RESEARCH
Life on Floating Plastics
Plastic pollution in the ocean is a truly global issue. Each year, millions of tons of plastic enter the world’s oceans, ranging from tiny microplastics, to massive, abandoned fishing nets. Yet, relatively little is known about how plastics move in the ocean and the life that forms on and around them. Floating Ocean Ecosystems (FloatEco) is a research collaborative that aims to better describe the physical and biological dynamics of floating plastics in the open ocean and their emergent properties as a new marine ecosystem.
Project Highlights
Plastics as a marine invasive species vector
Modeling floating plastics in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Tracking & removing large floating plastics
About Us
Our mission
The FloatEco team seeks to better understand dynamics of floating plastics in open ocean environments. Our work currently focuses on the area of greatest plastic accumulation in the ocean - the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (aka Great Pacific Garbage Patch).
Multi-institution Collaboration
FloatEco is an interdisciplinary team of researchers from seven different academic, government, and not-for-profit institutions. Our work, funded in part by NASA, synthesizes the expertise of oceanographers, biologists, and practitioners to answer challenging questions about the state of plastic pollution in the open ocean.