IDÆA is an environmental science institute devoted to the study of the footprint of the chemical changes our species is imposing on the biosphere. Much of the research work at this institute is centred on two of the greatest environmental challenges of our time, namely the cleanliness and availability of the WATER we drink and the quality of the AIR we breathe, guided by the principle that our scientific understanding of current threats to global ecosystems is best approached from a holistic, systems-based viewpoint.
Founded in 2008, IDÆA was envisaged as a new multidisciplinary research institute bringing together a wide range of expertise in environmental science and organized under two broad Departments (Environmental Chemistry and Geosciences). The institute has demonstrated particular strengths in the analysis of organic pollutants and their impact on ecosystems, the study and management of water resources, the development of multivariate resolution algorithms in chemometrics, and in the study of inhalable particulate matter and toxic gases.
The international research profile of the various research groups working at IDÆA is firmly grounded upon a solid analytical base operating within the institute building which houses large environmental geochemistry laboratories focused on analysing atmospheric and aqueous pollutants. The Institute is also responsible for prestigious, state-of-the-art air monitoring “supersites” that include advanced on-line instrumentation for the study of air pollution. These supersites are integrated into international networks and have enabled the institute to achieve research dominance in the field of source apportionment and transboundary migration of atmospheric pollutants.