We are excited to share the names of the award recipients of our Student Awards Program at SETAC_HDC Spring Meeting 2024!

We granted three awards for excellent platform presentations and five awards for poster presentations which included 3-minute rapid-fire talks on their research.

The top winner will also receive a registration waiver for the SETAC North America Meeting 2024.

Platform presentation Winners

1^st Place: Abdullah Al-Amin, Temple University

Presentation Title: Efficacy of spent coffee ground derived biochar on stormwater derived Pb removal

2^nd Place: Ashkan Alborzi, PhD; Texas Tech University [current: CDM Smith]

Presentation Title: Development of single model capable to extent the equilibrium for different families of contaminant in polymeric passive sampling

3^rd Place: Khalid Mustafa, Stevens Institute of Technology

Presentation Title: Understanding PFAS transformations during wastewater treatment: preliminary results

Poster presentation Winners

1^st Place: Renee Heller, New York University

Presentation Title: A comparison of the effect of thermal stress and chemical exposure on Atlantic tomcod Microgadus tomcod populations from the Hudson River and Maine

2^nd Place: Adedamola Samuel Adenekan, New York University

Presentation Title: Temperature stress during development on Hudson River Atlantic tomcod

 3^rd Place: Kristin Terez, New York University

Presentation Title: Development of toxicity to PAHs in Hudson River ahr2Variant Atlantic tomcod compared to a reference population

4^th Place: Angelina Lewis, Rowan University

Presentation Title: Stormwater heavy metal distribution in Camden, New Jersey

5^th Place: Arash Aliasghar, Stevens Institute of Technology

Presentation Title: Phytotechnology in wastewater treatment: Impact of Vetiver grass (Chrysipogon zizanioides) coverage rates on nitrate removal in hydroponic setting

Congratulations to the award winners for your outstanding research work and presentations!

Thank you,

SETAC HDC Director Board

We are excited to introduce and welcome our new board of directors, including two board members and a student representative of SETAC-HDC. We are looking forward to work with you!

Board Member: Hasti Ziaei-Jam, Ph. D., Geosyntec Consultants

Dr. Hasti Ziaei is a Senior Staff Professional at Geosyntec’s Pennington, New Jersey office. She brings over 7 years of experience in environmental engineering and 3 years of specialized practice in sediment assessment. Her expertise includes evaluating the bioavailability, fate, and transport of heavy metals in sediment using passive samplers.

Hasti earned her PhD in Civil-Environmental Engineering from Texas Tech University in the summer of 2023, under the mentorship of Danny Reible. Before her doctoral studies, she worked as a researcher at the Water Research Institute in Iran for two and a half years. She also gained valuable experience over two years in consulting companies, where she worked on diverse projects and honed her technical and software skills.

Dr. Ziaei is an active member of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC). She has presented at three conferences in SETAC-North America and one regional HDC event. Her passion lies in enhancing environmental quality and ecosystem integrity in the Hudson River and Delaware River areas, fostering awareness and knowledge exchange.

Board Member: Anthony Sigman-Lowery, University of Delaware

Anthony Sigman-Lowery is a PhD candidate at the University of Delaware, and  he is interested in continuing his work on the HDC SETAC board after serving two years as the student representative. He will be defending his PhD later this summer and he has studied the fate and properties of novel brominated flame retardants in aquatic environments. As a post-doc, he will remain at the University of Delaware modeling the bioavailability and toxicity of PFAS compounds. His present and future research align with the mission of HDC SETAC, as understanding the physicochemical properties, distribution and toxicity of emerging contaminants is critical to modeling their environmental fate and informing potential regulation.

 As student representative, Anthony has helped organize the chapter meetings and fall social events, as well as fostered student engagement from universities across our region. He hope to continue this work on the board and focus on improving our chapter meetings as well as growing student membership and engagement throughout the year.

