The Science of Microplastics in the World Ocean - Program
An International Workshop to Formulate Next Steps in Understanding the Fate, Distribution, Impacts, and Technology Development Necessary to Push the Science
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Lillie Auditorium, 7 MBL Street, Woods Hole
| 6:30pm | Open Public Event: Microplastics in the Ocean: Emergency or Exaggeration? This will be a public forum with keynote speaker Dr. Kara Lavender-Law (Sea Education Association) followed by a panel discussion of the global significance of microplastics with Chelsea Rochman, Hauke Kite-Powell, Gunnar Gerdts, Shige Takada and Colin Ward, all experts and global leaders in microplastic research. The panel discussion with the audience participation will be moderated by U.S. National Public Radio science reporter Dr. Heather Goldstone Video of Morss Colloquium |
| 8:00pm | Reception and Icebreaker (Tent next to Redfield Building) |
Wednesday, October 16 - Redfield Auditorium, Woods Hole
| 8:00am | Morning refreshments |
| 8:30am | Welcome and Introductory Remarks (Scott Gallager, WHOI, and Rick Murray, Deputy Director and Vice President for Research, WHOI) |
| 8:45am | Report out on Summary of Critical questions from questioner survey |
| Summaries of Recent Major Workshops (Moderator: Scott Gallager) |
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| 9:00am | Richard Thompson (University of Plymouth, UK) Marine Litter are there solutions to this global environmental problem? Video of Remote Presentation |
| 9:30am | Bart Koelmans (Wageningen University & Research, Netherlands) Microplastic in Nature and Society: Science Advice for Policy by European Academies (SAPEA) PPT Presentation (pdf) Video of Presentation |
| 10:00am | Break |
| Summaries of major academic programs (Moderator: Scott Gallager) | |
| 10:15am | Gunnar Gerdts (Alfred Wegener Institute) Defining the Baselines and Standards for Microplastics Analyses in European Waters (BASEMAN), lessons learned PPT Presentation (pdf) |
| 10:45am | Isabelle Schultz (JPI - Oceans Program) Ecological aspects of microplastics: JPI Oceans aligns research across 16 countries PPT Presentation (pdf) Video of Presentation |
| The Need for Standards and Best-Practices in Sampling and Reporting Methods (Moderator: Scott Gallager) |
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| 11:15am | Jennifer Lynch (National Institute of Standards and Technology, Hawaii Pacific University, Center for Marine Debris Research) Standards for Measurement Science of Microplastic Pollution PPT Presentation (pdf) |
| 11:35am | Brett Howard (American Chemistry Council) Microplastics Standards – Status and Future Needs PPT Presentation (pdf) Video of Presentation |
| 11:55am | Linda Amaral-Zettler (NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research) Next-Generation Science for Microbial Biodegradation Standards for Biobased Plastics Video of Remote Presentation |
| 12:15pm | Lunch |
| Current State-of-the-Art in Polymer Classification from Lab and Field Samples (Moderator: Anna Michel, WHOI) |
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| 1:00pm | Claire Gwinnett (Staffordshire University) The use of Forensic Fibre Examinations for Microplastic Studies PPT Presentation (pdf) Video of Presentation |
| 1:20pm | Scott Gallager (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) Microplastic Particle Analysis of Hudson River Surface Water Using Novel Flow-Through Imaging Raman Spectroscopy PPT Presentation (pdf) Video of Presentation |
| 1:40pm | Sebastian Primpke (Alfred Wegener Institute) Harmonized Analysis of Microplastics by FTIR Spectroscopy and Imaging PPT Presentation (pdf) Video of Presentation |
| 2:00pm | Ashok Deshpande (NOAA Fisheries) Plastic Polymer Quest Using Pyrolysis GC-MS PPT Presentation (pdf) Video of Presentation |
| 2:20pm | Break |
| 2:30pm | Plenary: Introduction to Breakout Groups |
| Groups 1-4: Sampling, processing, and reporting standards (water column, sediment, biota, standards for interlab calibration) | |
| Groups 5-8: Sensing and detecting MPs in the environment. What new technologies are needed to develop a global MP budget? | |
| 3:40pm | Breakout Groups Switch Topics |
| 4:40pm | Plenary report-out |
| 5:45pm | Shuttle to Clark Lab |
| 6:00pm | Poster session and Reception – Clark Lab 507, Quissett Campus |
Thursday, October 17 - Redfield Auditorium, Woods Hole
Friday, October 18 - Redfield Auditorium, Woods Hole
| 8:00am | Morning refreshments |
| Industry and Foundation Overviews The role of industry in research, technology development and clean-up (Moderator: Brett Howard, ACC) |
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| 8:30am | Brett Howard (American Chemical Council) The American Chemistry Council and industry efforts to understand microplastics PPT Presentation (pdf) Video of Presentation |
| 8:50am | Ron Abbott (Chevron Phillips) An Industrial View of the Global Plastics Problem PPT Presentation (pdf) Video of Presentation |
| 9:10am | Todd Gouin (Researcher and Consultant ) Towards the development and application of an environmental risk assessment framework for microplastic particles PPT Presentation (pdf) Video of Presentation |
| The Roles Modeling Can Play to Describe Distribution and fate of MP (Moderator: Jake Gebbie, WHOI) |
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| 9:30am | Jake Gebbie, and Carol Anne Clayson (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) The search for the missing microplastics: how and where do microplastics get transported below the sea surface? PPT Presentation Video of Presentation |
| 9:50am | Mikael Kaandorp, (Utrecht University, Netherlands) How can we use Lagrangian models to explore microplastic particle behavior and properties? PPT Presentation (pdf) Video of Presentation |
| 10:10am | Kara Lavender Law (Sea Education Association) Plastics as tracers to understand physical ocean processes PPT Presentation (pdf) Video of Presentation |
| 10:30am | Coffee Break |
| Nanoplastics as a Particular Threat in the Food Chain and in Human Health (Moderator: Mark Hahn, WHOI) |
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| 10:45am | Michaela Meyns (Alfred Wegener Institute) Nanoplastics – from basics to analysis PPT Presentation (pdf) Video of Presentation |
| 11:05am | Tanja Kogel (Institute of Marine Research, Norway) Reviewing physiological effects of micro- and nanoplastic particles on water biota, the lack of quantitative data on them, and our efforts to provide them PPT Presentation (pdf) Video of Presentation |
| 11:25am | Dror Angel (University of Haifa, Israel) Micro and Nanoplastics – can we reduce their flux into the environment? PPT Presentation (pdf) Video of Presentation |
| 11:45am | Stephanie Wright (King’s College London) Microplastics as a novel air pollutant: challenges, implications and the future PPT Presentation (pdf) Video of Presentation |
| 12:05pm | Lunch |
| 12:45pm | Breakout Groups |
| Groups 1-4: How can industry help, what should we be doing? | |
| What drives the perception of microplastic impacts with the public, policymakers and scientists? | |
| Groups 5-8: The fast track to modeling fate and transport | |
| Understanding mechanisms of NP impacts--Do they exist? | |
| 2:00pm | Plenary report out |
| 2:30pm | Final Plenary Wrap-up |
| What have we learned and where do we go from here? What is the 5-10 year plan? | |
| Develop major sections of the workshop report for manuscript | |
| 3:30 pm | Workshop closes |