Australian Council of Recycling (ACOR)

Suzanne Toumbourou is the Chief Executive Officer of the ACOR the peak body for resource recovery, recycling and remanufacturing, committed to leading the transition to a circular economy through the recycling supply chain.​

Suzanne is an organisation leader with deep experience in public affairs, executive management, stakeholder relations, governance strategy of not-for-profits, with a strong reputation as a sustainability, recycling and circular economy subject matter expert.

At ACOR, Suzanne works closely with industry and government to advance a national agenda for a thriving recycling sector, with core priorities focussed on regulation, end-markets, outcome-driven product stewardship and community education.

Prior to this, Suzanne was the longstanding Executive Director of the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council, where she delivered impactful policy outcomes for building sustainability, including advancing the energy performance provisions in Australia’s Building Code and informing the priorities of the COAG Energy Council’s Trajectory for Low Energy Buildings.

​Suzanne has broad experience encompassing Federal and State Governments, industry and non-profit organisations. She is passionate about leading positive change for people, industry and the planet.

Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS)

Kevin is an environmental health scientist and the Director of the Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS) at The University of Queensland (UQ). His research focuses on understanding environmental exposures to contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) with the goal of protecting both environmental and human health.

In addition to his role at QAEHS, Kevin leads the Minderoo Centre– Plastics and Human Health at UQ and serves as the Deputy Director of the Australian Research Council Industrial Transformation Training Centre for Hyphenated Analytical Separation Technologies (HyTech). His current research endeavours include investigating human exposure to plastic pollution, developing advanced mass spectrometric analytical methods for characterising plastics and other CECs, and assessing community-wide health status through wastewater-based surveillance. He is also pioneering alternative exposure monitoring techniques using explanted silicone prostheses and wristbands.

Kevin has authored over 300 peer-reviewed papers and is an Associate Editor for the journal Science of the Total Environment. A strong advocate for collaborative research, he founded the international SCORE network, which focuses on sewer biomarker analysis for community health assessment (www.score-network.eu).

CSIRO Environment Business Unit, Climate and Atmosphere

Dr Melita Keywood is a Senior Principal Research Scientist in the Environment Business Unit of CSIRO. Dr Keywood has 28 years of experience in aerosol research and has authored 100 peer reviewed journal publications and over 70 client reports. Melita acted as the inaugural Research Director for the Climate Atmosphere and Ocean Interactions Program of the Environment Business Unit between December 2022 and November 2023 and is currently a Science Leader for Climate and Atmosphere. Melita completed her PhD in environmental geochemistry at the Australian National University in 1996 and has worked at CSIRO since, with two six-month breaks taken up with maternity leave. Between 2002 and 2004 Melita visited the Californian Institute of Technology, working with Professor John Seinfeld on the laboratory simulation of secondary organic aerosol.

Solving Plastic waste CRC Program Leader

Andrew S. Ball is Director of the ARC Training Centre for the Transformation of Australia’s Biosolids Resource, Distinguished Professor at RMIT University, Melbourne, and Solving Plastic waste CRC Program Leader. Andrew has a wealth of research and teaching expertise at an international level. Among other things, Andrew’s research has focused on mitigating the risks of microplastics in agricultural soils. Previously Director of the Centre for Environmental Sustainability and Remediation at RMIT University and Flinders Bioremediation in Adelaide, Andrew has worked in the areas of soil microbiology, environmental pollution and biogeochemical cycling for 40 years, publishing over 300 peer reviewed articles. 

Eurofins Environment Testing Australia

Julia Jaeger, a Technical Specialist at Eurofins Environment Testing Australia, holds a PhD in Physical Chemistry. With over a decade of expertise in Analytical Chemistry, she has made significant contributions to diverse fields, including atmospheric chemistry, food chemistry, and forensics. Since 2019, Julia has played a key role in establishing and managing a laboratory specialising in microplastic testing. Advancing this to the first ISO 17025 accredited laboratory in the Southern Hemisphere. She currently oversees the technical advance across all Australian Eurofins Laboratories. Including, the laboratory focused on testing emerging contaminants.

Australian Laboratory for Emerging Contaminants (ALEC)

Dr Brad Clarke is currently a Chief Investigator in the Australian Laboratory for Emerging Contaminants (ALEC) and a Senior Lecturer in Environmental Science and Analytical Chemistry at the University of Melbourne (UoM). Prior he was Program Manager of Environmental Science at RMIT University (Melbourne, Australia) 2016-2019 and has held research positions at Imperial College (London) and the University of Arizona.

Brad’s industry-aligned research focuses on assessing the risk to public health and the environment from legacy and emerging persistent organic pollutants. These include per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), brominated flame retardants (BFRs), and microplastics.