Student Representative: Abdullah Al-Amin, Temple University

Abdullah Al-Amin is a Research Assistant at the McKenzie Environmental Engineering Research Group (MEERG) in the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Temple University. His dissertation investigates the fate and transport of inorganic ions in stormwater management practices. Holding BS and MS degrees in Environmental Sciences, his primary research focus is on the fate and transport of pollutants in large watershed and subsurface systems. His expertise includes laboratory experiments, field investigations, sensor data analysis, and statistical computations. He has authored numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and technical reports and has presented his work at both SETAC North America and HDC SETAC conferences. Since his undergraduate days, Abdullah has been involved in various leadership roles, prominently organizing social and humanitarian activities. His leadership skills were further recognized through his founding membership in the Temple University College of Engineering Graduate Student Association and his active participation as a young leader in the Water Research Association of Delaware River Basin. As a student representative on the HDC SETAC board, Abdullah aims to use his research skills and commitment to environmental stewardship to enhance student participation and teamwork, thereby strengthening their collective impact on environmental policies and practices.

Thank you

Director Board

SETAC HDC

SETAC North America just releases its preliminary program for the 45th Annual Meeting!

We are excited to share that Brian Yates from our HDC-SETAC chapter will offer a short course titled "Wildlife Food Chain Modeling: Theory and Application" on Sunday morning, October 20th, 2024.

Course Description:

“The purpose of the course is to introduce students, practitioners, and other environmental experts to wildlife food chain modeling – an important skill in the ecological risk assessors’ toolbox. The class will review the predominant theory behind food chain modeling, its underlying assumptions, sources of data, methods of calculation, and sources of uncertainty. This will include modeling of exposure, which includes derivation of food, water, and sediment/soil ingestion rates, and exposure modifying factors. Additionally, the student will be introduced to toxicity reference values (TRVs) using USEPA Ecological Soil Screening Level (Eco-SSL) guidance. The course will end with exercises requiring the student to estimate hazard quotients for a wildlife species, back-calculate a protective concentration level (a.k.a., screening level), and develop protective criteria for surface water for a bioaccumulative contaminant.”

Don’t miss out! Register by August 21st to secure the early bird discount.

Find more details and registration information here: https://www.setac.org/discover-events/global-meetings/setac-north-america-45th-annual-meeting/program/professional-training-courses.html

Brian Yates Website: https://www.yates-env.com/

It's Time for HDC SETAC Elections

Nominations for the Board of Directors are being accepted!

We have two Board Member positions whose terms are to expire in 2024. This is a three-year term that will begin immediately after the election in June.

All SETAC members in the HDC SETAC region are eligible to self-nominate or nominate a member for the Board. To nominate someone (or yourself), please fill out the form at the link below. You will need to include a short biographical sketch (250 words or less), qualifications, and reason for the nomination. If you are nominating someone else, please contact that person to obtain their consent before completing the form.

Nominations will close June 5^th. The election will be held online and will close June 26^th.

Nomination form: 2024 HDC-SETAC Nominations for Board of Directors

All HDC SETAC Chapter members are eligible to vote. You will receive a separate email with instructions on how to vote once the voting period opens.  

Your nominations and votes are important to the future of our Regional SETAC Chapter!

Activities of HDC SETAC are led by a Board of Directors that consists of a President, Vice President, Past President, Treasurer, Secretary, Communications Director and up to seven additional members, including one student. Board members are nominated and elected by the HDC membership, and the student representative is selected by the Board. The Board meets monthly via conference call and in-person two or three times a year. Board members are expected to attend all meetings and contribute to the Chapter’s website, participate in organizing and running the Chapter’s Annual Meeting, and assist in promoting Chapter events.

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS EXTENDED TO MARCH 8, 2024

2024 HDC SETAC SPRING MEETING

NJHA Conference & Events Center in Princeton, New Jersey, April 9

We’re excited to announce the call for abstract submission for the 2024 Hudson-Delaware (HDC) SETAC Regional Chapter Meeting, which will take place in person on April 9^th, 2024 at the NJHA Conference & Events Center, Princeton, NJ. The deadline to submit your abstract is EXTENDED to Fri, March 8, 2024.

