Carlos Augusto Lemos Chernicharo

Carlos Chernicharo got his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Newcastle (UK). He was full professor at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil) and researcher of the Brazilian Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) until his retirement in 2020. He was also Coordinator of the National Institute of Science and Technology on Sustainable Sewage Treatment Plants (INCT Sustainable STPs) from 2017 to 2022, and a guest lecturer at the Institute for Water Education (IHE/UNESCO, NL) from 2013 to 2021. He is an IWA Fellow. Overall, he has supervised 71 M.Sc. and Ph.D. thesis, authored/coauthored 7 books, 30 book chapters, and more than 300 papers published in scientific journals and conference proceedings. Besides his academic trajectory, he was involved in strategic international projects in the sanitation sector. Such experience has fostered the development of an internationally recognized group on applied research on anaerobic sewage treatment. Currently, he is director of the Chernicharo & Bressani Consulting and of the Centre of Reference in Sustainable Sewage Treatment Plants, being involved with studies and projects on sustainable sanitation mainly in Brazil and Latin America.

Cesar Rossas Mota Filho

Cesar Mota is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering at UFMG. He is the coordinator of the National Institute of Science and Technology in Sustainable Wastewater Treatment Plants, funded by the Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq) and is mainly focused on increasing resource recovery from wastewater via research, improved policy and regulation. He coordinates two national wastewater surveillance networks: i) the Brazilian Network for the Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance in Wastewater, which monitors community and hospital wastewaters in 10 capitals and is being developed in partnership with several sanitation companies, universities, the Ministry of Health and its national laboratories; and ii) the Brazilian Network for the Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in Wastewater, which has been monitoring SARS-CoV-2 in the wastewater of 6 capitals since the early stages of the pandemic. In addition, Dr. Mota coordinates research projects funded by the Royal Society (UK) and Brazilian funding agencies. He works in the areas of water and wastewater treatment, with emphasis on resource recovery, removal of pathogens, and wastewater surveillance as an epidemiological tool. He was a lecturer at Newcastle University, from 2007 to 2012, where he coordinated projects funded by the Royal Society and the European Commission.

Christoph Platzer

Dr. Christoph Platzer is a renowned expert in small-scale wastewater treatment and resource-oriented sanitation. With a PhD in Sanitary Engineering from the Technical University of Berlin, he has pioneered the use of constructed wetlands and natural treatment systems for sustainable sanitation. 

As Managing Director of Rotária do Brasil, Dr. Platzer has led over 200 projects focused on small wastewater treatment plants across Latin America. His work emphasizes cost-effective, energy-efficient solutions, particularly the integration of resource recovery, including biogas production.

A founding member of Global Wetland Technology (GWT), Dr. Platzer collaborates internationally to promote nature-based wastewater solutions, advancing sustainable sanitation practices globally.