In Memoriam Petra Krystek

We are deeply saddened about the news that Dr. Petra Krystek passed away on April 8, 2025.

Petra was a dedicated, friendly and warm scientist who was part of the MOMENTUM project from the start. As an analytical chemist at TNO, she started out as WP1 leader in the early days of MOMENTUM. Later she went to work at Deltares, where she took over from Dick Vethaak as WP7 leader in 2022 following his retirement. 

Petra was instrumental in moving the work on solutions in WP7 forward, bringing people from different sectors and disciplines together. See also this lovely interview with her from 2022. Petra’s efforts in WP7 resulted in the solutions roadmap. Petra was very active in the field, for example by organizing the 2024 International Conference on (Micro-Nano) Plastics in Soil, with a MOMENTUM session chaired by Dick, Hilde Aardema and Juliette Legler, as well as the special issue in Chemosphere that followed.

It was an honour to have known her and her dedication to our project was greatly appreciated. We will miss her very much, and wish her family and friends much strength in this difficult time.