From the second we all gathered at the harbour in Vancouver, she was raring to go, and has been a crucial member of the eXXpedition team ever since. From getting stuck in with the cleaning and maintenance of the boat, to being a patient and hugely knowledgeable lead scientist, she really has been at the centre of everything we have done.
The biggest OMG moment for us all came on Day Two of the trip – Sunday 22nd July. As part of the experience, we were all tasked with giving the rest of the team a presentation about ourselves, looking at what journey we have taken to get to eXXpedition. Imiy’s presentation was a whistle-stop tour through her absolutely remarkable achievements in her field, and all of us felt pretty starstruck by the end of it.
Imogen is a National Geographic Sky Ocean Rescue Scholar and we were all stunned to find out that Imiy and her team back at the University of Plymouth had led the research into microbeads in facial scrubs. This research contributed enormously to the legislation banning microbeads in the UK. I can remember one of my school friends sending me a screenshot of the BBC article when the legislation was passed, and having a long conversation about what a big deal this was. To have actually now met one of the leading brains behind that moment is hugely exciting, and I really do feel honoured to have met such a phenomenal young woman.
Aside from being a total genius, Imiy is an excellent leader and very patient teacher. She has been a huge help to all of us when it has come to the science, explaining very complex topics in terms we can all understand, and I think we all feel confident taking some of this knowledge home with us to share the key messages. Imiy is an accomplished sailor as well, so really it feels like there are no limits to her talents. Having said that, her artwork based on our location at anchor in the Georgia Strait was a definite work in progress, so it is actually super reassuring to see that she is in fact a human.
You would struggle to find a more welcoming, humble, and hard-working woman. She has been around the world with the Royal Navy, and assisted with the aid relief in the Caribbean in 2017, working as a military liaison officer between the UK military and a disaster response unit. She clearly cares deeply about the work she does and the impact that strong research can have on t he global plastic situation.
She’s also the best person to keep you going during a night watch while you’re battling with the rain, wind, and fog.
I’m so glad we have had Imiy on board, and I cannot wait to see what she does next. She has promised to take me surfing in Plymouth before a proper fish and chip dinner, so I’m sure I will find out more about her truly exceptional work, and hopefully stay friends for a long time to come.”
Women remain under-represented in science, sailing and exploration, and eXXpedition is passionate about addressing this with positive role models.
Today, the 8th International Day of Women and Girls in Science Assembly is taking place at the UN HQ, New York City. People are coming together to put women and girls, science, and technology at the heart of sustainable development programs.
To celebrate, we wanted to spotlight some Ambassadors who have been making breakthrough contributions to ocean and microplastic research.
Laura Leiva – science marketeer, marine biologist, and lobster expert – joined us for Leg 2 of our North Pacific expedition in 2018 as a Bursary Placement. She recently returned from Heligoland, a small German island, where she has spent 3 years completing her PhD.
Passionate about crustaceans, and the future of ocean health, Laura investigated the effects of temperature, noise and acidification of Heligoland’s juvenile lobster populations. Heliogoland is a wildlife haven and honey pot for marine-enthusiasts. Moreover, Heligoland is the only place in Germany where you can find the species of lobster Laura was studying!
Laura has already published her research in 2 scientific journals. Alongside her scientific superpowers, Laura is also a great storyteller. She would love to communicate her findings to a wider audience, beyond the “scientific” readership that a typical journal article receives. To do so, she is working hard to publish her research in Frontiers for Kids – a journal tailored specifically to young people that puts the detail associated with “adult” journals into more accessible formats.
Laura is now combining her storytelling and scientific superpower skills, as a science marketeer for siTOOLs – a German-based biotech.
Imogen joined us for Leg 2 of our North Pacific expedition. Last week, Dr Imogen Napper attended a panel discussion about climate anxiety at the Eden Project, Cornwall, UK. She has recently moved to the Bahamas where she will be working at @ceibahamas teaching and doing pollution-focused research.
