Reputation

Dr. Frank Gobas has published approximately 225 peer-reviewed scientific publications, almost exclusively in high quality international scientific journals including Science, Environmental Science and Technology, Science of the Total Environment, Water Research, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry and  Human and Ecological Risk Assessment. He has provided approximately 350 invited presentations at scientific, regulatory and public meetings. Frank has been a member of the Science Advisory Board of the USEPA, Director of the Science Advisory Board for Contaminated Sites in British Columbia and served for 6 years as a Member of the UN Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP), which is the scientific advisory body of the IMO, FAO, UNESCO, IOC, WMO, WHO , IAEA, UN and UNEP on the global marine environment & protection. He has provided expert advice to Environment Canada (related to CEPA) , Fisheries and Oceans Canada (related to SARA and the recovery of the Southern Resident Killer whale population), the European Chemical Agency (related to REACh legislation), the US-EPA (regarding water quality criteria and pesticide use and TMDLs), the International Council of Chemical Association (regarding chemical evaluation and risk assessment), the European Chemical Industry Council (regarding research priorities), the Japanese EPA (re. bioaccumulation criteria) and several Natural Resource Damage Assessments in the US, including the Hudson River, the Housatonic River and San Francisco Bay (for 23 years). Frank has been an editorial board member of several scientific journals and currently Environments and Environmental Research and the editor of the Bioaccumulation section of SETAC Globe. He has organized many workshops, conferences and sessions at conferences. My research has attracted funding from a variety of sources including NSERC, various industry associations and government agencies in Canada, the US government, the EU and local communities. Dr. Gobas’ reputation is based on developing productive science-focused collaborations with government, industry, academia and community groups. His students are highly sought after and many have excelled becoming tenured professors (e.g. at Harvard, University of Toronto, University of Singapore) and served in key government, NGO and industry positions.

Collegial Leadership & Engagement

Dr Gobas has been an active member of SFU’s Master in Environmental Toxicology program and Biological Sciences, taking on the senior supervision of many graduate student in addition to his students in the School of Resource & Environmental Management (REM). In 2011, Dr. Gobas founded with the help of students in the MET and REM programs a student-led annual workshop ToxTalks to engage the student community and provide opportunities for the exchange of ideas. He served 3 terms as Director of REM and in many other roles in REM and SFU. Within the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, he took on a variety of roles including the organization of the annual meeting, the organization of many sessions on a variety of topics over the years, offering short courses, the editorship of the Bioaccumulation section of SETAC Globe, associate editor of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Director of the Bioaccumulation Science Advisory Group, student mentor, judge of presentations, reviewer and  outreach to the United Nations.

Non-Technical Description of Research Contributions of Dr. Frank Gobas

Our society generates, uses and discharges many thousands of chemical substances in millions of products. Some of these substances can be harmful to human and environmental health. Our research supports and helps shaping local, national and international initiatives aimed to ensure that chemical use is sustainable and safe. We do this by (i) conducting scientific studies on the behavior of chemicals in the environment; (ii) the generation of environmental models that make science accessible for use by the community of government agencies, industry, academia, NGOs and community groups; (iii) policy analysis of the effectiveness of environmental regulations; and (iv) education and community out-reach.