1. New (SAD) Scientific Discovery by LABMATE
My officemate and a fellow researcher in Oxford's Ocean Research & Conservation Group, Dr Michelle Taylor, has found the first evidence of microplastic being ingested by deep sea animals. Read her paper at: You can read more about microplastics on this NOAA webpage. They first appeared in personal care products about fifty years ago. On December 28, 2015, President Obama signed the Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015, banning plastic microbeads in cosmetics and personal care products. Other countries are following suit. It was a major topic of discussion at the Our Ocean conference, which I attended last month (that story here). | Image credit http://brenmicroplastics.weebly.com/impacts.html |
2. SPEAKING IN LONDON, OPEN TO ALL
This Thursday (Oct 6) I'll be speaking at Kings College London about ocean exploration. Everyone is welcome. At 6pm in the Pyramid Room, the talk part of their Intrepid Explorers series and will most likely precede some sort of pub outing. Thanks Rebecca Farnum, author of Defending the Deep - Guardians of the Sea (!), for inviting me! |
3. Speaking at Oxford Animal Ethics Society
I'll also be speaking alongside two other scholars again at the Oxford Animal Ethics Society, where we're sharing our presentation on how SeaWorld could replace their captive animal shows with virtual and artificial reality entertainment. It's the same presentation we won for at the 2016 International Business Ethics Competition (that story here).
Later this month, I'll be traveling to Kansas to work with the rest of the team bringing the Pisces VI submarine back into operation as a deep-sea research vessel. From there, I'll head to the BLUE Ocean Film Festival in Florida to reconnect with Mission 31 crew and with the SailFuture team.