Dr Grant Douglas

Position and background:
Dr Grant Douglas is a Senior Principal Research Scientist in the Contaminants and Biotechnology Program in CSIRO Land and Water. He has over 25 years experience in aquatic and sediment geochemistry, Sr-Nd-Pb and U-Th isotope geochemistry, aquatic system management and contaminant/minesite remediation. Other research activities include the identification of catchment sediment sources, the characterisation and reuse of waste materials, and uranium and radionuclide-related research.

Technology commercialisation:
Dr Douglas developed and patented the phosphorus-adsorbing clay Phoslock™ used to mitigate algal blooms, which has been commercialised worldwide and is currently used in over 25 countries. Phoslock™ research is also the basis of a $900M+ ASX-listed company.
Dr Douglas is also currently commercialising Virtual Curtain, a patented acid surface, groundwater, and wastewater treatment. The Virtual Curtain technology has been successfully applied to treat acidic mine pit waters in Australia and for the treatment of 7 GL per annum of coal gasification wastewater in China and is an advanced stage of evaluation by the China National Nuclear Corporation for wastewater treatment. More recently, Dr Douglas developed and commenced commercialisation of the EUREECA technology for long-term, geological containment of radionuclides and other contaminants.

Research areas:
Dr Douglas manages the project: PFAS Contaminated Concrete and/or Asphalt under the CSIRO-Defence PFAS Research program. This encompasses three tasks: to understand PFAS and co-contaminants of potential concern in relevant concrete and asphalt infrastructure and spatial and vertical distribution; potential leachability of PFAS and co-contaminants of concern from concrete and asphalt materials, and; to identify and assess management and/or mitigation strategies and approaches for PFAS concentrations in concrete and asphalt materials for recycling and/or reuse.

Other research projects include neutralisation of tailings and investigation of closure options in the uranium mining and other industries, investigation of options for management and remediation of saline, acidic waters, characterisation of acid sulphate soils, and investigation of the productive reuse of mineral-based by-products in environmental applications such as wastewater filtration and soil amendments. Dr Douglas has also worked with major multi-national industry partners such as Rio Tinto, Alcoa and Iluka Resources to characterize waste materials and identify environmentally sustainable, long-term treatment and disposal options. Dr Douglas also works with the Australian Department of Defence on PFAS characterisation in concrete and asphalt.

Professional Affiliations/Awards:
In 2001 and 2004 Dr Douglas was elected a Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute/Chartered Chemist and a Fellow of the International Association of Applied Geochemists respectively. Dr Douglas is also a foundation member of the World Association of Sediment and Water Research and member of the Editorial Review Board of the International Journal of Sediment Research since 2004. Dr Douglas is currently an Associate Editor of Inland Waters and also Mine Water and Environment.

In 2009 Dr Douglas was awarded the Australian Water Association (AWA) WA Research Award for Advances in Groundwater Protection and Remediation, and in 2011 the AWA WA Innovation Award for Phoslock™. In 2012 Dr Douglas was awarded The Australian Shell Innovation Award: Environment, for Phoslock™ R&D. In 2019 Dr Douglas received the Wieckhardt Medal from the Royal Australian Chemical Institute for his Distinguished Contribution to Economic Advancement, and in 2020 he received The ATSE Clunies Ross Medal for Knowledge Commercialisation.

Publication record:
Dr Douglas has published over 80 refereed manuscripts with >4200 citations, eight book chapters, numerous national and international conference presentations and publications and over 150 internal/client reports. Dr Douglas has heavily promoted science to a wider audience via 150 interviews in local, national and international electronic and print media. Dr Douglas is also the sole author of six international provisional or full patents.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grant-douglas-59915024/?originalSubdomain=au

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?user=T_-lsRYAAAAJ&hl=en