Lydia Marie Niemi

I am a postdoctoral researcher (environmental science) at ERI, and the coordinator for the One Health Breakthrough Partnership. The One Health Breakthrough Partnership is a cross-sector group addressing pharmaceutical pollution in Scotland by improving healthcare practices, safeguarding the environment, informing legislation, and driving research and innovation. In this role, I am coordinating and delivering a Scottish Government funded project in collaboration with stakeholders across the Scottish healthcare, environment, and water sectors, including NHS Highland, Scottish Water, and the Scottish Environment Agency (SEPA).

My research interest include: emerging contaminants, pharmaceutical pollution, wastewater treatment, environmental pollution and monitoring, instrumental analysis, analytical chemistry.

I hold a PhD in environmental science (UHI), an MSc (with distinction, University of Aberdeen) in environmental analytical chemistry, and a BA (Hons, College of Wooster, USA). My PhD (2016 – 2020) was carried out with the Environmental Research Institute (UHI) and the James Hutton Institute (Aberdeen), and funded by the Scottish Government’s Hydro Nation Scholars Programme in association with the Centre of Expertise for Waters (CREW). This work investigated the occurrence, distribution, and degradation of pharmaceuticals in rural wastewaters and surface waters in Scotland. Through my PhD, I gained advanced experience with laboratory techniques for water quality assessment and emerging contaminant analysis, including: grab and passive sampling; sample extraction and preparation; maintenance and operation of analytical instruments (particularly liquid chromatography – tandem mass spectrometers, high resolution mass spectrometers); statistical analysis and data processing with R software.