This presentation is part of the Young Scientist Webinar Series, hosted by the Cape Perpetua Collaborative featuring graduate students and postdocs sharing their ocean research.
DESCRIPTION
Plastic pollution continues to rise with millions of tons entering the oceans annually. Researchers are still clarifying what risks plastics pose to marine organisms, which can be challenging due to their trait diversity and spatial patchiness. Zooplankton were collected off the Northern California and Oregon coasts in 2019 to identify what types of plastics they’re ingesting and inform future risk assessments.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER, ANNA BOLM: Faculty Research Assistant, Cooperative Institute for Marine Ecosystem and Resources Studies, Hatfield Marine Science Center, Oregon State University
Originally from the Midwest, Anna grew up surrounded by cornfields and never imagined a future studying the ocean. Before joining the sciences, she earned a studio arts degree in sculpture from the University of Illinois at Chicago. After a second bachelor’s in environmental science and management from Portland State University, she was fortunate to be selected as an Oregon Sea Grant Summer Scholar. This position exposed her to an exciting variety of marine research at the Hatfield Marine Science Center, where she recently completed her masters in fisheries science. She is now a phytoplankton ecologist for Oregon State University’s NOAA collaboration, the Cooperative Institute for Marine and Ecosystem Resources Studies. When not working, she enjoys freediving, running, foraging, and building furniture.
