AnnuAl report 2013Society of environmentaltoxicology and chemiStry

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2000 delegates in Glasgow

SETAC Europe’s Annual Meeting which is also the major event in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry in Europe, took place for the 23rd time, in May in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom. Nearly 2000 delegates from academia, government and business convened to present important new findings and to discuss how to implement this in policy and development. This top event was evaluated as ‘good’ with an average score of 8.1 for overall participant satisfaction. The organising and scientific committees, chaired by Teresa Fernandes and Richard Handy, did a great job making this happen, together with SETAC staff in Brussels.

SETAC Europe is blessed to have many members contributing to the various committees, which are the basis of the Society’s activities. Thanks to volunteer contributions, SETAC is able to flourish.

Active students

In February 2013, the 3rd Young Environmental Scientist (YES) meeting took place in Poland. This meeting was organised by the SETAC Europe Student Advisory Council (SAC) and

aimed to support young researchers to become well-connected, self-confident scientists. This student-only, biennal meeting is mirroring the SETAC Europe annual meeting and provides a learning environment for student presenters to gain confidence in an international setting and prepare to become fully fledged members of SETAC. The organising committee, chaired by Dragan Jevtić, succeeded in offering a wonderful programme including the main themes also present at the regular SETAC Europe annual meeting.

Hot topics

In addition to the SETAC Europe annual meetings, where virtually all the relevant topics in the field of Environmental toxicology and Chemistry are discussed, several other meetings with a more focussed topic were organised in 2013. The 19th LCA Case Study Symposium was held in Rome in November and chaired by Alessandra Zamagni. 200 participants joined to discuss LCA in market research and policy with special focus on “Harmonisation beyond Standardisation”.

In 2013, three SETAC Europe Special Science Symposia were organised. These focussed meetings present the top of the bill on a specific subject. Esteemed speakers presented the state of the science on “Fate and Ecotoxicity of Nanoparticles in the Environment”, and on “Pesticide Risks for Pollinators”, at two symposia organised in October in Brussels. A third event on “Risk Assessment and Management of Marine Systems” took place in December. The respective steering committees, chaired by Janeck J. Scott-Fordsmand, Guy Smagghe, and Thomas Backhaus, are greatly acknowledged for the excellent programmes.

Policy advice

In 2013, SETAC Europe was involved in two important workshops. SETAC workshops are well known for their tripartite approach, in order to provide guidelines based on sound science and balanced input from the different sectors. This approach makes the results of these workshops unbiased, science based and qualified for implementation in regulations.

2013 in a Bird’s-Eye ViewContent2013 in a Bird’s-Eye View 3What Our Members and Partners Say 6Council | Student Advisory Council 7Meetings | Awards 8Branches | Committees | Advisory Groups 9Financial Overview 10Membership Figures 11

SETAC: global and local

The Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) is a not-for-profit, global professional organisation established in 1979. It provides a forum for individuals and institutions engaged in education, research and development, ecological risk assessment and life cycle assessment, chemical manufacture and distribution, management and regulation of natural resources, and the study, analysis and solution of environmental problems. SETAC is an open and democratic organisation that operates in a broad social context, reflecting the needs of the environment and people. Membership worldwide comprises more than 5500 professionals in the field of chemistry, toxicology, biology and ecology; atmospheric, health and earth sciences; and environmental engineering.

SETAC Europe

SETAC Europe is one of five Geographic Units (GUs) of the global Society, established to promote and undertake activities of SETAC in Europe and to support the activities of SETAC in the Middle East and Russia. As a GU, SETAC Europe shares the global mission of SETAC: to support the development of principles and practices for protection, enhancement and management of sustainable environmental quality and ecosystem integrity. SETAC Europe is incorporated in Belgium as a not-for-profit organisation. SETAC Europe is governed by a volunteer council, elected by the general membership at the Annual General Assembly, which convenes every year during the SETAC Europe Annual Meeting.

www.setac.org

Introduction

SETAC Europe is pleased to present the summary of the past year’s events, challenges, successes and other highlights in this Annual Report 2013. This report is our way of recognising the generous support and dedication of many, carefully asking to continue to partner with us in the next years. We encourage all our supporters, partners, members, students and any other friends of the SETAC community to take a moment to take this through and learn more about the recent past of the society on the European continent. We hope you will enjoy reading it as much as we’ve enjoyed writing it.

