Paul L Younger is Professor of Hydrogeochemical Engineering at the University of Newcastle, based in the 5-rated School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences. Paul holds BSc (First Class Hons, Geology) and PhD (Civil Engineering) degrees from Newcastle and an M.S. (Hydrogeology) from Oklahoma State University, where he was a Harkness Fellow from 1984-86. Paul is a Chartered Geologist and a Chartered Engineer who specialises in mine water management, particularly in the remediation of pollution from abandoned mine sites. In this regard, Paul leads Europe's largest and most successful mine water research team, with substantial funding from EPSRC, NERC, the Coal Authority, the Environment Agency, the Mineral Industry Research Organisation and private consulting and mining companies. Paul coordinated the two main European Union Fifth Framework R&D projects dealing with mine waters: PIRAMID (www.piramid.org) and ERMITE (www.minewater.net/ermite). He is now Coordinator of CoSTaR, CL:AIRE's national facility for mine site remediation research, which has recently been designated an 'International Access Research Infrastructure' by the EU, who will fund use of the facility by researchers from all round Europe for the next four years. A fluent Spanish speaker, Paul also has an extensive portfolio of professional experience in Spain and Latin America, as well in the USA and South Africa. He has published more than 150 papers in the international literature, and is lead author of the compendious new volume 'Mine Water: Hydrology, Pollution, Remediation' (Kluwer, Feb 2002). Paul has served on the Freshwater Sciences Peer Review Committee of NERC, and on the Editorial Boards of two international journals (Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology (Geol Soc of London), and Mine Water and the Environment (Springer)). In addition to his academic duties, Paul also holds Directorships in two firms (NuWater Ltd and Project Dewatering Ltd).