Dr Dawit Bekele (University of Newcastle) Australia

Dawit Bekele is Research Fellow and Senior Hydrogeologist at Global Centre for Environmental Remediation (GCER) at University of Newcastle conducting and directing environmental project and research in the assessment, remediation and management of contaminated sites. He has qualifications in Civil engineering (BSc), Water resource management (MSc) and Environmental public health and remediation (PhD).  Dawit is a registered Professional Engineer and an active member of professional associations.  He has over 10 years’ experience in the environmental field. He specialises in providing strategic environmental advice to clients relating to brownfield site assessment and remediation including the assessment of contaminant fate and transport.  End-user-driven research has remained the enduring strength of his research career to deliver pragmatic, sustainable and cost effective solutions and project outcomes, tailored to the timing, cost and expectations of clients. Dawit has consulted on various contaminated land investigation and remediation projects focusing on creating value at every stage of a project through quality driven, sustainable and cost effective solutions.  His current research focuses on adding new dimensions in vapour intrusion risk assessment and mitigation at volatile hydrocarbon impacted grounds. He is lead contaminant hydrogeologist, soil and groundwater remediation at GCER. His area of research includes Risk-based approaches to the clean-up or management of contaminated sites.