Professor Geoffrey Codd from the University of Dundee has just returned from South Korea where he was lecturing in water quality and safety and when he accidentally bumped into the Senegal World Cup football team.
Professor Codd was on a lecture tour visiting Korean universities and national biotechnology and water institutes. He was lecturing on harmful algal blooms, algal toxins that endanger our water supply and on control measures to combat these problems.
Geoff Codd's laboratory at the University of Dundee investigates new algal toxins, associated health incidents and the development of policies to reduce the occurrence and impact of harmful algal blooms in water.
His trip came just as his laboratory was awarded a EU grant to investigate the early occurrence of algal toxins in waterbodies and to develop effective strategies for their removal during drinking water treatment.
Professor Codd has an international reputation as an authority on algal toxins and water quality and it is understood that his research proposal was rated first out of the 60 proposals that were submitted to the EU in the water quality area.
The Scottish Executive has just updated its national guidelines to minimise risks of toxins to public health. Professor Codd explained: "Scotland's policies on water safety are among the best in the world. The countries I have been to lecture in regard Scotland as a leader in the field of minimising risks to public health. Harmful algal blooms and the production of algal toxins are worldwide phenomena. From our experience here in Scotland we are able to contribute to the resolution of these problems in some interesting and far off places. Scottish policies will be seem as a model way forward in many other countries in water quality protection."
His lab has just been named the UK centre for a new international research and training programme in water quality organised by UNESCO. The EU has also appointed Professor Codd's lab to serve as a partner at a new centre of excellence on algal blooms in the Baltic Sea to be established at the University of Gdansk, Poland.
Research on early warning systems for algal toxin development and on the optimisation of water treatment technologies for algal toxin removal from drinking water is set to develop further at Dundee.
PhD student Louise Morrison is currently investigating huge deposits of algal ooze on the beds of Australian lakes and Dr James Metcalf is investigating a recently recognised family of algal toxins that have caused health problems in Australia and are now emerging in mainland Europe.
Contact Professor Geoff Codd 01382 344272