Joost Lahr

Joost Lahr (1962) began his study Environmental Science in 1980 at the Wageningen Agricultural University (WAU) and specialised in toxicology (ecotoxicology) and water purification/water quality control. In 1986 he obtained his B.Sc. and in 1988 his M.Sc. degree. From 1988 to 1991 he worked short terms for various Dutch and international organizations: WHO (Ivory Coast), Wageningen University/FAO (Senegal) and the Ministry of Public Works. In the period 1991-1997 he was employed as an expert on ecotoxicology and hydrobiology by the FAO at the LOCUSTOX-project in Senegal. He was responsible for research and research management concerning the assessment and prevention of environmental impacts of insecticides used against Desert Locusts in African continental waters. In 1997 Joost returned to The Netherlands and worked briefly as a consultant for SC-DLO (later Alterra) in The Netherlands. From 1998-2003 Joost was employed by the private consultancy AquaSense in Amsterdam (later acquired by the company Grontmij, presently SWECO) where he was a senior consultant and project leader in the field of ecological risk assessment of environmental pollutants. One of the many highlights during this period was his active involvement in the Dutch national investigation of estrogenic substances in the aquatic environment (called ‘LOES’). His work for AquaSense has resulted in more than 30 technical reports and several international publications. In January 2000 he successfully defended his PhD thesis for the 'Vrije Universiteit' in Amsterdam on his work in Senegal. He wrote this thesis in his spare time. From 2003 to 2020 Joost worked for Wageningen Environmental Research (Alterra), part of Wageningen University and Research (WUR). He was, among others, involved in eco(toxico)logical projects in the field of pesticides, veterinary pharmaceuticals, biomarkers, soil functioning and agro- and urban biodiversity. He was coordinator of a work package on risk mapping in the EU-FP6 project NOMIRACLE on novel methods for risk assessment in Europe for 5 years. From 2010-2014 Joost was involved in the Pesticide Risk Reduction Project in Ethiopia (PRRP-Ethiopia) as co-coordinator of the work package on impact assessment. Further projects included among others work for the European Food and Safety Authority (EFSA) on risk assessment for birds and mammals, for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on pesticide use in Tanzania and the co-ordination of a work package in the project Risks of Livestock Manure under the WUR investment theme Global One Health. At Wageningen Environmental Research Joost also was a quality coordinator (>10 years) and he has in the past been involved in several market actions such as account management and a market team for the Ministry of Transport & Public Works, and market analysis for two ecology teams. Joost is presently employed as a senior expert by the National Institute of Public Health in the Netherlands. Among his duties are the management of projects on the monitoring and policy evaluation of pesticides and the emission registration of pesticides used in agriculture for the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. Other topics Joost is involved in are (ground) water quality, veterinary pharmaceuticals and method development for the appraisal of ecotoxicity studies (in commission of EFSA).