The OBPS welcomes a new member of its Steering Group. Rebecca Zitoun is co-chair of the Capacity Development working group joining Ana Lara-Lopez in guiding our growing capacity development activities.
Rebecca currently works as a Postdoctoral Researcher at GEOMAR in the field of Trace Metal Biogeochemistry, Toxicology, and Environmental Chemistry. She investigates the principles and processes underlying trace metal speciation in marine ecosystems in an effort to advance current understanding of trace metal biogeochemistry, refine aquatic biogeochemical models, and improve environmental risk assessments and management strategies for bioactive metals. She is also interested in marine-related topics including ocean acidification and deep-sea mining. Further, she has consulted for the International Atomic Energy Agency on capacity building efforts in Small Island Developing States under the umbrella of SDG14, focusing on microplastic and trace metal chemistry. She is a member of the Ocean Literacy Task Team of the Early Career Ocean Professional (ECOPS) of the UN Ocean Decade. She participates in national and international conferences, writes newsletter articles, engage in outreach programs, and transfer her expertise and knowledge to students at all stages of their education through seminars and student supervision to facilitate the training of the next generation of expert scientists and inform the wider public.