6:00 PM: Mexican Dinner – Tariff: $15.00 (if eating)
Contact Freddie Smith for Reservations / Cancellations at 312-842-7100 or Freddie@mcri.org
by Noon, Thursday, September 26, 2019.

7:00 PM: Presentation
Environmental accumulation of plastic waste is a topic of increasing concern in the public and scientific press. Understanding the sources, abundance, fate, and biological interactions of plastic litter in the environment is needed to draft policies for conservation, management, and priorities in materials research. Studies which examine the ecology of plastic litter are common for marine biology. Rivers are implicated as a primary source of plastic litter to oceans, but there are few measurements of plastic abundance and dispersal within rivers. Here, I will review the status of research in ‘garbage’ ecology, including rates of plastic production, disposal, and accumulation. I will show how basic methods used for naturally occurring particles and organisms can be adapted to quantify plastic abundance, movement, and biological impacts in freshwater ecosystems. Methodological approaches include surveys, experimental manipulations of plastic, analysis of citizen-science datasets, and community outreach. While not yet a major contributor to the field of research in plastic ecology, freshwater ecologists are well positioned to make significant contributions to emerging accountings for global plastic budgets and to develop efficient tools for litter management and prevention.

Bio Sketch: Dr. Tim Hoellein is an aquatic ecologist and Associate Professor in the Biology Department at Loyola University Chicago. He is an ecosystem ecologist with a focus on measuring the movement and biological interactions of dissolved and particulate pollution in urban streams. His research includes measurements from disciplines that examine element cycles, hydrologic transport, and microbiology. In addition to contributing to scholarly research, Dr. Hoellein seeks connections for direct applications of his work to policy, management, and education.

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