SHEATHE: Xenobiotic substances and heavy metals in the environment – a threat to health, ecosystems and development in Ghana

Education

Dr. rer. nat. (magna cum laude) in Environmental Science, 2000. University of Bayreuth (Germany)

M.Sc. (with honours) in Environmental Sciences, 1996, University of Bayreuth (Germany), Department of Hydrology.

 

Scientific Focus Areas

Scientific research has focussed on persistent organic pollutants, their fate in the environment and human exposure to these pollutants. It is based on expertise in accurate and precise chemical methods suitable for trace analyses of a large spectrum of contaminants. Responsible for accredited analyses of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), chlorinated pesticides and polybrominated biphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in the Danish environmental monitoring programme (NOVANA) and the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP). Katrin Vorkamp received the “Frequently cited author award” of the International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health in November 2011.

 

Experience

13 years’ experience with project management in Denmark, following research in Germany. The projects have been financed inter alia by the Danish Research Council, the Danish Environmental Protection Agency, the Danish Energy Agency and the Danish Nature Agency.

2007/2008: Project participant of the project Galathea 3: Environmental xenobiotics and metals, in collaboration with the Department of Oceanography and Fisheries at the University of Ghana.

February 2013: International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization (WHO) – member of the working group for monographs on polychlorinated biphenyls and polybrominated biphenyls.

Since 2013: Member of the AMAP POP Expert Group.

Since 2013: Member of the Editorial Board of Chemosphere.

February 2010 – present: International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) - Chair of the international Marine Chemistry Working Group (MCWG) and member of the ICES Advice Drafting Group.