EPA, SA

With over 25 years of experience applying marine science to inform regulatory frameworks and mitigate pollution impacts, Sam Gaylard specializes in bridging the gap between scientific research and policy implementation. He advocates for science-based regulations to effectively manage environmental risks while promoting sustainable economic and social development.
As a seasoned leader in the field, Sam Gaylard oversee a team of marine scientists dedicated to conducting extensive ecosystem condition monitoring programs across the nearshore waters of South Australia. In addition, he serves as a trusted advisor to regulatory and compliance branches, offering expert guidance on enhancing science-driven approaches to regulating marine discharges. Furthermore, he provides expert witness statements for the prosecution of potential environmental harm within marine and coastal ecosystems.
Sam has close links with Universities and regularly collaborate on research programs that inform regulation of pollution in SA. This has focused on blue carbon ecosystems, water quality improvement and ecological restoration.

Nanoplastics Research Group CNRS-IPREM, France

Prof Stéphanie Reynaud and Prof Bruno Grassl are polymer chemist and Prof Javier Jimenez-Lamana is an analytical chemist. Since 2015, their research has focused on the issues raised by plastic pollution and more specifically the smallest debris: nanoplastics. Their work has pioneered this field of research, providing the first definition of a nanoplastics in the journal Environmental Pollution in 2018,  “Current opinion: What is a nanoplastic?”

Together, they are leading cutting edge research on nanoplastics detection and quantification methods. Building on their expertise in polymer synthesis, and advanced characterisation, they develop in the laboratory model samples whose properties are representative of environmental debris. Their results improve our fundamental understanding of the physicochemical behavior of nanoplastics in complex environments (freshwater and sea water, soil, organisms) especially in the presence of co-pollutants. The methods developed can inform future environmental sampling and be used to better assess the impacts and risks of plastic pollution on the environment and living organisms.

Australian Institute of Marine Science

Dr. Marina Santana is an oceanographer with a background in studying anthropogenic impacts on marine environments and organisms, with a particular focus on marine debris and microplastics. Her research on marine microplastic contamination began in 2011 during her Bachelor's minor project. She earned her MSc from the University of São Paulo Institute of Oceanography in Brazil, in 2015, after which she worked as a research technician on a multidisciplinary project related to marine debris, funded by the plastics industry.

Since 2017, Dr. Santana has been based in Townsville, Australia, where she pursued her PhD at James Cook University, focusing on the presence and impacts of microplastics in coral reef ecosystems of the Great Barrier Reef. In 2021, while completing her PhD, she joined the Australian Institute of Marine Science in collaboration with the Australian Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) and the Australian Museum.

Currently, her work focuses on long-term monitoring of microplastics, biofilm formation, interactions with marine organisms, and the development of various analytical methods.

The University of Adelaide

Dr Patrick Reis Santos is a marine ecologist with a particular interest in fish ecology, conservation, and management. His research spans fish population connectivity, seafood provenance, including mislabeling and quality, and the impacts of emerging contaminants in marine ecosystems. He uses chemical signatures and other natural tags stored in fish tissues to track migrations, reconstruct life histories, and assess the impacts of pollution and environmental changes on movement, growth, and recruitment. Patrick also applies these approaches to support seafood provenance and sustainable seafood production. He has a strong interest in understanding the occurrence and effects of emerging contaminants, such as microplastics and pharmaceuticals on marine ecosystems, including from a seafood perspective. He is committed to supporting the conservation of critical habitats, advancing fisheries management, and developing solutions to mitigate plastic pollution, through collaboration with industry, government agencies, and active engagement and outreach.

Plastic Free July

Rebecca Prince-Ruiz is the founder of Plastic Free July, a global movement that helps over 100 million people and organisations be part of the solution to plastic pollution. Regarded as ‘Australia’s best known plastic activist’, in 2021 Rebecca received the prestigious Australian of the Year Awards WA Local Hero. Rebecca is a seasoned presenter, media spokesperson, TEDx speaker, and sustainability professional who is motivated to care for people and the planet.

With over three decades of experience in environmental and waste management, community engagement, and sustainability behaviour change, she has a unique perspective on the role of individuals in environmental issues. Rebecca has participated in plastic pollution research expeditions in Australia, the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and has explored waste facilities and innovative solutions to plastic waste worldwide.

A Churchill Fellow and co-author of Plastic Free: The Inspiring Story of a Global Environmental Movement and Why It Matters, she believes that by changing our relationship with plastic and challenging our consumption, together we can take action to end plastic waste and enjoy a healthy world.

Melbourne Water

Dr Catherine Rees manages the Wastewater Treatment and Marine Research Portfolio for Melbourne Water. Her 20-year career in engineering was initially focused on project initiation, planning, and strategy development in the water and waste sectors and has progressed to the delivery of novel solutions to complex problems. Catherine is passionate about promoting long-term business efficiency and environmental sustainability through research. Her applied research themes include wastewater treatment systems, process wastes, emerging contaminants, biodiversity, discharge impacts and energy. The outcomes of her research fill key knowledge gaps to inform senior management, as well as planning, capital delivery and operational teams and the broader water industry.