Topics for the 2024 Meeting:

• Chemicals of emerging concern (e.g., PFAS, microplastics, pharmaceuticals and personal care products)
• Environmental Toxicology and Stress Response
• Environmental Risk Assessment
• Engineering, Remediation and Restoration
• Field and case studies, and sustainable practices for reducing exposure risk of environmental contaminants
• Advance in analysis and monitoring of chemical contaminants
• Policy, Management and Communication

Formats for Abstract Submission:

Your abstract can be presented as a platform presentation, a short course, or a poster. Please limit your abstract to 250 words. Each platform presentation will be 15 minutes + 5 minutes of Q&A. Short courses should be approximately 1 hour.

Submission and Registration Details:

Follow this link to submit your abstract. Note that presenters are required to register for the meeting. Registration is now open, click here to register. 

The registration fee is $75, which covers a continental breakfast and lunch. Early registration will close on March 29^th, and late registration will be $85. Registration will be FREE for students!! Student presenters are eligible to compete for best poster or platform award at the meeting. 

Members of SETAC HDC attended National SETAC meeting in Louisville from Nov 12-16 November. Thank you all who joined the SETAC HDC group lunch!

Fall 2023 social event took place on Nov. 4, 2023. We went on a guided hike at the Pocono Environmental Education Center (PEEC https://www.peec.org/) and discussed the natural history and local flora and fauna of the beautiful Poconos. 

2023 Joint Spring Meeting

HDC SETAC Board of Directors 2023 Election Results 

Board Members

Thivanka Ariyarathna, Ph.D., Rowan University

Dr. Ariyarathna is an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Science at Rowan University and holds a Ph.D. in Oceanography from the University of Connecticut. She completed her undergraduate degree in Geology from the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka where she was born. She is excited and committed to serving as a board member in the HDC SETAC based on her continuous involvement with SETAC for the past 11 years. She has published three peer-reviewed articles in SETAC journal, and her research focuses on origin, distribution, fate, and transport of environmental pollutants in different aquatic environments from small freshwater tributaries to coastal marine ecosystems. She evaluates natural and bio-stimulated removal of pollutants from aquatic systems via adsorption onto sediment and microbial degradation. Moreover, Dr. Ariyarathna’s research interests align with bioaccumulation of pollutants in ecosystem food web structure, and she utilizes stable isotopes as a tool for her research. She admires teamwork and her Ph.D. project was awarded with “Project of the Year Award for Environmental Restoration” from SERDP (Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program) in 2016. After she started her position at Rowan university in Fall, 2022, Dr. Ariyarathna received two grants from South Jersey Institute of Population Health and NJ water Research Resources institute to conduct research on heavy metals in Camden, NJ and PFAS in Atlantic Reservoir in South Jersey, respectively. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, cooking, and time with friends and family.

Sean Bugel, Ph.D., U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

I am an environmental toxicologist with 15+ years of experience in the fields of environmental science and toxicology. My professional interests generally center on the adverse developmental and reproductive effects of environmental contaminants and their mechanisms of toxicity. I have extensive experience working with contaminant issues in New Jersey, particularly the NY-NJ Harbor Estuary. Presently, I am a Toxicologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the NJ Field Office Environmental Response and Restoration group. I am the USFWS Case Manager for the Natural Resource Damage Assessments in New Jersey, and I oversee injury assessment and restoration on several cases such as the Diamond Alkali and Berry’s Creek Superfund Sites. I received my B.S. in Biology from Seton Hall University in 2005, and my M.S./Ph.D. in Environmental Toxicology from Rutgers University in 2011. I previously worked at Oregon State University in the Department of Molecular and Environmental Toxicology as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Sr. Research Assistant Professor (2011-2020). I also currently teach an Environmental Toxicology course at Rutgers University for the Department of Environmental Sciences. In the past, I had the honor of serving as the student representative on the Board of Directors for HDC-SETAC between 2006 and 2009. Given my excitement to return to the region, I am eager to reconnect with HDC-SETAC and contribute as a member of the Board of Directors. My main goal is to drive the growth of HDC-SETAC while fostering increased student engagement throughout the region.