Laurent Lagadic and Bart BosveldPresident and Executive DirectorSETAC Europe

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The MagPie workshop, chaired by Katja Knauer, was organised to develop a toolbox of risk mitigation measures designed for a better use of plant protection products for agricultural purposes. This toolbox is to be provided to European Regulatory Authorities for implementation in guidelines and regulations to better harmonise the practices across Europe.

The Modelink workshop, chaired by Udo Hommen, was organised to identify how to use “Ecological Effect Models to Link Ecotoxicological Tests to Protection Goals”.

Invest in the future

From a financial point of view, SETAC Europe has done well in 2013. The major determinant for a positive result at the end of the year is the attendance at the annual meeting. From that perspective, the Glasgow meeting was successful and made a significant contribution to the annual result of SETAC Europe.

These positive results flow back to the membership through next year’s activities. In 2013, the SETAC Europe Council decided to establish a re-investment fund. This fund is nourished with the profits of SETAC Europe and will be spent on activities that support the mission of SETAC. For the coming year, this fund is used to support students with registration grants for SETAC meetings, short courses and summer schools, and it will be used to develop a SETAC Europe accreditation scheme for environmental risk assessors.

Focus on education

The further improvement of the SETAC Europe Education Programme received lots of attention the past year. A short course programme was organised in conjunction with the annual meeting in Glasgow. More than 100 students were educated on a range of topics including

statistical methods, testing methods, modelling, risk assessment and Life Cycle Assessment.

Also very well received, the SETAC Europe Summer Schools. Seven different one-week courses were organised in Germany, Portugal and Italy. The courses excel in a hands-on approach and give an extra boost to international collaborations between students, to achieve the most in their PhD carreer.

With the aim to further improve the education offering in environmental toxicology and chemistry, SETAC Europe started the development of an accreditation scheme for risk assessors. The complexity of European regulations increased and environmental risk assessment approaches across Europe are being harmonised. With regard to the authorisation of chemicals, there is a need for an internationally recognised standard for the education of scientists involved in these practices. The SETAC Europe education programme for environmental risk assessors aims to establish such a common standard. This programme will include a range of courses taught at various locations in Europe. Students and professionals who successfully follow the courses will be registered as SETAC Europe Certified Environmental Risk Assessors. The preparations are now underway, and the programme should be launched in 2015. An exciting project!

Awards

To promote excellence in environ-mental toxicology and chemistry, SETAC Europe recognizes and honors outstanding contributions by means of the SETAC Europe Awards Programme. In 2013, awards were given for the best poster and platform presentations at the annual meeting, for exceptional achievements by a

young scientist in the field of LCA, for the best publications in the field of environmental toxicology and chemistry, and for exceptional contribution to the dissemination of knowledge in environmental sciences. We would like to congratulate the award winners, presented on page 8, with the impressive achievements they made to further the science in environmental toxicology and chemistry.

Advisory Groups

SETAC Advisory Groups play a key role in furthering the discours in environmental sciences. In addition to a wide range of global advisory groups there are 5 SETAC Europe advisory groups on topics of special interest for the European scientific community. These advisory groups form the backbone for the scientific discussions and developments in a certain area.

News from the branches

With the expansion of the SETAC network in mind, we are especially happy with the establishment of the SETAC Arabian Gulf Branch. The branch was founded on 25 March 2013 in Qatar and held its first annual meeting, from 10-12 December in Doha, Qatar. The Arabian Gulf Branch provides a platform for local scientists to collaborate together,

and together with the greater SETAC network, it will help to find solutions for the environmental challenges that the Gulf States are facing.

Another exciting development is taking place in Russia. In February 2013, SETAC supported an international conference in Moscow on “Bioindication in the Ecological Assessment of Soils and Related Habitats”. One of the outcomes of the conference was the need to establish a SETAC Russian Language Branch, to facilitate the interactions between Russian-speaking environmental scientists, and the European and global scientific community. The establishment of a new branch is near!

Thank you

SETAC Europe partners and sponsors play an important role in the success of our Society. A large number of organisations, including industry and consultancy, but also academic and governmental organisations, have contributed to SETAC in 2013. Financial support and volunteer contributions are both much appreciated and indispensible for the success of SETAC activities, which depend on external funding. SETAC’s tripartite approach and balanced representation in all scientific committees, groups, workshops etc., guarantee that despite the financial support received, the output is unbiased and of indisputable quality. We are proud and thankful that so many organisations from different sectors contribute to our Society and support its mission.

