The War, Soil, and Freshwater Systems Conference 2026 brings together expert voices whose work can help journalists and public audiences understand the long-term environmental and health consequences of war-related pollution. This page highlights selected speakers and contributors who may be relevant for interviews, background comments, science communication, institutional media coverage, and public explanation.
Expert voices for public understanding
The War, Soil, and Freshwater Systems Conference 2026 brings together researchers, practitioners, and institutional representatives whose work helps explain the long-term environmental and public-health consequences of war-related pollution.
This page highlights selected experts and speakers whose research, professional experience, or public communication relevance may be of particular interest to journalists, editors, documentary teams, science communicators, institutional media offices, and public audiences.
The purpose of this section is not to create a hierarchy of importance among conference participants. Its purpose is to help media representatives identify expert voices, understand the themes they can address, and request interviews or background comments responsibly.
Why these experts matter for media coverage
War-related environmental damage is complex. It may involve soil contamination, freshwater degradation, toxic exposure, ecosystem disruption, agricultural recovery, food safety, damaged infrastructure, displaced populations, and long-term public-health risks.
No single discipline can explain these processes alone. Media coverage therefore benefits from expert voices who can connect scientific evidence across fields and translate complex findings into clear public language.
Featured experts may help explain:
● how war affects soils, freshwater systems, ecosystems, and exposure pathways;● why environmental consequences may remain invisible for years or decades;● how pollutants can move across landscapes, water systems, food chains, and human communities;● why post-conflict recovery requires environmental and public-health evidence;● how historical cases can help interpret present-day risks;● which knowledge gaps remain unresolved and why they matter.
Featured plenary speakers
The conference plenary programme is designed to provide a structured overview of key research directions, knowledge gaps, methodological challenges, and policy-relevant questions related to war, soil contamination, freshwater systems, environmental health, and long-term recovery.
Selected plenary speakers are featured here because their work can help journalists and public audiences understand why soil, water, ecosystems, and health must be discussed together.
Rattan LalTopic: Soil Health and WarAffiliation: CFAES Rattan Lal Center for Carbon Management and Sequestration, The Ohio State University, United States
Rattan Lal is one of the world’s leading voices on soil health, soil carbon, land degradation, food security, environmental quality, and sustainable land management. His work is especially relevant to public communication because it helps explain why soil is not only an agricultural resource, but also a foundation for food systems, ecosystem services, climate resilience, and human well-being.
Kenneth Ray OlsonTopic: Engineering Transformations of the New York Canal System and Long-Term Environmental and Public Health ImplicationsAffiliation: Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois, United States
Kenneth Ray Olson’s work is relevant to media coverage because it brings a long-term environmental and historical perspective to the study of engineered landscapes, water systems, soil processes, and public-health implications.
His conference contribution offers a comparative lens for understanding how major infrastructure transformations can produce environmental consequences that extend beyond their original purpose and historical moment. This perspective is useful for journalists covering war-related pollution, damaged infrastructure, water systems, and delayed environmental effects.
Media-relevant angles:
● how engineered water systems can produce long-term environmental consequences;● what historical cases can teach us about present-day infrastructure damage;● why rivers, canals, wetlands, soils, and human settlements should be understood as connected systems;● how environmental history can help explain delayed or indirect public-health risks;● why long-term monitoring matters after major landscape transformation.
Possible interview themes:● What can historical canal and water-system transformations teach us about environmental risk?● How do engineered landscapes affect soil, water, and public health over time?● Why are long-term environmental consequences often underestimated?● How can historical case studies help interpret modern war-related environmental damage?
Scientific Committee and expert contributors
The conference is supported by a Scientific Committee and invited contributors with expertise across soil science, freshwater systems, environmental health, public health, toxicology, epidemiology, war-related environmental assessment, post-conflict recovery, rural sociology, science communication, and interdisciplinary research.
These experts contribute to the academic quality of the programme and help ensure that the conference remains scientifically rigorous, methodologically careful, and relevant to real-world environmental and public-health challenges.
As additional speakers, session chairs, committee members, and contributors are confirmed, this page will be updated with selected expert profiles and media-relevant themes.
Expert areas available for media requests
Media representatives may request background information, expert comments, or interviews on topics including:
Soil health and warWar-related soil degradation, contamination, land recovery, agricultural resilience, food systems, and long-term soil restoration.
Freshwater systems and contamination pathwaysSurface water, groundwater, catchments, rivers, reservoirs, damaged wastewater systems, pollutant transport, and ecosystem impacts.
Environmental exposure and public healthHuman exposure pathways, chronic risks, toxic substances, vulnerable populations, disease-related consequences, and gaps in epidemiological evidence.
Post-conflict recovery and environmental decision-makingEnvironmental assessment, monitoring needs, land-use decisions, reconstruction planning, restoration priorities, and public-health protection.
Historical and comparative casesLessons from industrial pollution, military landscapes, historical infrastructure transformation, pesticide and herbicide legacies, and other long-term contamination cases.
Science communication and responsible reportingHow to explain complex environmental-health risks without exaggeration, simplification, or unsupported claims.
Interview and comment formats
Depending on availability, accreditation status, and speaker consent, the organizers may help coordinate:
● short expert comments;● background briefings;● on-record interviews;● written Q&A;● pre-conference expert profiles;● post-presentation comments;● documentary or video interview requests;● institutional media coverage;● science communication materials for public audiences.
All interview requests are subject to confirmation by the organizers and the individual expert. Some experts may be available only for selected topics, formats, or time windows.
Responsible use of expert comments
The conference encourages responsible media coverage based on accuracy, context, and respect for scientific uncertainty.
Media representatives are asked to observe the following principles:● Expert comments should not be taken out of context.● Unpublished data, draft materials, and closed-session discussions must not be quoted or reported without explicit permission.● Photography, filming, audio recording, livestreaming, and publication of recorded materials require prior approval where applicable.● Embargoes, off-the-record conditions, and speaker restrictions must be respected.● Scientific uncertainty should be presented clearly and honestly.● Media coverage should avoid sensational language when discussing environmental contamination, disease risks, or affected communities.
How to request an expert interview
Journalists, editors, documentary teams, institutional media offices, and science communicators may contact the organizers to request an interview or expert comment.
Please include:● your name and media organization;● the topic or angle of the story;● the expert or area of expertise requested;● the preferred format: written comment, phone interview, video interview, background briefing, or on-site interview;● the expected publication date or deadline;● the language of the interview, if relevant;● whether the interview will be recorded, filmed, quoted, or used for background only.The organizers will review the request and, where appropriate, help identify a suitable expert.
Note for editors and producers
The conference addresses issues that are scientifically complex and socially important. Some topics involve sensitive environmental, public-health, legal, institutional, or community dimensions.
For this reason, the organizers may recommend background briefings before interviews, especially when coverage concerns contamination risks, affected populations, unpublished research, or post-conflict recovery decisions.
The goal is to support accurate, responsible, and useful public communication.
Updates
This page will be updated as additional plenary speakers, session chairs, Scientific Committee members, and expert contributors are confirmed for media communication.