Invited speakers

Olivier F. X. Donard

Olivier F.X. Donard is a former directeur de Recherche au CNRS (Classe Exceptionelle) now retired and Emeritus at the CNRS and the University of Pau (France). He started his career and made his PhD at the Unversité of Bordeaux (France) as a analytical and marine biogeochemist. His first Assitant Professor position was in  Switzerland at the University of Geneva, to study the fate trace elements in the Lac Leman. Then he worked in the USA as a post-doctral fellow for the NSF and the US EPA to study the reactivity of Sn, Pb in the environement. This is when he started to develop hyphenated techniques. Later he got a position back in France at the french CNRS in Bordreaux and then moved to le University of Pau after the demand of the CNRS to develop an new institute for Analytical Sciences and Environemental Chemistry. This resulted the IPREM Insitute (Insitut des Sciences Analytiques et de PhysicoChimie pour l’Environnement et les Matériaux UMR CNRS 5254)  now hosting more than 300 scientists with more than 130 permament scientists. The institute was created in 2008 and he has directed it for more than a decade then. He has created 3 companies in using speciation and isotopic signatures.

In terms of scientific achievments, to better understand the fate and patways of trace elements between the different compartments of the environment, he has been among the first one to develop hyphenated techniques between separation techniques and atomic spectrometry to promote speciation analysis, with the aim to improve environemental studies but also to study and unravel industrial precesses. He has first used atomic fluorescene as detector (AFS), then Quartz Furnace Atomic Absorption (QFAAS), then ICP/MS and during the last 20 years has combined hyphenated techniques for isotopic signatures using MC ICP/MS. During these developments and times, he has also promoted the development of femto-second laser ablation systems coupled either to High Resolution ICP/MS (HR ICP/MS) or to MC ICP/MS for combined speciation and isotopic signatures. This work resulted in more than 300 major research publications, with an H factor of 63. He holds 6 patents, has written some books, has been the editor of mainy many analytical and environemental journals. He has given more than 135 plenary of invited lectures around the world.