Bas Vriens

Dr. Bas Vriens is an Assistant Professor at Queen's University, Department of Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering, within the Faculty of Arts and Science. He leads the NFRF-Exploration Project and holds cross-appointments at the Beaty Water Research Centre. His research focuses on metal contaminants in mine wastes and the Great Lakes basin, integrating environmental geochemistry, hydrology, and engineering to quantify anthropogenic pollutant impacts.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Environmental System Sciences (2015), ETH Zurich
• M.E.Sci. in Environmental Geochemistry (2011), Utrecht University
• B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering (2009), Avans Hogeschool Breda

Research Interests:
He investigates metal mobilization from mine wastes and emerging contaminants in wastewater. His work integrates interdisciplinary methods, including geochemical modeling, geospatial statistics, and field monitoring. Key areas include:

• Mine waste management and metal recovery
• Trace metal biogeochemistry in aquatic systems
• Wastewater effluent and biosolids management

Advising & Grants:
Current advisees span MSc to postdoctoral researchers (e.g., Nathan Beckner-Stetson, Mehran Mahdian). He supervises projects on surface water quality, watershed modeling, and industrial waste analysis.

Labs & Teams:
His research group collaborates with industry and government partners, focusing on lab-scale experiments, field studies, and computational modeling. Active projects include the Great Lakes trace metal budget and mine waste-rock weathering dynamics.