Lydia Niemi is a Hydro Nation PhD scholar registered at the University of Highlands and Islands, and based at the Environmental Research Institute (Thurso) and James Hutton Institute (Aberdeen). Her research characterises pharmaceutical degradation, persistence and fate during wastewater treatment and in receiving waters. Focus of her work is also given to developing novel chemical and bioassay methods to assess the eco-toxicological impacts of pharmaceuticals and degradation products in aquatic ecosystems. The aim of Lydia's research is to gain new insights into pharmaceutical behaviour during wastewater treatment and the subsequent effects in natural water systems in order to improve water quality and lessen the environmental risk of these compounds.

Lydia received her MSc degree in Environmental Analytical Chemistry from the University of Aberdeen, and her BA from the College of Wooster in Ohio. She first began researching pharmaceutical persistence in treated wastewater as an undergraduate student, and she was awarded the American Chemical Society Undergraduate Student Award in Environmental Chemistry for her thesis and publication.

To view Lydia's latest knowledge exchange outputs please use the relevant links below:

• Degradation Behaviour of Diclofenac, Trimethoprim and Carbamazepine Under Controlled Environmental Conditions (Poster)
• Assessment of the Degradation Pathway, Persistence and Eco-Toxicological Impacts of Pharmaceuticals and Degradation Products in the Aquatic Environment (Poster)
• Investigating Pharmaceutical Distribution, Persistence and Degradation in Scottish Waters (Presentation)
• Assessing Pharmaceutical Occurance, Persistence and Degradation in Scottish Waters (ERI - Presentation)
• Investigating Water Quality and the Wastewater Treatment Cycle in Relation to Caithness General Hospital (Wick, Highlands) [Presentation]
• Pharmaceutical and their Transformation Products in Hospital Wastewater and Conventional Wastewater Treatment Plants (Abstract)