Jillian Helser is a PhD student at KU Leuven, originally from Austin, Texas, in the USA. As ESR 14, her research is focused on the environmental and health impacts of hazardous metals from tailing to product. Jillian has a BSc. degree in Environmental Science and Policy from St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas. During her bachelor’s degree, Jillian studied abroad in Sydney, Australia for a semester and interned at RecycleSmart, a start-up recycling incentives company based in Sydney. Following her studies, she gained experience in life cycle assessment, green building and design at the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems in Austin, Texas. Then, in 2017, she received an Erasmus Mundus International MSc. Degree in Environmental Technology and Engineering (IMETE), a program which took place at 3 different universities in Europe: UNESCO- IHE (The Netherlands), University of Chemistry and Technology (VSCHT) (Czech Republic), and Ghent University (Belgium). During her master’s program she also interned at the International Water Association (The Hague, Netherlands), working on a water quality impacts report on diffuse pollution in relation to land use. Concluding her degree, she completed a master’s thesis on monitoring, data analysis and modelling of gas-liquid mass transfer in wastewater treatment. Just following her master’s studies, in 2018, she interned at the United Nations (Geneva, Switzerland), aiding in the Commission on Science and Technology for Development. Following her different academic and professional experiences, Jillian has decided to pursue a PhD to continue following her interest in scientific research, gaining knowledge and making new discoveries.
Poster: Environmental and health impacts of hazardous metals from tailings to products
SULTAN_poster_ESR14_JillianHelserBlog posts:
Trace elements leaching from Pb-Zn mine waste (Plombières) & environmental implications
In the framework of ETN SULTAN, SIM² KU Leuven researchers have assessed the chemical and mineralogical characterisation of sulphidic mine waste to understand the environmental & health risks of the metals within the mine waste.