Special tribute paid to Walter Giger
05 September 2008
Source: ACS, A. Buschor |
The renowned journal Environmental Science and Technology
(ES&T), published by the American Chemical Society, has dedicated an
entire issue to the Eawag researcher Professor Walter Giger (Environ. Sci. Technol.,
September 1, 2008 / Volume 42 / Issue 17). As a young
chemist at Eawag in 1972, Walter Giger began to develop new methods for trace
organic analysis. The results obtained using these methods often had a decisive
influence on the practice of environmental |
protection. In 1986, Giger played a key role in efforts to assess the impacts of the disastrous fire at Schweizerhalle and the pollution of the Rhine. However, Giger – who officially retired in 2005 – has never confined his attention solely to analytical methods. He has also been eager to investigate where the substances detected come from, whether and how they are transformed, and what effects they have in the aquatic environment. To this end, he has combined laboratory and field work and established a global network of like-minded researchers. In addition, Giger has always actively communicated his group’s findings, particularly to authorities and industry, and frequently with tangible results: for example, the EU and Swiss ban on nonylphenol ethoxylates (surfactants used in detergents) can be attributed to publications by Giger.
For 16 years, until the end of 2007, Walter Giger served as an associate editor of ES&T. As well as supervising a host of students, graduates and postdoctoral researchers over the years, he helped to ensure that the topics he had picked up were further explored by well-trained environmental chemists at leading laboratories worldwide. In the latest issue of ES&T, Walter Giger’s achievements are saluted by a series of authors. The publication also includes a feature article describing how Giger “scales the peaks”, conquering not only complex problems of analytical chemistry but also the most challenging summits – usually together with fellow researchers. Eawag remains closely connected with ES&T, with Professor Laura Sigg serving as an associate editor.