Invited speakers
FATIMA MARINHEIRO, PhD
Águas de Portugal, SGPS – Lisabon- Portugal
Fátima Marinheiro is a senior expert in water microbiology, water quality management, and public health, with more than 30 years of professional experience in the water sector.
She holds a master’s degree in microbiology and a university degree in pharmacy, with specialised postgraduate training in water quality, pollution control, laboratory management, and public procurement.
She works within Grupo Águas de Portugal, where she has held senior technical and management positions, including Laboratory Manager, Senior Water Quality Expert, and Manager of Centralised Public Procurement for treatment chemicals and laboratory reagents. Her professional activity focuses on drinking water and wastewater quality control, laboratory accreditation (ISO/IEC 17025), water safety plans, and regulatory compliance.
Fátima has extensive experience as an expert member of national and international technical groups, including the World Health Organization, the European Commission Joint Research Centre (ERNCIP), Eurachem, and the Portuguese water regulator ERSAR. She has also contributed actively to the transposition and implementation of EU Drinking Water Directives into national legislation.
She regularly participates as a speaker and trainer in national and international conferences, workshops, and capacity‑building programmes, particularly on microbiological water analysis, risk‑based water management, laboratory quality systems, and water safety plans.
https://www.adp.pt/SitePages/en-us/Home.aspx
Prof. MARIN MATOŠIĆ, PhD
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology, Zagreb
Marin Matošić, PhD, is a full professor of biotechnical sciences at the Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology, University of Zagreb, Croatia, where he is a member of the Laboratory for Water Technology specialized in water technology and wastewater treatment.
Professor Matošić focuses on advanced wastewater treatment, including membrane bioreactors, biological processes, and membrane technologies for removing contaminants like pharmaceuticals and antimicrobials. With over 1,150 citations, h-index of 18, and key publications on MBR for industrial effluents and oxygen transfer in high-loaded systems, his work advances sustainable water processing in food and environmental sectors.
He has more than 30 years of experience in water technology, providing expert consulting for the design, optimization, and assessment of water and wastewater treatment systems, and working closely with industrial partners and utilities on over 20 implemented treatment plants, technological upgrades, and feasibility studies that bridge academic research with real‑world applications and technology transfer.
He led the effort in introducing and implementing e‑learning at the Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology, helping to integrate digital tools and platforms such as the Moodle based system into regular teaching practice. For his pedagogical work he received several awards for excellence in teaching and for the design and organization of courses, reflecting a sustained commitment to high‑quality, student‑centered education.
NIKOLINA UDIKOVIĆ KOLIĆ, PhD
Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb, Croatia
Nikolina Udiković Kolić is a scientific adviser and head of the Laboratory for Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology at the Ruđer Bošković Institute in Zagreb, Croatia.
She obtained her PhD in molecular biotechnology from the University of Zagreb based on research on microbial communities capable of degrading s-triazine herbicides.
During her postdoctoral studies at Yale University, USA, she expanded her research interests to antibiotic resistance in the environment caused by intensive agricultural practices.
For the past 10 years, her research group has focused on investigating the development and spread of antibiotic resistance in various environmental compartments — including municipal and pharmaceutical wastewater, groundwater, and agricultural settings — applying the One Health approach that integrates environmental and clinical perspectives.
Since 2013, dr. Udiković Kolić has been a lecturer in the PhD programme at the University of Osijek (until 2024). She contributes as Associate Editor to several high-impact journals in the field, including mSystems and Frontiers in Microbiology, and previously held the same function at the Journal of Environmental Quality (2016–2021).
https://www.irb.hr/eng/People/Nikolina-Udikovic-Kolic