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Nora Sutton receives SENSE PhD Award 2015

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June 30, 2015

Nora Sutton receives Sense PhD award 2015

During the SENSE Summer Symposium on 18 June, the 2015 SENSE PhD Award was presented to Dr. Nora Sutton for her thesis: "Microbiological and geochemical dynamics of the subsurface: chemical oxidation and bioremediation of organic contaminants". Nora was a PhD student with the department of Environmental Technology at Wageningen University (WUR), and she defended her PhD in July 2014.

Contamination of the subsurface due to urban and industrial activities represents a serious environmental risk, requiring the development of efficient remediation technologies that can restore these sites into functional areas. However, the presence and treatment of these contaminants also offer a scientifically advantageous system for investigation of more fundamental topics of microbial ecology and soil geochemistry. The dissertation investigates in situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) and in situ bioremediation (ISB) of organic contaminants.

Some comments from the Jury report:

  • “The work of Nora Sutton is an exception as it takes a rather fundamental science approach which sheds new light on the underlying processes which will have impact on the practice.”
  • “The candidate has collaborated with various external partners in several countries as well as with local authorities showing a bridging toward practice and engineering.”

From her SENSE A2 project Nora learned: “Get personal: Talk to other people about the event. By personally contacting people you get a lot more response and interest….”

Nora Sutton (WUR-ETE)
Thesis title: Microbiological and Geochemical Dynamics of the Subsurface: chemical oxidation and bioremediation of organic contaminants
Promotor: Prof.dr.ir. H.H.M. Rijnaarts; co-promotor: Dr.ir. J.T.C. Grotenhuis
Graduation date: 4 July 2014, Wageningen University

> More information about the dissertation

Nora Sutton currently works as a postdoc at the Environmental Technology Group of Wageningen University.
> Read more

Link to original Sense press release

Nora Sutton PhD award 2015
Nora Sutton PhD award 2015