Mr. Belay studied Chemistry at Jimma University and then he obtained master’s degree in Analytical Chemistry from Hawassa University in Ethiopia. He also obtained master’s degree in Environ. Chemistry and Toxicology with a specialization in Environmental Chemistry from NTNU in Norway. His master thesis was on oil spill forensics using GC/MS and multivariate statistical methods. Currently, he is a PhD researcher at UNIUPO (Italy) under a H2020-MSCA-ITN project called AQUAlity (Project N. 765860). His research interests are on (U)HPLC-MS/MS method development, optimization and validation; evaluation of emerging contaminants of concern and their transformation products in environmental water; application of chemometric methods for experimental design, optimization and data treatment; Photolytic and photocatalytic degradation studies on emerging contaminants; oil spill forensics; elemental analyses of environmental samples (water, soil and food); adsorption/removal of heavy metals from aqueous systems.