Plastic found in the environment is a growing issue because of its many negative effects such as ingestion by wildlife, entanglement of marine species and the transportation of invasive species. We now understand that this list of negative effects is expanding. Plastic is ubiquitously present in our daily life and is also found everywhere in the environment from the North Pole to the South Pole and even at the deepest parts of our ocean (Mariana Trench).

Still, many scientific questions remain unanswered and our lab is investigating on pressing questions to help better understand the extent of the problem. Our lab recently started working on different collaborative projects in relation to the degradation processes of plastics, the geographical distribution of plastic marine debris, the ingestion of plastic by wildlife and also the characterization of plastic debris on worldwide beaches through citizen science project and with the help of Parley.