Just before Christmas, Imogen hosted a discussion at our London Ocean Drinks. Her discussion adressed the connection between plastic pollution and climate change. The talk engaged a lively conversation with our community, and opened eyes to the often-forgotten-about connections between the two.
In November 2022 the second scientific paper from eXXpedition Round the World, ‘Synthetic microplastic abundance and composition along a longitudinal gradient traversing the subtropical gyre in the North Atlantic Ocean’ was published demonstrating how microplastic particles differ across the Atlantic Ocean.
In a virtual event on the 10th January 2023, Round the World Science lead, Dr Winnie Courtene-Jones discussed some key findings from the paper, alongside Emily Penn and Simon Van Gennip (Mercator Ocean International).
This thought provoking discussion touched on some key questions: How much plastic is out there? What type of plastic is it? How is it distributed? Why do we need to monitor it? And ultimately – can we gain a better picture of where it’s come from?
Quoting directly from Winnie herself: “plastic in the ocean comes from everywhere…While that makes the monitoring much more complicated, it also makes it clear that we really need a global strategy. Our first paper, in the Caribbean, reached the same conclusion. This is an international challenge. We need a united effort to make a difference. Water doesn’t obey territorial borders.”
You can watch the full discussion below, or head to this blog to read the highlights!
eXXpedition Ambassador, Taylor Maddalene was invited to present the findings from our Caribbean research paper at the 7th IMDC in Busan this September.
Taylor is a PhD Student in Environmental Engineering. She is also the Director of the Circularity Assessment Protocol with the Jambeck Research Group at the University of Georgia. Taylor joined us for the 2nd leg of our Virtual Voyages to Fiji.
Held every four years, the IMDC saw Taylor present to a diverse range of stakeholders about the findings from our CAP in the Caribbean. Attended by academic, industry, and government officials, it was great seeing our research presented on such an international stage!
Professor Jenna Jambeck recently received the prestigious MacArthur fellowship grant.
Jenna will be using the grant to continue developing research methods to understand and address global plastic pollution. Two of these methods – the Circularity Assessment Protocol and Marine Debris Tracker App – were critical to our Round the World expedition.
They provide a platform to collect community-level data that includes information about mismanaged waste and waste infrastructure. This data will inform decisions aiming to reduce land-based plastic pollution.
During eXXpedition Round the World (RTW), we conducted the first holistic assessment of marine and land-based plastic pollution in the Southern Caribbean. eXXpedition did this in conjunction with Jenna and the University of Georgia. Jenna’s methodology was critical to the development and publication of our Caribbean Research Paper – Source, Sea and Sink – a holistic approach to understanding plastic pollution in the Southern Caribbean – which was published in Science of the Total Environment (November 2021).
Take a look at this video to find out more about Jenna’s research and her Macarthur Award.
Natalie is on a mission to convert the world’s 35 million surfers into ocean citizen scientists.
As coordinator of the ReGeneration Surf – a coalition between 4 Portugal-based organisations including Mossy Earth, Seaforester, Zero Waste Lab and Oceans and Flow, and the World Surf League and WSL Pure – initiative, Natlie is busy bringing life back to the Portuguese coastline through a restorative sea kelp planting project.
Natalie is hoping to galvanise support from fellow surfers, in her mission to convert a new generation of citizen scientists.
In addition, Natalie recently published her Masters Thesis, which looked at the connection between ocean literacy and surfers. Having established a connection between the two, Natalie is communicating her findings to help other surfers become ocean gatekeepers.
You can read more about Natalie’s work in our recent Superpower Story blog, where we discuss her change-making mission in more detail.
Women remain under-represented in science, sailing and exploration, and eXXpedition is passionate about addressing this with positive role models. Which is why, to quote our Founder Emily Penn, “it made sense to gather teams of talented women from all disciplines; to experience the plastic problem, collect data, make connections, and figure out how to tackle it together.”