SETAC Europe activities are coordinated through the SETAC Europe Council and committees, supported by the office in Brussels. Special thanks goes to the council and committee members for their volunteer contributions and to our professional staff members. Together they form the backbone of all SETAC Europe activities, and are at the basis of the successes in Europe in 2013.

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What Our Members and Partners Say

Members

We are experts in the field of endocrine disruptors, and SETAC is a unique place where we can meet experts from academia, NGOs, industry and government at the same time. Key opinion leaders are looking for answers for managing the risk endocrine chemicals present for our future. There is a crucial need for knowledge and to make this issue a key priority for a better environment. SETAC is the perfect place to gather opinion leaders and scientific experts to define suitable solutions for managing the challenges that endocrine disruptors present for the environment and our health. SETAC is also the place to find educational, technical and industrial resources to help us apply our solutions to real world challenges. Gregory Lemkine, Watchfrog, France

I recall an insignificant role as a naïve post-graduate I was privileged to play in a momentous event. That event was the inaugural SETAC Europe conference in the UK more years ago than I care to remember. A rookie helping speakers behind the scenes with presentation preparations, I most probably rubbed shoulders with the good and the great. Looking back at the attendance of numerous SETAC events worldwide, an overwhelming pleasant sense of joyous camaraderie was quite apparent. It is the fervent commitment and dedication of the SETAC council members both of the UK branch and SETAC Europe (and not forgetting the hard-working staff) that is all inspiring. Kirit Wadhia, Opus Maxim Ltd, United Kingdom

SETAC has been a professional organisation for me since my PhD, back in the ‘90s. Environmental Quality Through Science is a slogan nicely

fitting to my activities since then. We have been involved in deriving methods to set and implement criteria to protect environmental quality for the benefit of ecosystems and man alike - in my view with great success. Nowadays, societal questions are ‘wicked’ problems, with no universally accepted outcome. SETAC meetings remain to be a platform agendizing these new things, via themes like ecosystem services and sustainability assessment. Leo Posthuma, RIVM, The Netherlands

SETAC has provided me some unforgettable experiences and great opportunities for networking essential to advance the science on hazard and risk assessment of metals and its application in regulations. Ilse Schoeters, Rio Tinto, Belgium

Partners

The reputation of science is at a crossroads. Scientific integrity has come under great pressure due to some cases of severely politicized, flawed science or even plain fraud. It is also shocking that open scientific debate can be seriously jeopardized by the politicization of scientific topics such as climate change or endocrine disruption. This is detrimental to science as open debate and exchange of facts and opinions are its lifeblood. SETAC, as a tripartite, scientific and non-political organisation can play a decisive role in restoring and improving the reputation of science. SETAC can provide an open science-based platform to promote high quality, open-minded and innovative research and can facilitate fact-based scientific debates in the field of environmental toxicology and chemistry. Dolf Van Wijk, Euro Chlor, Belgium

SETAC Europe, a wonderful window of visibility and forum for the many environmental scientists working behind the CEFIC Long-range Research Initiative (LRI) Programme. Bruno Hubesch, Cefic-LRI, Belgium

More testimonials can be found on setac.org > membership > membership testimonials

Council | Student Advisory Council

Council

The affairs of SETAC Europe are managed by the Council, elected by the voting members at the Annual General Assembly, conducted during the SETAC Europe Annual Meeting. The 18 council members form an equal representation from government, business and academia.

President Laurent Lagadic, INRA, FRVice-PresidentMónica Amorim, Universidate de Aveiro, PTTreasurerJose Julio Ortega, CSIC, ESImmediate Past -PresidentPaolo Masoni, ENEA, IT

Other council members:

Anne AlixDow AgroSciences, UKTania AlvarezEcoRisk Solutions Ltd., UKGertie ArtsAlterra, NLThomas BackhausGothenburg University, SE Carlos BarataCSIC, ESAnna Barra CaraccioloIRSA, ITBart BosveldSETAC Europe, BE (ex officio)Karel De SchamphelaereGhent University, BEBrian HarveySyngenta, UKTim KedwardsS C Johnson Ltd., UKKari LehtonenFinnish Environment Institute, FIGerd MaackFederal Environment Agency, DEMerab MirtskhulavaNational Center for Diseases Control, GEAlberto PistocchiGECOsistema srl, ITIlse SchoetersRio Tinto, UK Dragan JevtićJagiellonian University, PL (Student Rep.)

