Prominent Oceanography Research Professor to Give Woodworth Lecture in the Sciences
Research Professor of Oceanography at Sea Education Association in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, Dr. Kara Lavender Law will speak on “A Global Look at Plastic in the Ocean.”
This lecture, which will take place virtually, will be held on Wednesday, May 11 at 7 PM ET. The event, which is this year’s Robert H. Woodworth Lecture in the Sciences, is free and open to the public.
Since the 2000s, when ocean plastic pollution first became an issue of environmental concern, scientists have documented microplastics in every ocean in the world, as well as in freshwater, soils, the air, and in the human body. The identification of microplastics seemingly everywhere we look has prompted alarm and further study, as major gaps remain in understanding the magnitude and severity of the problem. This talk will discuss the plastics problem from an environmental perspective, examining its impact on wildlife and human health, and asking what can be done to reduce and manage the plastics under production, and those we have with us today.
Dr. Lavender Law will be introduced by Beyond Plastics' Policy Director, Dr. Megan Wolff, and will lead a discussion on the plastics problem from an environmental perspective, examining its impact on wildlife and human health, and asking what can be done to reduce and manage the plastics under production, and those we have with us today.
As a Research Professor of Oceanography, Dr. Lavender Law holds a PhD from Scripps Institution of Oceanography/UCSD, Physical Oceanography, a BS in Mathematics from Duke University, and her primary research and areas of interest include large-scale and mesoscale ocean circulation; intermediate and deep water formation in the North Atlantic and its role in the meridional overturning circulation; the distribution of plastic marine debris driven by ocean physics; and the degradation and ultimate fate of plastics in the ocean.
Established in 1988 by former students, the Robert H. Woodworth Science Lecture Series honors a longtime Bennington biology faculty member and pioneer in the development of time-lapse photography.