Sediment and pollutants transport in river catchments: monitoring, fingerprinting and source apportionment
Astana, 17-20 November 2025
Up-to-date information
Conference registration

The International Conference "Sediment and pollutants transport in river catchments: monitoring, fingerprinting and source apportionment" will be held in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, at the Kazakhstan Branch of Lomonosov Moscow State University from November 17 to 20, 2025:

–November 17 — participants arrival;

–November 18–19 — plenary talks, conference sessions;

–November 20 — technical tour, participants departure.


The conference will be held in person. Scientists working in the fields of erosion, fluvial processes, and sediment fingerprinting are warmly invited to participate.


No registration fee.


To take part in the conference, please register online using the provided link and submit your abstracts to conference@hydrogeochem.ru (with the subject line “Abstracts”).


Detailed information about conference dates, submission deadlines, and abstract formatting requirements is available in the First Conference Flyer. The exact time and location of registration, sessions, and the scientific excursion will be provided later.


Registration open until 15 September 2025.

Abstracts are being accepted until 20 September 2025.


The conference will focus on the results of studies examining the rates of redistribution and accumulation of sediments in catchments across various landscape zones worldwide, using radionuclides as tracers. It will also present experiences in applying the fingerprinting technique to identify key sediment sources in urban, agricultural, and other river catchments. The relevance of these approaches is particularly notable for the republics of Central Asia and Kazakhstan, where the natural environment is under increasing pressure due to the expansion of agriculture, mining, and industrial activities, thereby significantly heightening environmental risks.

The conference will address
  • 1
    Using the Fallout radionuclides (137Cs, 210Pbex and 7Be) as a tool
    for sediment redistribution assessment and sedimentation rate evaluation in different landscape zones
  • 2
    Identification of sediment sources contribution for urban, agricultural, natural and mixed river catchments based on application of fingerprinting and source apportioment
  • 3
    Sediment management as a tool to prevent natural and environmental
    risks based on the use of a set of quantitative methods
  • 4
    Levels, partitioning, and sources of heavy metals pollution in river catchments
Key speakers
  • Adrian Collins
    Rothamsted Research, Okehampton, Devon, UK
    Specializes in soil erosion processes, the dynamics of fine-grained sediments, and the transport of nutrients and sediment-associated pollutants in river catchments. His research is applied to targeted management, including the evaluation of mitigation measures and the development of national tools for pollution control. He also has extensive experience in practice-oriented projects.
  • Paolo Porto
    Dipartimento di Agraria, Reggio Calabria, Italy
    Specializes in the use of radionuclides (e.g., 137Cs, 210Pb_ex) to assess the rates of erosion and deposition processes on agricultural land, with particular focus on the Mediterranean landscapes of Southern Italy. You may refer to the abstract of the presentation.
  • Ivan Lizaga
    Ghent University, Belgium
    Specializes in soil erosion, land degradation, and modeling sediment source identification (sediment source fingerprinting), applying various methods ranging from radionuclide analysis to geochemical and isotopic approaches.
    He is one of the developers of the R package FingerPro, which enables the identification of sediment source contributions within catchments using optimal tracer selection and unmixing methods. You may refer to the abstract of the presentation.

Conference venue

The campus is a modern, international academic venue, perfectly suited for the scientific exchange of experience. Hosting the conference in Astana emphasises the relevance of the topic for the region and encourages leading researchers from different countries to take part in the event.