Physicochemical Kinetics and Transport at Biointerfaces, Volume 9

Herman P. van Leeuwen is an electrochemist who obtained hisdegree in chemistry at the State University of Utrecht, TheNetherlands, in 1969. His thesis was in the field of pulse methodsin electrode kinetics, and his Ph.D. degree was awarded cum laude(best 5% in The Netherlands) in 1972. He then joined the ColloidChemistry and Electrochemistry group of Professor J. Lyklema atWageningen University, where he became a senior lecturer in 1986.His teaching includes analytical/ inorganic chemistry,electrochemistry and environmental physical chemistry. He wasappointed Extraordinary Professor at the University of Geneva in2000. His current major research interests are twofold: (1) iondynamics and electrokinetics of colloids, and (2) dynamicspeciation and bioavailability of metals in environmental systems.He has published some 140 research papers, reviews and bookchapters in these fields. He was chairman of the IUPAC Commissionon Fundamental Environmental Chemistry from 1995 to 1999, andChairman of the Electrochemistry Section of the Royal DutchChemical Society from 1993 to 2001. Together with J. Buffle, heedits the IUPAC Book Series on Analytical and Physical Chemistry ofEnvironmental Systems, launched in 1992.
Wolfgang Köster studied biology at theUniversities of Bielefeld and Tu¨bingen, Germany. Placingemphasis on biochemistry, plant physiology, genetics andmicrobiology he was influenced by the work of Professor V. Braun,Professor E. Sander and Professor H. Zähner. In 1986, heearned his Ph.D. from the University of Tübingen. With agrant from the German Science Foundation (DFG), in 1988 he became apost-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Professor R. J. Kadner atthe School of Medicine, University of Virginia, USA. He was thenpromoted to a position equivalent to Assistant Professor and the'Habilitation' in Microbiology at the University ofTübingen. Between 1998 and 1999 he held the position of'Visiting Scientist' (Cantarini Fellowship of theInstitut Pasteur and Fellowship of the Centre National de laRecherche Scientific (CNRS), France) in the laboratory of ProfessorM. Hofnung, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France. In 1999, he joined asa Senior Scientist (leading the group Drinking Water Microbiology)the Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Science andTechnology (EAWAG). He gained teaching experience from theUniversities of Tübingen and Hohenheim and ETHZürich by conducting lectures, seminars and practicalcourses at undergraduate and graduate levels in the areas ofmicrobiology, genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology andenvironmental science. His major areas of work and interestcomprise: (1) survival strategies and molecular detection methodsfor bacteria in drinking water and environmental habitats, (2)membrane-associated transport phenomena in microbes, with focus onmetal transport in bacteria, and (3) bioavailability andecotoxicity of metals and hydrophobic organic compounds in greenalgae.