Talk on Plastic Pollution

Dorothy Horn with research subject.

May is Rise Above Plastics Month in Oregon, and to kick it off CoastWatch is sponsoring a talk on the plague of plastics in the ocean and on the shore.  The speaker is Dorothy Horn, a PhD candidate at Portland State University who is studying marine debris, and in particular the impact of “microplastics,” very small plastic bits in the environment that can work their way up the food chain.  Horn will speak on Sunday, May 5, 2 p.m., at Clatsop Community College (1675 Lexington Ave.) in Astoria.  The talk will take place in 207 Patriot Hall (at the corner of 16th and Lexington--use the main entrance to Patriot Hall off Lexington).

Horn is doing research on the impacts of microplastics on Pacific Mole Crabs, Surf Perch and other nearshore invertebrates along the Oregon coast, Hawaii and Costa Rica.  Her talk at our recent Sharing the Coast Conference was very well received—if you missed that, here’s another chance.

Horn is a Marine Corps veteran and a Graduate Research Fellow for the National Science Foundation.  She received her B.S. in Environmental Science and Resource Management at California State University Channel Islands, where she began her studies of microplastics.  She is now a PhD student at Portland State University in the Environmental Science and Management program where students, researchers and faculty work with non-profit organizations, as well as local, state and federal partners, to conduct important research and find collaborative solutions with science and policy. 

The event will also include information about CoastWatch’s marine debris monitoring project.

For more information about this event, and about Oregon Shores’ marine debris monitoring efforts in Clatsop County, contact Oregon Shores board member Ed Joyce, (503) 468-0995, edjoyce1@verizon.net.