Ana Isabel Gomes has received the award in recognition of her Best Short Oral Communication, attributed by the Scientific Committee of the 10^th European meeting on Solar Chemistry and Photocatalysis: Environmental Applications (SPEA10), held at Almería - Spain on 4th-8th June 2018. The award comprises a certificate and a monetary prize, kindly sponsored by Catalysts (MDPI).

The communication presented at this conference "Cost-effective solar collector to promote photo-Fenton reactions" is a part of the work that is being developed in her doctoral research, performed at Associate Laboratory LSRE-LCM, supervised by Doctor Vítor Vilar, co-supervised by Doctor Rui Boaventura and Doctor Tânia Silva.

Ana Gomes is currently a PhD student (Doctoral Programme in Chemical and Biological Engineering), at LSRE-LCM, developing work related to the integration of biological and advanced oxidation process for the treatment of landfill leachates.

LA LSRE-LCM congratulates Ana Gomes for the award received for her PhD research work and oral communication at SPEA10!

On the 23rd May 2018, a group of 26 young students (13-16 years old) from Escola Secundária Dr. Joaquim Gomes Ferreira Alves (ESDJGFA) visited the Associate Laboratory LSRE-LCM, invited and guided by Dr. Rita Ruivo Marques and Professor Joaquim Faria, with the support of Dr. Carla Orge and the PhD students Marta Barbosa and Nuno Moreira, at the laboratories.

This activity is part of the work developed by Dr. Rita Marques at ESDJGFA, with a group of 180 students from the 7th-9th grades, within the scope of her Post-Doctoral Project entitled Water Circle (WC), in collaboration with the Centre for Research and Intervention in Education (CIIE), with the co-supervision of Professor Isabel Menezes. The Water Circle is a joint project between the Faculty of Engineering (FEUP) and the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences (FPCEUP) of the University of Porto, consisting of an educational intervention in school context, dedicated to knowledge transfer and dissemination in the domain of water management and efficient usage.

During classroom sessions in the school, it was discussed with the students the problem boarded at one of LSRE-LCM’s recent publications on Advanced Oxidation Processes for catalytic water treatment to remove pharmaceutical contaminants (N.F.F. Moreira, C.A. Orge, A.R. Ribeiro, J.L. Faria, O.C. Nunes, M.F.R. Pereira, A.M.T. Silva. Fast mineralization and detoxification of amoxicillin and diclofenac by photocatalytic ozonation and application to an urban wastewater. Water Research, 87, 87-96, 2015).

The purpose of this visit was to show to the young students the work developed in this scope, since they can use this experience to discuss their proposals with specialists at the Fórum InvestigAmbiental2018, the final activity of the WC project for the current scholar year, that took place at their school on the 30th of May 2018. The guest speakers on this forum were from different spheres: Dr. Pedro Morais, member of the national political commission of the ecologist political party Pessoas-Animais-Natureza (PAN);  Arq. Valentim Miranda, the Environmental Councilor at Câmara Municipal de Vila Nova de Gaia; Dr. Miguel Lemos, the Executive Administrator of Águas Municipais de Gaia (Municipal WWTP); Eng. Marta Barbosa and Eng. Nuno Moreira, scientific researchers on water monitorization and remediation at LSRE-LCM (FEUP); Dr. Pedro Castro, Vice-President of the Parent’s Association of the Schools in Valadares (APEVA); Dr. Álvaro Santos, the ESDJGFA School Principal.

The events’ coverage was carried out by the local and national press, for the newspapers O Gaiense and Público, respectively.

LA LSRE-LCM wishes sucess to this project!

See the complete news about Fórum InvestigAmbiental2018 in the national press at Público:
https://www.publico.pt/2018/06/01/sociedade/reportagem/eles-sabem-como-salvar-a-agua-um-ecoponto-para-remedios-uma-lei-para-novos-poluentes-1832792

And at Notícias Universidade do Porto:
https://noticias.up.pt/investigadora-da-u-porto-ensina-jovens-a-gerir-melhor-a-agua/