Kissao Gnandi,^* Seunghee Han,^** M. Hassan Rezaie-Boroon,^*** Magali Porrachia,^**** Dimitri D. Deheyn<sup>*****


*</sup>Kissao Gnandi is an environmental geochemist and hydrogeologist (Ph.D. from University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany) developing research on pollution of surface and groundwater water, soils, lagoon, and coastal sediments by trace metals and organic contaminants. As a Fulbright Scholar at Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) his research activities concentrated on the contamination and bioavailability of lagoon sediments for trace metals, with emphasis on mercury and methylmercury. Address: Geology Department, University of Lomé, Lomé, Togo. Address: Environmental Geochemistry and Hydrogeology Department, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lomé, BP 1515 Lomé, Togo, e-mail: kgnandi@yahoo.fr
^**Seunghee Han is a trace element geochemist (Ph.D. from Texas A&M University, USA) developing her research with particular emphasis on the aquatic chemistry of mercury. Her recent research includes investigations of the environmental factors affecting bioavailability of mercury, and especially its methylation in relation to sediment layers. She participated in the Lomé sediment project when she was a postdoctoral researcher with Deheyn at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Currently, she is faculty in Republic of Korea. Address: Marine Biology Research Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0202, USA. Address: Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, 261 Cheomdangwagiro, Buk-gu, Gwangju 500-712, Republic of Korea. e-mail: shan@gist.ac.kr
^***M. Hassan Rezaie-Boroon is a geologist and hydro/geochemist (Ph.D. from University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany) dealing with contaminant transport in sediments, soils, and water, in particular contamination of coastal sediment, and harbor mud, bioavailability of trace elements in sediments, especially coastal sediments and lagoons, the hydrogeology and environmental geochemistry of urbanized regions, and remediation and cleanup methods for various contaminants. Recently, as a Fulbright Scholar in Togo, he focused on the contamination issues of the lagoons of Lomé. Address: Geological Sciences Department, California State University Los Angeles, 5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90032, USA. e-mail: mrezaie@calstatela.edu
^****Magali Porrachia is a Staff Research Associate in Deheyn laboratory at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. She is a marine biologist and has expertise in environmental sciences and ecotoxicology (MS in Management of the Environment and Sustainable Development, University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis, France), and performs analysis of trace elements/mercury using spectrometry methodology. Address: Marine Biology Research Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0202, USA. e-mail: mporrachia@ucsd.edu
^*****Dimitri D. Deheyn () is a marine biologist (Ph.D. from Free University of Brussels, Belgium) with expertise in ecotoxicology, trace elements bioavailability, and environmental quality assessment using light production from luminous organisms as an early sensor to deleterious changes in the ecosystem. With regards to bioavailability, he works with a diversity of models, from invertebrates to plants, in order to assess the processes driving trace elements bioavailability and uptake to the food web. Address: Marine Biology Research Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0202, USA. e-mail: ddeheyn@ucsd.edu