For Emily, “there is something unique about taking an inspired group of women to sea. Boundaries are let down as the crew overcome immense challenges together. Bonds form fast and last for life.”
To date, 257 women, from over 40 nationalities, aged between 18-70, have joined a voyage with us. Going forwards, we hope to continue building our community, and in turn inspire many more women into ever-critical science, technology and innovation roles.
We kicked off our first SHiFT Session of 2020 by taking a closer look at the sources of and solutions to microfibre pollution. Hosted by eXXpedition Founder, Emily Penn, our diverse panel of industry experts discussed the complex challenges surrounding the microfibre issue and offered their opinions on some different ways to prevent plastic microfibre pollution in our ocean.
In case you missed it, we recorded all the insight from our expert panellists during the session:
“For a typical clothes wash of acrylic [fibres] we found that over 700 000 fibres would come off your clothes,” panellist Dr. Imogen Napper told us. “Every time you wash your clothes, hundreds of thousands of waste fibres go down with the waste water and potentially into the marine environment – and at the moment, there is very little we can do to stop it.”
Microfibres are plastic-based threads that are becoming increasingly common within the world’s ocean – with a recent Ocean Wise study suggesting that an astonishing 3.5 QUADRILLION fibres are making their way into our rivers, lakes and oceans every year.
“If there are 24 million washing machines in the UK and people are washing their clothes 4 times a week and we’re [Inheriting Earth] seeing a gram per wash – that could be in the region of 24 tonnes a week at least,” said panellist Adam Root, Inheriting Earth, who’s tech company is working to reduce plastic fibre output from washing machines.
Our audience members were also keen to find out how they could further reduce plastic waste from their own business ventures. “One of the key issues that I have endlessly is poly bags – because as a manufacturer you have to send your garments to customers in perfect condition. I’ve looked at a lot of products and haven’t come up with a good solution.” said Alice Asquith, founder of sustainable activewear brand, Asquith. Panellist Deborah Luffmann, Product Director at Finisterre was quick to answer and provided a useful solution regarding a biodegradable, dissolvable polymer that is to be rolled out shortly as a poly bag alternative.
Thank you again to our wonderful panellists, Arboretum and to all who attended for such a fantastic evening!
SHiFT sessions are open to all! Whether it’s a talk, an event or an experience, everything we do is designed to help people fall in love with the ocean and understand the need to protect it, uncover different solutions to help solve the plastic crisis, find your role and take action. Join one of our upcoming sessions here.
The eXXpedition Round the World mission will sail out of Plymouth Harbour on 8th October 2019, on the first leg of our Round The World mission. We are lucky to have Dr. Winnie Courtene-Jones on board as Leader of the eXXpedition Science Programme, based at the University of Plymouth. Winnie has joined us full time in order to deliver innovative research into the impact plastic pollution is having on our oceans.
Our exciting science programme has also been developed in collaboration with ocean plastic experts to carry out plastics-related citizen science, both at sea and on land, by Professor Richard Thompson OBE Head of the International Marine Litter Research Unit at the University of Plymouth, and Professor Jenna Jambeck, Associate Professor in the College of Engineering at the University of Georgia. The eXXpedition Science Advisory Board includes a mix of leading academics and industry representatives including Dr Daniel Schwaab TOMRA Senior Vice-President for Circular Economy Strategy.
The research conducted during the mission has been designed to advance a better understanding of the plastics issue as a whole and to work with industry to pinpoint solutions and policy at a global level by addressing knowledge-gaps and delivering evidence to inform effective solutions.
Professor Richard Thompson OBE said:
“In recent years, tackling the plastics in our oceans has become one of our most high profile environmental challenges. It is crucial that we use innovative and informed means to develop greater understanding of the issue’s global scale, and to identify ways to address it. This collaboration will undoubtedly help achieve that, and we are delighted to be working with eXXpedition to generate new knowledge and interest in this important area.”
