Annual Conference

Registration and Call for abstract

Abstract submission: 20 July 2026, 4pm.

Results have been communicated through network manager email (manager@water4allnet.ac.uk).

Registration is closed for presenters.

Attendee-only registration (without catering, accomodation or travel bursary) can be submitted by emailing network manager (manager@water4allnet.ac.uk), and will be decided depending on available spaces. Please note that we can no longer provide invitation letter to aditional international attendees due to management capacity.

Fees:

Registration is free for all attendees.

Accomodation and Travel Bursary:

Free Accomodation and Travel Bursary (max £250) for early-career researcher and professional, with oral or poster presentation.

Day 0 – Wed 2^nd September

From 3 pm: Participants with campus accommodation checking in to their rooms

5-7 pm: Informal drinks with buffet snacks/Registration – Rik Medlik building FOYER 

Day 1 – Thu 3^rd September

Rik Medlik building (MS building)

Day 2 – Friday 4^th September

Rik Medlik building (MS building)

For full conference programme with presentation lists, please download the programme book:

9:15 – 11:15, 3rd September 2026

Rik Medlik building (MS building), Room 03MS01

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Professor Sir John Kay, University of Oxford

Keynote Title: The Business Economics of Water Supply

9.15 – 9.45 am

John Kay is an economist whose career has spanned the academic world, business and finance, and public affairs. He has held chairs at the London Business School, the University of Oxford and the London School of Economics and is a Fellow of St John’s College, Oxford, the British Academy and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He has been a director of several public companies and a contributing editor of the Financial Times. He chaired the Review of UK Equity Markets and Long-Term Decision-Making. He is the author of many books, and has received many awards for his writing. In 2020 he published Radical Uncertainty (with Mervyn King) and Greed is Dead (with Paul Collier). His most recent book, The Corporation in the Twenty-First Century, was published in 2024, and a revised version of his well-received 2010 book Obliquity, revised for the age of Artificial Intelligence, will appear in November. 

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Sarah Gillman 
Programme Manager Wastewater, Research & Innovation
Scottish Water

Keynote title: Ready for the future? An industry perspective

9.45  – 10.15 am

Sarah is a Programme Manager and Team Leader within Scottish Water, currently leading the Wastewater Research & Innovation programme and standing in for the Head of Research & Innovation. An environmental scientist by background, Sarah has experience of working at the interface between science, technology, policy and legislation. She has 25+ years’ experience within the water sector in a research, technical and regulatory capacity. 

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Keynote title: Tackling the challenges of managing emerging substances

10.15 – 10.45 am

Brett Sallach joined the EA in 2023 as Senior Advisor and lead for Emerging Substances. In this role, he manages the EA’s Prioritisation and Early Warning System (PEWS) for chemicals as well as the development of the Chemicals Investigation Programme (CIP). Prior to joining the EA, Brett was Lecturer of Environmental Chemistry in the Department of Environment and Geography at the University of York. His primary research interest was in the fate and effects of emerging substances and the use of analytical chemistry to measure them.

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Alistair Young jointly presented with Dr Lewis Campbell

Keynote title:  The State of Water… Does WoE (Weight of Evidence) Help?
10.45-11.15 am

Alistair Young
Trustee of the River Wey trust
Trustee of Water Rangers

Academically an MA in Social Sciences. Employment started underwater as a commercial diver, surfaced into estate management, wandered through accountancy, finance and tech development, hacked my way into cybersecurity, picking up a string of professional qualifications on the way.  Now a Trustee with two charities – Water Rangers and The River Wey Trust – trying to help volunteers make a difference in water focussed ecology.

Dr Lewis Campbell
Catchment Manager
South East Rivers Trust

Dr Lewis Campbell is a freshwater ecologist with over 15 years’ experience working to protect and restore rivers, in the UK and the USA. As Catchment Manager at South East Rivers Trust, he works with a wide range of stakeholders and local communities to bring rivers back to health, from tackling pollution to restoring natural habitats. A molecular ecology specialist, he uses cutting-edge DNA-based techniques to detect and monitor biodiversity and the freshwater health of rivers and lakes. Lewis is passionate about using science and innovation to give rivers a voice and about making that science accessible to the people and communities who depend on them.

Conference venue:

Rik Medlik building, Univeristy of Surrey, Stag Hill Campus, Guildford, Surrey, UK, GU2 7XH

Transport:

The campus is 10 min walking distance from Guildford Rail Station.

Parking is free if you are driving.

By air:

Direct train from Gatwick airport to Guildford Rail Station.

Shuttle bus RailAir from Heathrow Airport to “Guildford Rail Station”, or “The Case, University of Surrey”.

Rik Medlik building (MS building)

We invite all types of sponsors, please get in touch with us (manager@water4allnet.ac.uk).

For any queries, please contact our network manager (manager@water4allnet.ac.uk).