The overall goal of the project is to develop a tool to assess the influence of natural factors (e.g. hydrology, climate, biogeochemistry) and anthropogenic factors (e.g. land use and social-economical indicators) on ecosystem exposure to waterborne chemical pollutants.
The number of anthropogenic chemical substances in surface water samples is typically likely in the order of several hundreds of thousand 3, with most substances still to be identified.
chemical pollution has shifted from being a production process issue to be a product usage issue, and globalization of consumption habits and life styles produces diffuse and continuous emission of pollutants.
Starting from an existing hydrological driven model of water, nutrients and organic carbon flow in catchments, I will develop a mathematical model which will put together elements of environmental chemistry, biogeochemistry, hydrology, land use and social science, to predict emissions and fate of contaminants with particular focus on some emerging endocrine disruptors.
In collaboration with a team in the host institution we will measure concentrations of the selected chemicals in specific points of rivers in three case study scenarios (selected to cover broad gradients of land use and social economical indicators in the respective sub-catchments). I will run statistical regression models to look for quantitative relationship between concentrations and land use/social economical descriptors and the obtained model will be imbedded in the mechanistic catchment model to generate point source emissions.
The model will be a powerful aggregative tool to analyze hypothetical future exposure scenario under projected climatic, social-economical and regulation changes.
I am an experienced researcher with an extended international network and experience in some of the European top research institutes in the field of environmental chemistry.

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