and makes you think differently about your work.

About: Jason is Research Professor in the Department of Environment and Geography at the University of York.  Jason is an environmental microbiologist, risk assessor and molecular biologist that works on the biodegradation and persistence of chemicals in the environment, the environmental dimension of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and safe and sustainable by design chemicals.  Jason’s research outputs have supported the development of science-based policy in the UK and Europe.  Prior to joining the University of York, Jason was the Global Head of Environment within AstraZeneca.

Most pressing issue: The pace at which environmental policy and regulation evolve need to increase; it is too rigid and 15-20 years behind the science.  Regulation has also become too focused on hazard, rather than risk, and fails to factor in waste management and extended producer responsibility obligations into approval and authorisation procedures.  

Top tip for new researchers: Talk to your peers, collaborate, never lose sight of the big picture, recognise that pragmatism and not idealism will provide the solutions society, policy and industry needs.  

About: Antonia is an Associate Professor of Environmental Chemistry at the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands. She studies the environmental transport and fate of emerging contaminants, including micro- and nanoplastics (and associated chemicals), engineered nanomaterials, PFAS and pharmaceuticals. A particular focus is the use of environmental fate models to evaluate contaminant fate under long-term global change scenarios. Additionally, Antonia enjoys collaborating with citizen scientists on investigating synthetic microfibre release from clothing. 

Most pressing issue: 

Existing risk assessment approaches and regulation are not able to fully capture the broad complexity of chemical pollution and the interconnected impacts of chemicals, climate change and socio-political dynamics on planetary health. As scientists, we need to continue to study fundamental mechanisms to push the knowledge base forward, while also help raise societal and political awareness. 

Top tip for a new researcher: 

Learn to think outside the box by dipping your toes into other fields, e.g. by attending workshops/seminars/conference sessions outside of your core research area and reading papers from different journals from time to time. Don’t be afraid to ask “stupid” questions and get comfortable working with people with a different expertise. In this way you never stop learning and you might even come up with new unexpected research ideas.

About: Lorraine is a Professor of Environmental Biology in the School of Biosciences at the University of Sheffield, UK. Her research focuses on understanding the risks that chemicals pose to biodiversity and the ecosystem services it provides. Spanning both freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems, Lorraine’s work has been instrumental in informing UK and European chemical regulation and practice.

Most pressing issue: Not forgetting what we already know and acting on that knowledge.  The sheer volume of modern publications makes staying current a challenge, often leading researchers to prioritize papers from only the last few years. While this 'recency bias' is appropriate for rapid technological shifts, many 'new' conceptual advances are reinventions of fundamental knowledge published decades ago. Research does not lose its value simply because it is old.

Top tip for a new researcher: Follow your passion, keep an open mind, and prioritize collaboration. We will only successfully address the global challenge of chemical pollution by working across disciplines and integrating diverse perspectives. Complex problems require more than just specialized knowledge; they require a global mindset and a willingness to step outside our silos.

About: Helena is an ecotoxicologist and Associate Technical Director working at Cambridge Environmental Assessments. She works from home performing environmental risk assessments and working on associated projects. Her primary focus is on assessing the effects of predicted pesticide exposure on non-target organisms in the wild, though her work also covers environmental risk assessments for other chemicals, such as biocides and pharmaceuticals.

Most pressing issue: Within the EU and UK, there is a big push in the regulatory environment to move towards a ‘landscape-scale’ approach to environmental risk assessments. Risk assessments currently focus on the risks posed by single chemicals or products used in specific ways. However, we are aware that wild organisms are exposed to a whole range of chemicals from a variety of different sources. How this mixture of chemical pressures (plus non-chemical pressures!) impacts wild organisms is difficult to measure and currently almost impossible to predict. Further, the regulatory systems in place in the EU and UK have different schemes in place for different chemical types and thus lack a unified approach to controlling chemical exposure. How this issue is to be addressed is an ongoing and very complex challenge for all of us working in this area.

Top tip for new researchers:  It’s important to avoid silos and to seek out a wide range of information and opinions to inform your own thoughts and work. Talk to consultants, laboratory technicians, field workers, those working in industry, as well as those on the ground using chemicals and impacted by their regulation. You’d be surprised what you’ll learn!