On January 28th, I attended a lecture in the Rita Center focused on marine life. This event was sponsored by the Biology department and the Environmental Studies graduate program. The impactful talk was given by Dr. Qamar Schuyler, who is an research scientist at CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere. She also graduated from the environmental studies program at C of C in 2004! Despite an extremely successful, and what she described as a “rabbit hole”, career path Dr. Schuyler made the talk easy to grasp for everyone.

The “plasticine era” is a section of the Anthropocene, focusing on the overuse and misuse of plastic in today’s society. Dr. Schuyler’s expertise was on marine debris and how it is affecting ecosystems and species. One major piece of the talk that was surprising to me was the size of debris in the ocean. I honestly imagined a massive and clumped together mound of trash; however, the exact opposite is true. Dr. Schuyler showed a picture of the densest amount of trash in the ocean, and it looked like a few specks floating around. This magnitude of this problem makes more sense now, considering the difficulty in rounding up all of this microscopic debris. Over 700 species have been proven to be affected by marine debris, from animals at the bottom of the food chain to predators. Typical interference is caused by either entanglement or digestion. Dr. Schuyler measured the lethality of plastic by recording and comparing sea turtles fatality reports. She shockingly found that if one piece of plastic is consumed, there is a 22% jump in the chance of mortality. As if this isn’t already terrifying enough, the chemicals used in the production of plastics can also soak into the tissues of marine animals and has the ability to alter their genes. If you are looking at this with an anthropocentric mindset, this also relates to any sushi lovers. Scientist still do not know if these chemicals can be transferred to our systems through fish digestion, but it is certainly possible.

Typically with talks addressing the subject of environmental problems, a sense of helplessness settles in. Dr. Schuyler combated this by offering possible ways to get involved in this complex problem. She described the “Plastic Pipeline” which is essentially the economic and social processes that are required for plastic to get to the ocean. Instead of leaving it at this, she explained all of the places where intervention is possible. This reminded me of the “Story of Stuff” video that we watched in class. Although this video addressed a different waste problem, it tied into the theme of overconsumption and disconnection in our industry. Breaking down these wicked and overwhelming problems into the sequence of events that creates them allows them to be understood. Dr. Schuyler ended the talk on a positive note, simply saying that it is possible to fix this problem. What is necessary is for everyday people to have empathy and become advocates for problems that might not directly affect them. The bottom up method works! I left the talk feeling impressed with the drive and knowledge Dr. Schuyler has put into this topic. It is comforting that there are people like her in the world.

On January 28th I attended Dr. Qamar Schuyler’s seminar ‘Marine Life and Governance in the Plasticene Era.’ The event was sponsored by the Biology Department and the Environmental Studies graduate program at the College of Charleston. Dr. Schuyler began with a brief overview of her career path before launching into her main topic: marine debris and its impacts on wildlife. To introduce marine debris, she provided some sobering statistics: 80% or more of marine debris is plastic, and 4-12 million tons enter the oceans each year from a large majority of land based sources. The planet’s coastlines contain 8 million tons of plastic, which is equivalent to 5 shopping bags of plastic for every square foot of coastline. This enormous amount of plastic is currently known to affect over 700 marine species, either through entanglement or ingestion. The chemicals impregnated into plastics during their production are also known endocrine disruptors, which have been shown to deregulate gene expression in fish. In Dr. Schuyler’s own research on Moreton Bay sea turtles, she has found that ingestion of 14 pieces of plastic has a 50% mortality rate (LD50). Even more shocking, ingestion of just one piece of plastic has a 22% mortality rate! After explaining her findings, Dr. Schuyler made suggestions for possible governance solutions and factors that influence their success, including income and population density. She argued that even though ocean cleanup efforts are helpful and necessary, policy changes are needed in order to mitigate the improper disposal of these plastics. Some solutions she offered included bioplastics, container deposit legislation, and education and outreach programs.

For me, this seminar illustrated how science can inform policy and improve the environment. I sometimes feel overwhelmed by the world’s environmental crises, especially with the current U.S. political climate. However, this event made me feel more optimistic and empowered. I appreciated that Dr. Schuyler ended on a positive note by discussing some different ways that we can work toward a more sustainable future. By incentivizing recycling and educating the public on the dangers of plastic, we can hopefully decrease the production of new plastics and create a larger market for bioplastics. Additionally, continuing our understanding of the effects of plastic on animals and humans will aid in solving the issue. This seminar connects well to The Story of Stuff and our exploration of possible interventions along the linear economy that most of the world operates on. Dr. Schuyler acknowledged that intervention at the end of the chain through ocean cleanups does not improve the root of the issue: continual plastic production. In order to stop improper disposal and lessen production, we have to change our policies. Policy is useful because it can also intervene at consumption. If individuals are informed about the dangers of plastics, they may be less likely to continue purchasing such large quantities of it. Lastly, this seminar connects to the interdisciplinary nature of environmental sciences and sustainability studies by forming a link between scientific research and social and political issues through public policy. Without researching the effects our actions and policies have on the environment and other forms of life, all of our environmental efforts would be pure conjecture.