Rate My Professor Dawit Bekele

Dr. Dawit Bekele serves as an Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Senior Research Fellow, and Principal Environmental Scientist at the Global Centre for Environmental Remediation (GCER) in the College of Engineering, Science and Environment at the University of Newcastle, Australia. He earned his MSc and PhD through postgraduate studies centered on the assessment, remediation, and management of contaminated sites. With more than 15 years in the environmental sector, encompassing both research and consulting, Dr. Bekele has contributed to numerous contaminated land investigation and remediation projects. His expertise includes contaminated site investigations, sampling of soil, groundwater, and soil gas; development of groundwater models; analysis and interpretation of hydrogeological and hydrogeochemical data; aquifer characterization and conceptual site model development; borehole and well design; supervision of drilling; pumping test analysis; and groundwater quality data evaluation. Prior roles include Research Associate at the University of South Australia’s Centre for Environmental Risk Assessment and Remediation from 2013 to 2015 and independent consulting on environmental risk assessments, aquifer rehabilitation, water resources management, and hydrogeological modeling.

Dr. Bekele’s research specializations encompass conceptual site model development, contaminated site characterization for environmental remediation, in-situ and ex-situ remediation methods, and the source, fate, transport, and remediation of environmental contaminants. His ongoing work particularly addresses vapor intrusion risk assessment and mitigation at sites impacted by volatile hydrocarbons. He has authored or co-authored key publications such as the journal articles “Residual hydrocarbons in long-term contaminated soils: implications to risk-based management” (2024), “A systematic investigation of single solute, binary and ternary PFAS transport in water-saturated soil using batch and 1-dimensional column studies: Focus on mixture effects” (2024), “Evaluating the role of preferential pathways in exacerbating vapour intrusion risks” (2023), “Climate-influenced hydrobiogeochemistry and groundwater remedy design: A review” (2023), and “Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS): Current status and research needs” (2020); as well as book chapters including “Sustainable Remediation: Integrating Risk, Science, and Sustainability Principles” (2019) and “Permeable Reactive Barriers: Cost-Effective and Sustainable Remediation of Groundwater” (2014). Dr. Bekele participates in working groups and committees, providing technical expertise for the development of policy standards and serving as an expert support to the EPA Auditor. His research has received over 1,600 citations on Google Scholar.