From left to right: Ipek Goktepe, Kirit Wadhia, Bart Bosveld, Laurent Lagadic, Kari Lehtonen, Anne Alix, Dragan Jevtić, Karel De Schamphelaere, Mónica Amorim, Paolo Masoni, Alberto Pistocchi, Carlos Barata, Brian Har-vey, Anna Barra Caracciolo, Gertie Arts, Jose Julio Ortega

Student Advisory Council

The highlight of SETAC Europe Student Advisory Council (SAC) activities in 2013 was definitely the 3rd Young Environmental Scientists (YES) Meeting – a unique, student-only conference aimed at providing students with networking and professional development opportunities.

The 3rd YES Meeting took place from 11-13 February at the Institute of Environmental Sciences of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland. As with the two previous meetings, there was no registration fee and all presenters received travel grants. This YES meeting had the widest geographical coverage to date, with 96 students from 27 countries invited. Platforms and posters covered a wide array of topics and were of high scientific quality. In addition to presentations, students took part in a soft skills workshop on scientific networking organized by Valery

Forbes of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and heard three talks – given by Sue Martina Starke, Matthias Bergtold, and Alistair Boxall – on career planning. According to the participant questionnaire and feedback from the senior scientists on site, the 3rd YES Meeting was a grand success!

As SETAC strives to become more global, student activities within the Society are also following suit. After starting at the Berlin World Congress, the SAC formalized its partnership with the North American Student Advisory Council (NASAC) during 2013. Our joint activities include student-led courses organized at SETAC annual meetings in both Europe and North America, joint participation in assembly meetings, and establishing “Students of SETAC” social media pages on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

More information about the SAC: www.sac-online.eu

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Meetings | Awards

9th Special Science Symposium

Risk assessment and management in marine systems: State of the art and the challenges aheadHotel Marivaux, Brussels, Belgium4-5 December 2013

19th LCA Case Studies Symposium

LCA in market research and policy: Harmonisation beyond standardisationRome, Italy11-13 November 2013

8th Special Science Symposium

Plant protection products and pollinators: Testing methodologies, risk assessment and risk managementHotel Marivaux, Brussels, Belgium16-17 October 2013

7th Special Science Symposium

Fate and ecotoxicity of nanoparticles in the environment - current status and the way forwardHotel Marivaux, Brussels, Belgium2-3 October 2013  

SETAC Europe 23rd Annual Meeting

Building a better future: Responsible innovation and environmental protectionGlasgow, United Kingdom 12-16 May 2013

Young Environmental Scientists Meeting

Interdisciplinary discourse on current environmental challengesKrakow, Poland11-13 February 2013

SETAC Europe Awards 2013

In 2013, during the 23rd Annual Meeting, following SETAC Europe awards were presented:

Young Scientist Award for best platform presentation at the 23rd SETAC Europe Annual Meeting, sponsored by ECETOC: Julita Stadnicka-Michalak (EAWAG,Switzerland).

Young Scientist Award for best poster presentation at the 23rd SETAC Europe Annual Meeting sponsored by the Tom Feijtel Fund: Kevin King Yan Ho (The University of Hong Kong).

AstraZeneca Award for the best publication in risk assessment, modelling and theoretical studies: Martine Jordaan (Cape Nature, South Africa)

Eurofins Award for the best publication in chemical analysis and environmental monitoring: Lubertus Bijlsma (Research Institute for Pesticides and Water, University Jaume I, Spain)

RifCon Award for the best publication in ecotoxicology, ecoepidemiology and bio-logical/biochemical studies: Joana Reis Almeida (University of Porto, CIIMAR, Portugal)

SETAC Europe Environ-mental Education Award sponsored by NOACK Lab-oratorien: Amadeu Soares from the University of Avei-ro, Portugal.

SETAC Europe Life Cycle Assessment Young Scien-tist Award sponsored by Springer Verlag and Tetra Pak: Rosalie Van Zelm, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

Branches | Committees | Advisory Groups

Regional Branches

SETAC Europe counts 5 regional branches:

•Arabian Gulf Branch•Central and East Europe Branch•German Language Branch• Italian Language Branch•UK Branch

More information on the SETAC Europe Branches, including activity reports of 2013, can be found on the website viasetac.org > get involved > regional branches

Committees

The affairs of SETAC are managed through standing committees, advisory groups, liaisons, coordinators, and ad hoc committees. This list shows the current committees for SETAC Europe:

• Awards• Education• Finance• Long-RangePlanning• MembershipandPublicRelations• Nominations• RegionalBranches• Science• StudentAdvisoryCouncil(SAC)

More information on the SETAC Europe committees, including activity reports of 2013, can be found on the website via setac.org > get involved > committees

Advisory Groups

SETAC Advisory Groups provide a vital forum for professionals in the environmental sciences. The groups’ activities range from sponsorship of platform and poster sessions at annual

meetings, to proposing and supporting workshops and books on current topics.