Emily Penn, Mission Director of eXXpedition, added:
“We’re delighted to collaborate with the University of Plymouth on our Round the World science programme. The plastic pollution challenge our ocean faces is a global one and it will take an inspired army of passionate, skilled and experienced people to tackle it. We’re excited for our 300 expedition participants to work together with scientists from such a prestigious institute to better understand the environmental and human health impact of plastics and toxics, and to use this information to help pinpoint upstream solutions.”
eXXpedition and University of Plymouth have worked together in the past, with eXXpedition’s 2017 Round Britain voyage setting sail from the University’s Marine Station. Students have also participated in previous voyages, with BSc (Hons) Marine Biology student Megan Ross joining the 2017 voyage and Research Fellow Imogen Napper working as lead scientist on a leg of eXXpedition North Pacific 2018.
For more information on our eXXpedition Round The World mission, follow along here.
“Let me introduce you to Meg Tapp!
English literature graduate, runner, actress and a one to watch out for!
Meg started championing for environmental matters from a young age. She shared a story with the crew about her introducing the first recycling bins into the classrooms at her secondary school. Turn the clocks forward a few years and now she fittingly has a job in waste management for Derby City Council. When she began this role, she was given two weeks to research the industry and get a clear understanding of what the problems were. This is where she discovered the issues surrounding marine debris.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a prominent issue that shocked Meg as it is predicted to be one of most plastic polluted marine areas; even when so far from land! Encompassed with guilt that the situation had got to this point, she felt empowered she could be a part of the solution. Especially as within her job she was aware that she had an important and powerful platform to positively influence others. Therefore, after hearing about eXXpedition whilst watching the news with her partner, she realised that this would be the perfect opportunity to get first-hand experience on how to tackle the issue, but also meet an eclectic group of women with the same goal.
Meg embarked on eXXpedition never having stepped foot on a sailing boat but has been an absolutely invaluable member of the team. Meg has got stuck in with complex science protocols, been at the helm of the boat, made dinner when we are at an angle of 45 degrees and also kept spirits high on the cold night watches.
Now reflecting at the end of our trip, Meg is making plans for what she can achieve back home. One project she aims to get running is the standardisation of waste between councils. She will also take back all of the knowledge from this trip and use it to inspire those within her area about reducing their amount of waste.
Meg finishes this trip as sailor, scientist and influential solution maker. Me, and the rest of the crew, have no doubt that Meg is going to achieve significant change. We are all looking forward to following her adventures in the next few years. As a friend, now that I have met her, she is not going to get rid of me easily! As an aunty to both a niece and a nephew, she goes home as a role model for their future.”
eXXpedition North Pacific crew member and marine scientist Laura Leiva shares our event-filled last few days on board (and on land!)“After a phenomenal talk at an event Patagonia hosted for eXXpedition crewmembers in Victoria, BC we all felt proud of each other and sad because our journey together is almost over. Even though we were no longer enclosed in our 72 ft long home, we couldn’t manage to put more than 5 ft between each other. Reminding us of the special women empowerment bond we formed over the last week. Our talk was about our reasons for joining eXXpedition, how to communicate the issue of marine plastic pollution, solutions toward stopping it and the scientific sampling done on board.
As part of the science team alongside brilliant marine researcher Imogen Napper, we explained how we took sediment samples, air samples and water samples to look at the amount of plastic fibers, nanoplastics, and contaminants absorbed by microplastics. Reminding our audience that sea birds, fish and other marine life are feeding on plastics and toxic chemicals and potentially ending in out plates through seafood consumption.
Afterwards we enjoyed our first and only meal on land and had a vivid talk about our favorite moments (top 1: Orca sighting, my top 2: delicious veggie burger dinner on deck) and our future plans towards tackling marine plastic pollution. We all went back excited to finally have at least 6 uninterrupted hours of sleep, but the safety of sleeping on dock didn’t last long.
