Description of activities within SOILPROM:Katharine is a postdoctoral researcher at the Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research where she works in the Department of Environmental and Planning Law. Her primary task in SOILPROM is the analysis of soil pollution policies at the EU, national and local level. She will also organize a workshop to discuss results with other researchers and policy makers, and coordinate the development of use-case recommendations towards the end of the project. Katharine obtained her PhD with a dissertation on the Common Agricultural Policy and has previously worked on several environmental policy areas of the EU.

Description of activities within SOILPROM:Jessica is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Environmental and Planning Law at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research. She coordinates the governance research related to soil pollution in SOILPROM. This involves analysing soil pollution policies at different levels of governance, organising a stakeholder workshop to discuss the derived policy recommendations and coordinating the specific use-case recommendations. Jessica obtained her PhD with a dissertation on phosphorus governance from a cross-national perspective. She specialises in sustainable land use policies that align with international climate and biodiversity targets, with a particular focus on environmental chemicals.

Description of activities within SOILPROM:Artur joined the Soilprom project as a PostDoc based in Brno at the Masaryk Univerisity. He works on modelling impact of soil pollution on soil functions and how it may affect provision of soil ecosystem services (ES). Specifically he will contribute to developing of a modelling framework integrating and linking various types of soil pollution, soil functions and ESs.

"I particularly like the holistic aspect of working on multiple stressors, how they may affect functionning of environmental compartments, and how it may translate to impact on ESs. Especially appealing is fact that there is a lot of open questions and problems to be solved related to this topic. "

Description of activities within SOILPROM:Antonio is a postdoctoral researcher at the Polytechnic University of Cartagena (Spain), working within the Environmental Soil Science, Chemistry and Agricultural Technology Research Group. He is involved in the SOILPROM case study in the Cartagena–La Unión mining district (southeast Spain), a Mediterranean area severely affected by historical mining activities. His work focuses on assessing water and wind erosion as major drivers of metal dispersion from polluted sites. He supports the design and implementation of field monitoring strategies, including the use of erosion pins and dust collectors. Antonio holds a PhD in Earth Sciences, with a dissertation on nature-based remediation of polluted soils.

"What I value most about SOILPROM is the chance to work directly in the field and apply practical methods to understand how pollutants are dispersed. It’s a unique opportunity to connect scientific research with real-world environmental challenges."

Description of activities within SOILPROM:Ali is a doctoral researcher at the Agrosphere Institute (IBG-3) of Forschungszentrum Jülich. His research focuses on simulating the spatial distribution and long-term evolution of pesticide concentrations from the land surface to and within groundwater, using a coupled soil–groundwater modeling approach. He also investigates small-scale surface water features (e.g., ditches and creeks) to enhance regional predictions of pesticide transport and fate through downscaling and fine-scale modeling.

"Being part of the SOILPROM project gives me the opportunity to study soil, water, and atmosphere interactions in detail. I enjoy using advanced models and real data while collaborating with experts from diverse fields to improve our understanding of pesticide impacts on soil functions and groundwater quality."

Description of activities within SOILPROM:Michael a PhD candidate at Wageningen University, working in the Soil Physics and Land Management group and the Environmental Risk Assessment group. He investigates the sorption behavior of ionizable pollutants, including PFAS, in various soil types. His research examines the impact of soil chemistry and competing cations on sorption processes. He aims to develop a predictive model for sorption across different soil types and chemical conditions.

"What drives me is uncovering how soil chemistry influences pollutant behavior, connecting lab data, field conditions, and modeling into one story."

Description of activities within SOILPROM:Agatha is a PhD candidate at Wageningen University, working in the Soil Physics and Land Management group and the Meteorology and Air Quality group. Her research focuses on quantifying the distribution of micro- and nanoplastics and pesticides in the atmosphere over agricultural areas, and on modelling their emission, transport, and deposition using a Large Eddy Simulation (LES) model.

"What I enjoy about my PhD is its interdisciplinary nature. I get to collaborate with different experts on specific aspects of my research, and then piece it all together within the broader framework of my project."