UA SRP Investigators Present at International Exposure Science Conference

University of Arizona Superfund Research Program (UA SRP) investigators Dr. Paloma Beamer and Dr. Miranda Loh and UA SRP trainee Anastasia Sugeng (all also of the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health) recently attended an international exposure science conference August 19-23, 2013. The meeting was the first joint conference held by three societies: the International Society of Exposure Science (ISES); the International Society of Indoor Air Quality (ISIAQ) and Climate; and the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE). The theme of the conference was “Environment and Health – Bridging South, North, East and West,” and brought together more than 1700 participants from more than 70 countries. Basel, Switzerland, a city at the tri-national border of Switzerland, France, and Germany, and with five bridges over the Rhine River, was selected for the conference location to highlight the concept of bridging: bridging research from all over the world, bridging scientific disciplines, and bridging three societies.

Beamer and Loh were very involved in planning activities before the conference: both were part of the planning committee for the Student/New Research Program; Loh coordinated the poster competition and judging for the ISES group; and Beamer organized the mentor workshop. The email-based mentoring program she developed for ISES has been successful for four years, and this year the ISEE and ISIAQ also launched programs following this model.

During the conference, Beamer, Loh, and Sugeng presented posters on their work on metals exposure in the “Arsenic,” “Metals, and “Exposure to Metals” sessions. In addition, Beamer gave an oral presentation on UA SRP pollution prevention work with Latino small business owners in the "Organic Pollutant Measurements" session. She was also part of the panel on exposure science at the closing plenary, where she was asked to speak on "training the next generation of exposure scientists." Sugeng was invited to speak on a panel and present her dissertation research on pesticide effects in Yuma, AZ at a special symposium entitled, “Agricultural Exposures & Rural Health.”

For Beamer and Loh, one highlight of the trip was floating down the Rhine River. For trainee Anastasia Sugeng, “The conference was a great experience.  I was so excited to meet people from literally all over the world and learn about their research, some who I've actually maintained contact with since the conference.” She also enjoyed a boat ride across the Rhine and a post-conference trip to Zurich, Switzerland with a student she met at last year’s conference.