At around 7 am we were awoken with a repeated: “Sea Dragon , Sea Dragon do you need assistance?“ As our incredibly brave and competent boat crew sailed toward Port Angeles, WA, our steering cable snapped just 1 mile and a half away from the harbor. Luckily we had a group of insistent coast guards ready to tow us, “boat drama” we all laughed as we wondered if their eagerness was solely based on the appealing task of ‘rescuing’ an all-women crew ship.”
eXXpedition North Pacific crew member and TV presenter Victoria Fritz explores how this voyage has shaped how she thinks about plasticIn this nowhere place, the sunlight diffuses over the growing swell. Adrenaline rises. Everything looms and recedes in greys and whites. Saltspray renders my sunglasses useless. I adopt a squint and wide stance I hope suggests a confidence in our progress. We hunker down, backs to the wind, in fleeces and wet weather gear. We sail for the Broken Islands. A promised place of wild beauty.
I reflect on the talk our resident scientist gave as the sun set over Diver Bay in the Gulf Islands on a perfectly clear summer evening just one night before. “We women sail in a plastic boat, powered by plastic sails hoisted by plastic ropes. Even our waterproofs are covered in plastic.” How ironic, I think now, looking at our drenched skipper in full waterproofs, grinding in the mainsail through gritted teeth and practised hands.
Polymers propel us forward. Our mission is to learn about the invisible sea of plastic beneath our hull. To make the unseen seen. On board and down below deck is Imogen Napper. Imogen’s first research paper led to the removal of plastic in facial scrubs across the world. Of all people on board, surely Imogen would be the first demonise the plastic world in which we live. Not so, she tells me, as she clears away our lunch dishes.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria and Irma, Imogen slept under a tarpaulin. By day, she coordinated the delivery of medical aid, shelter, food, and water to people who had lost everything. As a military liaison officer, almost all of the emergency aid Imogen administered was enabled by plastic. Plastic syringes and drips, water butts, freeze dried packaged food, sacks of grain, whole tented communities.
Plastic is one of humanity’s greatest achievements. By rearranging simple carbon and hydrogen atoms in ever more creative ways, lives that have been ripped apart by natural disasters can be pieced together by plastic. Imogen, our resident scientist and clean ocean advocate, saw this first hand.
A hundred years ago, Le o Baekeland’s company, Bakelite, adopted the logo of the infinity loop. The boastful strap line was Bakelite: The Material of a Thousand Uses. What an underestimation that turned out to be. 300 million tonnes are produced every year. A thousand years on from today, will we still find plastic in our oceans, in our drinking water and in the air that we breathe?
The problem, it seems to me, isn’t plastic itself. Plastic is just the symptom. The real problem is over-consumption. Human ingenuity will always rise to the challenge of need. We are extraordinary like that. The problem with people is that time and time again, need slides impercptibly into greed.
As a kid, the environmentalists’ bete-noir was deforestation of the Amazonian rainfor ests. The world’s green lungs that carbon-captured our bad habits were slashed and burnt. We would choke on our own ambition. A problem exposed but unsolved, the pendulum of public judgment has swung firmly against the use of plastic. Corporates scramble to remain on message. Codes of conduct are produced with the solemnity one might expect of religious scripture. Consumers struggle to wade through the murky pond of marketing spin and PR platitudes.
An obvious answer is to reverse engineer our way out. If we can make it so well, surely we can find a way to bring it back to its natural contituent parts? What seems improbable to scientists now, may not be impossible. Perhaps a new material can be made; one that is superior in its value to society but without the untold costs we pay for our addiction to “more”. We can, and should, live in hope.
I am no scientist. Neither will I stand by and let this be someone else’s problem. Whilst I may not be able to reassemble atoms, I can reassemble my values. Consume less. Live more. Choose wisely. I choose time well spent. I choose to place greater value on fewer things and to make responsible choices that stand up to the scrutiny of the next generation.”
