Science Lead

Dr. Taylor Maddalene Myers is a Research Faculty member in the College of Engineering at the University of Georgia and Director of the Circularity Assessment Protocol at the Jambeck Circularity Informatics Lab. Her background is in marine conservation, pollution prevention, and science communication, working on projects around the globe with organizations such as National Geographic, The White House Council on Environmental Quality, World Wildlife Fund, Rare, and many others. Her research focuses on the impacts of plastic pollution and tying human behavior and waste management infrastructure on land with what we find in the ocean.

Taylor has also been an avid scuba diver, sailor, adventurer, and all-around ocean lover from a young age, and has traveled to every continent (save Antarctica!) and dived in every major ocean. She knows that waste around the world tells a story, and that the challenges we face in the ocean start upstream, and so her experiences have taken her from scuba diving to dumpster diving (and everything in between!). Taylor has dedicated herself to protecting our environment and all those who depend on it.

Scientist and Communicator

Rowan is a marine scientist working across ocean policy, plastics, and nature restoration. For the past four years she has led a pioneering blue carbon programme, mapping and protecting seagrass, saltmarsh, and seabed habitats to safeguard carbon storage, biodiversity, and healthy ecosystems. She also helped introduce some of the first single-use plastics legislation in the British Isles.

She brings science, policy, and community together to inspire action for the living world, and in 2018 sailed across the North Pacific with eXXpedition researching the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Rowan now returns as Mission Leader for the South Pacific voyage, combining expedition experience with a focus on lasting, nature-based solutions.