Seminar by Ms Rhiannon Moore
Tuesday, 4th December 2018, 3pm
SJINML Seminar Room
Abstract:
Microplastics (<5mm) have been found in nearly all environments on earth and studies have been documented plastic ingestion by a wide range of marine biota. Rhiannon will be covering several topics surrounding this emerging environmental contaminant including sources, fate and effects of microplastics and what Ocean Wise is doing to research this environmental contaminant. She will also provide a summary of her own research in the Canadian Arctic, where she is investigating microplastic pollution in beluga whales and their prey. The results of Rhiannon’s project provides both a baseline assessment of microplastic contamination within the beluga food web and contribute to a larger understanding of plastic pollution within Canada’s Arctic.
About the speaker:
Rhiannon is a researcher at the Ocean Wise Plastics Lab and is completing her Masters of Science at Simon Fraser University. Her research focuses on plastic pollution in Canada’s Arctic, where she is evaluating the amount of microplastic contamination in the beluga food web. In 2017 Rhiannon participated in an all-female sailing expedition (eXXpedition Caribbean) to raise awareness on plastic pollution, and later participated in the Canada C3 expedition as a research scientist. In 2018, she was the recipient of the Garfield Weston Award for Northern Research, and named one of Canada’s top 30 under 30 sustainability leaders by Corporate Knights. When not in the lab or the field, Rhiannon spends much of her time participating in outreach and education events to raise awareness about plastic pollution.
