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Welcoming and Opening Remarks (9 am)

Anthony Marchese, Dean, College of Engineering / Professor, Mechanical, Industrial and Systems Engineering, University of Rhode Island

Intro to the University of Rhode Island – College of Engineering

Vinka Oyanedel-Craver, Director URI Plastic: Land to Sea / Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Program, College of Engineering / Professor, Civil, and Environmental Engineering / Director, Rhode Island Water Resources Center, University of Rhode Island

National and Global Plastic Perspective / Opening Keynote Speaker + Panel (9:10 am)

In February 2022, at the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.2), a historic resolution (5/14) was adopted to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment with the ambition to complete the negotiations by end of 2024. This session will explore what is the plastics problem from a national and global lens with a discussion of what is needed for solution. 

Jonathan Gillibrand, Senior Advisor on Plastics, US Department of State, Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs

Manuel Carmona Yebra, Counselor for Environment and Oceans at the Delegation of the European Union in the US 

Karla Pozo Gallardo, Universidad San Sebastián, Chile

Ebenezer Owusu-Addo, Director, Bureau of Integrated Rural Development (BIRD), College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana 

Session 2: State of the Science (11 am)

Kay Ho, Research Scientist, US Environmental Protection Agency, Atlantic Coastal Environmental Sciences Division

Status of microplastic methods

Mark Hahn, Senior Scientist, Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)

Plastics and ocean health

Ludovic Hermabessiere, Research Associate, National Research Council of Canada

Philip J. Landrigan,  Director, Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good and Global Observatory on Planetary Health, Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society, Boston College

The Minderoo-Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health

Jaime Ross, Assistant Professor of Neuroscience, George and Anne Ryan Institute for Neuroscience, Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Rhode Island

Breakout Sessions (1:30 pm)

Breakout 1: Circular Economy/Remove, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: opportunities and challenges

Vinka Oyanedel-Craver, Director, URI Plastics: Land to Sea, Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Yaw Amo Sarpong, Coordinator, KNUST Short Courses/Special Programmes, Environmental; Scientist, Bureau of Integrated Rural Development; (BIRD, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)

Making science and technology education relevant to all through strategic collaborations

Robert Allen, Senior Research Fellow, BOTTLE Consortium, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Polymer/Plastics recycling: Challenges and opportunities

Linda Molnar, Program Director, Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, National Science Foundation; (NSF-TIP)

Rob Torgerson, Vice President Operations and Owner, Kestrel Innovation Fibers, LLC

Planet or plastic?

David Bethoney, PhD, Executive Director, Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation

Ghost gear as plastic waste: Opportunities and challenges

Breakout 2: Marine Plastics: Science and Impacts

Andrew Davies, Associate Professor in Biological Sciences, University of Rhode Island

Britta Baechler, Associate Director of Ocean Plastics Research, Ocean Conservancy

Eric Chassignet, Professor and Director, Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies (COAPS), Florida State University

Karla Pozo Gallardo, Biólogo Marino, Universidad San Sebastián, Chile

Koty Sharp, Associate Professor, Biology, Marine Biology & Environmental Science, Roger Williams University

Coleen Suckling, Assistant Professor in Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Science, University of Rhode Island

Breakout Sessions (3 pm)

Breakout 1: Consumer Behavior/Social Interventions

Emi Uchida, Professor in Environmental and Natural Resources and Economics ; Associate Director of URI Coastal Institute, University of Rhode Island

Randomized evaluations for evidence-based decision making: Testing the impact of nudges on plastic bag reduction: A pilot study in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Lisa Erdle, Director of Science and Innovation, 5 Gyres Institute

Overview of 5 Gyres: Science to Solutions

Joshua Abbott, Professor, Environmental and Resource Economics, School of Sustainability, Arizona State University

Reducing plastic pollution: Policy approaches

David McLaughlin, Program Services Officer, Office of the Director, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management

Consumer Behavior/Social Interventions

A discussion of policies and social interventions to reduce plastic waste, and what’s needed for evidence-based decision making

Sarah Davis, Doctoral Student, Biological & Environmental Sciences, University of Rhode Island

Mapping microplastics: A citizen science initiative to map the presence of microplastic pollution in our local ecosystems

Breakout 2: Convergence approach to accelerating the design of novel materials

Melissa Omand, Associate Professor, Oceanography, University of Rhode Island

Allison Pieja, Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer, Mango Materials

Anne Schauer-Gimenez, Co-founder and Chief Operations Officer, Mango Materials

Mango Materials: Convergence approach to accelerating the design of novel materials

Cedric Guidgand, Senior Research Associate, University of Miami, Co-Founder, GreenWave Instruments, LLC

Madison Cohen, Laboratory Assistant, Santoro Lab, University of California, Santa Barbara

Aurali Dade, Program Officer, NSF Convergence Accelerator

Lorén Spears (Narragansett-Niantic), Executive Director, Tomaquag Museum (Land Acknowledgement)

Session 5: Towards an Equitable Approach to Marine Plastic Pollution (4:30 pm)

Yoshi Ota, Professor of Practice, School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, University of Washington; Director, NF Ocean Nexus Center at EarthLab, University of Washington

Towards an equitable approach to marine plastic pollution

Ocean Nexus Recommendations For UN Plastics Negotiations

Chris Gaynor, Climate Justice Specialist, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management

Linda Molnar, Program Director, Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, National Science Foundation; (NSF-TIP)

Ebenezer Owusu-Addo, Director, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana

Lorén Spears, (Narragansett-Niantic), Executive Director, Tomaquag Museum

Jess Vandenberg, Postdoctoral Research Scholar, School of Marine & Environmental Affairs, University of Washington, University of Washington

Closing remarks, poster session & reception sponsored by US Extruders (6 pm)