Streamlined scientist member of team awarded 5-year MBIE funding

Dr Mike Stewart (Environmental Chemist) is a key researcher in a 5-year project on “Managing the risk of emerging organic contaminants” (EOCs) recently announced by the MBIE.

The $6.4M project, which is led by Dr Louis Tremblay of the Cawthron Institute, is resourced by a multidisciplinary team of National and International researchers. There will be strong iwi and community engagement in the project and a team of Regional Council and Central Government representatives will be overseeing the research.

The project is underpinned by research on the Whau River catchment in Auckland, and either the New River or Mataura catchments in Southland; chosen as representative catchments of EOCs derived from urban/ industrial and rural sources. The initial phase will involve deployment of passive sampling devices that accumulate organic contaminants from the water column, and collecting matched sediment samples. The samples will be subjected to a barrage of chemical and ecotoxicological tests to “deconstruct” the combined effect of the complex mixture of contaminants. The team will then focus on characterising the impacts of the most harmful EOCs on intact organisms, and investigating the potential of the principal spreading antimicrobial resistance.

For Mike, the award of this MBIE contract is vindication for many years developing expertise in EOCs, and maintaining positive relationships with the research and analytical chemistry community. It is also the first MBIE-funded contract won by Streamlined Environmental, in an area in which we are actively consulting.

A copy of a PowerPoint presentation given by Mike to a SWIM meeting on the MBIE project may be downloaded here.