Four finalists were chosen to present their work at the ceremony which took place October 14, 2005 in Brussels.
WINNER Dr. Paul van den BRINK (Alterra, Wageningen University, NL)
Dr. Paul Van den Brink works at the research institute Alterra and the Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management Group of Wageningen University. He obtained his PhD in 1999 on higher tier aquatic risk assessment for pesticides at the Wageningen University. Involved in supervising and executing international projects on the scientific underpinning of higher tier risk assessment procedures for contaminants (e.g. for the registration of pesticides), he is also experienced in the analysis of complex ecological data sets. For this he improved multivariate ordination techniques to assess the impact of chemical stress on freshwater (model) ecosystems. His recent research topics include the development of effect models (e.g. food web, recovery and expert base models), the validation of risk assessment procedures (e.g. Uniform Principles and Species Sensitivity Distribution concept) and human and ecological risk assessment of pesticide use in developing countries in Asia and Africa.
The other finalists were:
Dr Gerard Cornelissen (Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, Oslo, Norway)
Improved risk assessment of contaminants in the aqueous and terrestrial environment: Novel methods and “new” chemicals
Dr Beate Escher (EAWAG, Switzerland)
Internal Exposure – Integrating time dependance of toxicity
Dr Henriette Selck (Roskilde University, Denmark)
Sediment – a sink or source of organic contaminants to marine ecosystems?
