People

Nathalie Chèvre (Head of the group)  – personal website

contact: nathalie.chevre[at]unil.ch

Imene Benali (invited Post-doc)

Imene and our group collaborate for more than 5 years. Imene is assessing the impact of pollutant in Algeria by measuring biomarkers in different types of mussels.

Imene is working at the University USTO/MB at Oran, Algeria.

Raffaele Holecz (Master)

Raffaele is conducting research on the behaviour and the effects of explosives in soil, focusing on the use of bioremediation to understand how a mixture of explosives is transformed by the action of bacteria. He is also conducting ecotoxicological analysis with Daphnia magna in parallel to assess the toxicity of products from the degradation of explosives, thus providing crucial information on the environmental impact of these compounds.

David Lopez Rodriguez (Invited post-doc)

David Lopez-Rodriguez is a multidisciplinary researcher in biology, toxicology, and computational science. In the team, he leverages machine learning algorithms to identify uncharacterized chemicals with potential endocrine-disrupting activity. Endocrine disruptors are a complex and heterogeneous class of chemicals associated with diverse health and ecological impacts, yet only a few are officially recognized by regulatory agencies. This research may contribute to prioritize the risk assessment of these compounds and support the selection of safer alternatives.
 
Additionally, David participates in teaching as a lecturer in human toxicology and he works at the Department of Biomedical Sciences at UNIL (Lausanne) and the Department of Environmental Toxicology at EAWAG (Zurich), where he uses multiomics approaches to identify biomarkers and investigate the impact of environmental factors (i.e. nutrition, chemicals) in different species.
 

Yan Oestreicher (Master)

Yan is evaluating the impact of vineyard fungicides on copper levels in three rivers, each representing different wine-growing regions of the Lake Geneva area (La Côte ; Lavaux ; Chablais). Using GIS, he selects these rivers and conducts field sampling. Water and sediment samples are then analyzed in the laboratory to estimate the annual copper input into Lake Geneva.

Margaux Python (Master)

Célestin Pythoud (Master)

Célestin aims in improving the governance of decentralized wastewater management in Switzerland, particularly in the Val de Bagnes (Canton of Valais). In collaboration with ALTIS, his study will develop a map to inventory and prioritize wastewater systems, assess compliance and improve communication with stakeholders. It will include data collection, stakeholder interviews and potentially a wastewater mass balance analysis to compare the impacts of decentralized and centralized treatment. The project aims in providing authorities with practical tools to aid monitoring and improve policy implementation.

Assiata Traore Dosso (PhD)

Assiata is assessing the fate and behaviour, as weel as the environmental and health impact of chemicals used for gold extraction. She focuses her study on the mines situated in the region of Hiré (Southern Ivory Cost). See « mine d’or ou mine de malheur« 

Marco Zaninetti (Master)

Marco’s project focus on protecting a groundwater catchment in Grandvillard, a strategic site for EauSud SA’s water supply. His work involves an evaluation of the environmental risks and land-use conflicts by creating a GIS-based mapping of sensitive areas. It also aims in prioritizing actions to address these risks. He should also propose a participatory approach with different stakeholders such as agricultural and industrial operators as well as local authorities, to support the development of collaborative and sustainable solutions for groundwater protection.

Matteo Zarriati (Master)

Matteo is studying the impact of a river revitalisation on the water quality. His work is based on field sampling and laboratory analysis of various physico-chemical and biological parameters. The study will be carried out on a small river in the Canton of Ticino