My new guest speaker is Dr Imogen Napper, from the University of Plymouth. She works with the International Marine Litter Research Unit based at the university here, and her research focuses on the different sources of plastic pollution found in the environment. She is also an expedition scientist at National Geographic, investigating plastic pollution along the Ganges river in Asia.
You have probably seen some of Imogen's work in the news... Microbeads found in cosmetics being made of plastic & a large amount of plastic fibres that come off from our clothes in the washing machine, all potentially ending up in the ocean; 'biodegradable' bags that can still hold a full bag of shopping three years later.... Imogen has been investigating the plastic that we cannot see easily and how it ends up in the ocean as microplastics. Imogen works hard to apply her research and work in order to help create changes at the consumer, industry and government levels.
In this episode, we talk about her research and the different experiments she's been doing, from the lab looking at a microscope or sitting next to a washing machine, to burying plastic bags in the soil and in the sea, all the way to investigating Ganges' water and getting a Guinness record for finding microplastics on top of Mount Everest.... She also shares with us the different ways we can implement changes, through consumer choice, industry changes, and government legislation.
If you're interested in reducing your plastic consumptions, want to know more about the different sources of plastic in our environment, the relative importance of plastic compared to other threats to the ocean, the different actions that need to be taken... here's an episode for you!
Thanks for listening & I hope you enjoy!
You can find Imogen here:
LinkedIn: Imogen Napper
Twitter: @Imogennapper
Instagram: @imogennapper
Research: https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/staff/imogen-napper & https://www.imogen-napper.com
Email: imogennapper@gmail.com
You can find me here:
Instagram: @plymouthbeneaththesurface.
Twitter: @twosealions.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louisedelion/.
Email: louise.delion@live.fr / louise-oceane.delion@students.plymouth.ac.uk
