Remediate excellence endorsed at the MedGeo’17 Conference in Moscow
This year I had the great opportunity to attend the 7th International Conference on Medical Geology, held in Moscow, Russia, where I won an award. During this time, I realised one golden rule: science is felt and understood in the same way all over the world and it doesn’t have any geographical or political borders.

What a great lesson learned!

Before embarking on my journey to Moscow, I received the news that I had been awarded a student travel grant from the International Medical Geological Association (IMGA) and I’m very grateful for this award. The travel checklist was complete: good research results; documents ready; my Russian skills turned ON; and as an extra bonus my first name which originates from Russia!

Pre-conference course
People interested in learning more about Medical Geology were able to attend pre-conference courses given by experts and leading practitioners in this field. This workshop was very inspiring: my scientific horizons were expanded, and I realised that I can do many things with my research data.

Four days of interesting talks and original posters
There was a diverse conference program, including topics from large research areas such as Geology, Chemistry, Microbiology, Toxicology, and Policymaking. This event gathered scientists, experts, and students from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America, who shared innovative ideas, experiences, and offered constructive feedback.

My presentation was scheduled for the 3rd day of the conference, so I had plenty of time to meet and talk to people, to attend different presentations, and to see what other scientists are doing in my research area of human health risk assessment of contaminated land.
The day before my presentation, I was honoured to be asked if I could chair a session “Urban Medical Geology: Integrating Geologic and Anthropogenic Processes”, a challenge which I accepted with great pleasure. I really enjoyed this experience, and it made me determined to develop these skills for my professional career.

My presentation was also included in this session, and switching from chair of the session to presenter was easy. After my presentation, the audience asked some very good questions and the feedback was positive and constructive.

Social program and networking
The gala dinner was organised on a cruise on the river Moscow. Once we stepped on board the beautiful boat Chizhik-2, we enjoyed magnificent views of the Russian capital. Inside the restaurant there was a lovely atmosphere with good music in the background and delicious food. The emotional toasts made by the organisers of the conference and founders of IMGA turned this evening into a great one.

Closing Ceremony and Awards
After a week of great talks, inspiring research and interesting posters, the closing ceremony summarised the achievements of the conference, acknowledged the attendance and work of every participant, and presented awards for the best presentations. I was already very pleased by the good experience I had in Moscow, the nice people I met and new friends I had made, but hearing my research work classified as the «Best Oral Presentation Award» represented an unforgettable moment in my life.

I am honoured and grateful for the recognition I received for my work and I would like to express my gratitude to our research team for helping me reach this high level. Special thanks go to Dr Mark Cave (British Geological Survey) for his assistance in setting up the Unified BARGE Method and to Dr Rebekka McIlwaine for providing the urban geochemistry data set for Belfast.

Overall, The MedGeo’17 Conference was a big success and I would like to thank to the organisers for their hard work invested to offer us, in turn, a memorable experience.

I look forward to attending the next MedGeo Conference, which will be held in Guiyang, China, August 12-15, 2019.