14th ICOBTE Conference at ETH Zurich
Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems
Researchers from D-USYS have organised the 14th International Conference on the Biogeochemistry of Trace Elements (ICOBTE) from July 16 – 20 at ETH Zurich. Given Switzerland’s position at the international forefront of environmental protection, the general theme of the conference was «Management of trace elements in the environment».
The ICOBTE is a conference series focussing on the behavior and management of trace elements, including their radioactive isotopes, in the environment. Focal points are analytical methods for trace element detection, toxicity and recent advances in remediation technologies and regulatory measures for trace element contaminated sites. It is the most important international conference on trace metals as well as non-metallic elements in the environment.
Joint organisation
The recent conference at ETH Zurich has been jointly organised by four professors of the Department of Environmental Sciences (D-USYS) at ETH Zurich and their collaborators: Rainer Schulin (chair), Professor of Soil Protection at the Institute of Terrestrial Ecolosystems (ITES), Emmanuel Frossard, Professor of Plant Nutrition at the Institute of Agricultural Sciences (IAS), Ruben Kretzschmar, Professor of Soil Chemistry at the Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics (IPB) and Lenny Winkel, Professor of Inorganic Environmental Geochemistry at the IBP and group leader at Eawag.
The 14th ICOBTE was attended by 460 scientists from 42 countries. «It was phantastic to have so many participants from all over the world at ETH Zurich», says Prof. Rainer Schulin, chair of ICOBTE 2017. The conference is organised every two years in a different country. It brings together scientists, professionals and policy makers providing a multidisciplinary arena for discussing the latest scientific developments concerning the biogeochemistry of trace elements and metalloids. The next ICOBTE will take place in 2019, May 5 - 9, in Nanjing, China.