Keynote Speakers

 

Irene M. C. LO

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

 

Biography: Irene Lo is currently a Chair Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. She is an Elected Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, and Elected Fellow of Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences. She is also a Fellow of Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, and Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers. She was appointed by HKSAR Government as Justices of the Peace (JP) in 2017. She was also Adjunct Professor of Tongji University, Tianjin University, Jilin University and Harbin Institute of Technology. She had been Visiting Professor of Technical University of Denmark and the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Prof. Lo is an internationally renowned scholar and is among the first to invent iron-based nanomaterials and photocatalytic materials for the removal of heavy metals, organics, and emerging pollutants such as antibiotics from water and subsurface environment as well as to investigate the fundamental understanding of the pollutant removal mechanisms. Her research is ground-breaking and innovative, sustainable, and the outcome application is economical. She was the recipient of numerous prestigious international research awards, such as 2007 ASCE Samuel Arnold Greeley Award, 2009 ASCE Wesley W Horner Award, and the 2012 ASCE EWRI Best Practice-Oriented Paper Award. In addition, she received the 2019 Higher Education Outstanding Scientific Research Output Awards in the Natural Science/Technology Advancement by Ministry of Education, China. She has been invited to give over 100 plenary/keynote/invited speeches at many international and regional conferences in Asia, Europe, Africa, and North America.
Her research interests include advanced oxidation processes and nanoparticles/nanotechnology for environmental applications. Her citation is ~21000 with H-index 78, as reported by Google Scholar.
She was recognized as "Top 2% Scientists in the World” by Stanford university in the past years since 2019.

Speech title "Sustainable photoelectrochemical technology for sewage treatment with green energy generation"

 

 

Kokyo Oh

Center for Environmental Science in Saitama, Japan

 

Prof. Dr. Kokyo Oh is a chief research scientist in Center for Environmental Science in Saitama, Japan. He received his Ph.D. in Soil Science in 1995. From 1997 to 2000, he pursued postdoctoral research at the International Nature Farming Research Center and the National Research Institute of Vegetables, Ornamental Plants and Tea (Japan). During this period, he was awarded a prestigious research fellowship by the Japan Science and Technology Agency from 1997 to 1999. His research areas span a broad range of fields, including soil science, environmental conservation, agronomy, and environmental biogeochemistry. He has a particular focus on the remediation and sustainable utilization of contaminated and degraded soils, as well as the development of environmental-friendly and high-productivity ecological systems. Over the course of his career, he has published more than 200 academic papers, and has led or participated in numerous scientific research projects. He has also been invited to serve as chair or co-chair at more than 30 international conferences, reflecting his prominent role and recognition in the international scientific community.

Speech title "Integrating Bioenergy and Ornamental Plants into Phytoremediation for Sustainable Restoration and Economic Utilization of Contaminated Soils"

Abstract-Soil is one of the most essential natural resources and the cradle of life. However, millions of hectares of land around the world are polluted or degraded due to unsustainable human activities and inherent soil-forming processes, posing serious threats to food security, human health, ecological stability, and sustainable development. Phytoremediation, an environmentally friendly and cost-effective technique that employs plants to absorb, stabilize, or degrade contaminants, has garnered significant attentions. Yet, its large-scale adoption remains limited due to relatively low remediation efficiency and insufficient economic incentives.
To address these challenges, we propose a sustainable and profit generation phytoremediation strategy that utilizes carefully selected resource plants with high biomass yield or ornamental value. These plants not only facilitate the remediation of soils contaminated with heavy metals but also generate financial returns for landowners through bioenergy production or commercial floriculture.
At the conference, we will present current situation of global soil contamination and advancements in phytoremediation technologies and focus on our benefit generation phytoremediation framework, supported by case studies from pilot projects, analyses of remediation and economic dynamics, and necessary innovations to enhance phytoremediation roles in sustainable management of contaminated soils. By transforming contaminated soils into productive and economically valuable landscapes, this approach contributes to a scalable solution that combine environmental restoration with sustainable economic use of contaminated soils.