The following advisory groups are operating at European level:

•Dung Organism Toxicity Testing (DOTTS)

•Environmental Monitoring Advisory Group on Pesticides (EMAG-Pest)

•Extreme Stress Events and Ecosystem Recovery (EXCESS)

•Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)•Mechanistic Effect Models for

Ecological Risk Assessment of Chemicals (MeMoRisk)

More information on the SETAC Europe Advisory Groups, including activity reports of 2013, can be found on the website via setac.org > get involved > advisory groups

On a global level, following advisory groups are active:

•Animal Alternatives in Environmental Science

•Aquatic Macrophyte Ecotoxicology (AMEG)

•Bioaccumulation Science (BSAG)•Ecological Risk Assessment (ERAAG)•Ecosystem Services (ES-AG)•Ecotoxicology of Amphibians and

Reptiles (EARAG)•Endocrine Disruptor Testing and Risk

Assessment•Exposure Modeling (EMAG)•Freshwater Salinization•Global Soils (GSAG)•Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Global

Coordinating Group•Metals•Nanotechology•Pharmaceuticals•Sediments•Sustainability•Wildlife Toxicology

Upcoming events in Europe:events.setac.eu

More on the awards:setac.org > get involved > awards

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Financial Overview Membership Figures SETAC Global membership 2013 (SNA) SETAC North America* 3,022 (SE) SETAC Europe* 1,617 (SAP) SETAC Asia/Pacific 565 (SLA) SETAC Latin America 196 (SA) SETAC Africa 121 (SWC) Global Partners & Affiliates 24

*includes Partners total 5.545

54,5%

membership %

29,2%

10,2%

3,5%

2,2%

0,4%

SETAC Europe membership by member typeassociate member 317 19,6%regular member 712 44,0%Student member 436 27,0%recent graduate (within 3 years of graduation) 38 2,4%3-year regular 48 3,0%Business Sustaining member 16 1,0%Senior active retired member 5 0,3%affiliate member (government and academia) 4 0,2%developing associated and regular 4 0,2%developing Student 0 0,0%developing lUmic Student 12 0,7%developing lUmic regular 12 0,7%developing lUmic associate 11 0,7%emeritus member 2 0,1%

total 1.617*lic = low income countries, lUmic = lower and Upper middle income countries, ref. World Bank.

SETAC Europe members by sector

AcademiaBusinessGovernmentOtherNot Stated

61%22%

9%

5%2%

Who is who in the SETAC Europe office?

Bart BosveldExecutive DirectorRoel EvensScientific Project Manager Filip GunstAccountingBarbara KoelmanOffice & Meeting ManagerSarah SpanogheMembership CoordinatorVeerle VandeveireFinance & Meeting Registration ManagerValerie VerstappenCommunications Coordinator Sarah, Veerle, Filip, Valerie, Bart, Roel, Barbara

RevenuesMeetings € 1.263.200

Awards € 17.500

Membership € 138.995

SE Partners € 59.250

SETAC projects € 40.860

External projects € 18.742

Other € 9.800

Total € 1.548.347

ExpendituresOffice operations € 107.523

Personnel costs / salaries € 445.477

SETAC Europe governance € 12.629

SETAC World cost sharing and reconciliation € 71.804

SETAC Africa and regional branch support € 4.547

Awards and grants € 16.129

Meetings € 772.838

SWC projects € 2.851

External projects € 754

Financial: bank charges € 24.915

Other € 25.608

Total € 1.485.075

Result € 63.272

Balance SheetAssetsFixed assets € 6.117

Tangible fixed assets € 6.097

Long term loans and investments € 20

Current assets € 996.945Short term receivables (<1 yr) € 141.673

Investments € 249.455

Working capital € 436.678

Deferred expenses € 169.139

Total Assets € 1.003.062

LiabilitiesOwners capital € 705.367

Funds of the association € 375.578

Social reserve € 175.000

Re-investment plan € 30.366

Transferred benefits and losses € 124.423

Debt capital € 234.423 Short term debts € 89.686

To count costs € 71.804

Deferred income € 72.933

Total liabilities € 939.790Profit 2013 € 63.272

BrunelunIVerSItYL O N D O N

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SETAC GLOBAL PARTNERS AND AFFILIATES

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