Mr Appleby holds a bachelor degree in chemistry from California Polytechnic State University, and has over 35 years of experience in organic analytical chemistry, quality assurance, and laboratory management. He has been involved with the Contract Laboratory Program (CLP) for data review, data quality assessment, and laboratory evaluation, since 1988, and has specialized in dioxin/furan data validation. He was the primary author of the set of CLP National Functional Guidelines for the review of dioxin and furan data in 2010, and recently completed an update including the first set of guidelines for PCB Congener Data.