Megan Grant is currently undertaking her PhD exploring the relationship between seabirds and their terrestrial habitats, while Gabrielle Henderson is in the process of completing her undergraduate studies in Marine Biology at the University of Tasmania.

Both ladies are involved in projects at Adrift Lab. We first broached the issue of marine plastics and their impact on seabirds in Season 2 Episode 33 with Dr Jack Auty, and in this conversation, Megan and Gabrielle expand on this pressing issue by discussing Megan’s previous publications and Gabrielle’s upcoming research paper!

In this episode we discuss:
• Megan’s background, her amazing honours project and, more recently, her three-minute thesis
• Gabrielle’s background and her recent pivot from seaweed to seabirds
• Both ladies’ experience with Adrift Lab
• The plastic polluted paradise that is Lord Howe Island
• Ingestion and transportation of plastics by seabirds
• Marine debris as nesting material – where it comes from and why it’s a problem
• Current methods for estimating levels of debris in birds’ nests and why standardised measurements are so important
• Approaches to reduce plastic pollution and the (slow) translation of research into policy
• Future plans, research and direction for both ladies (with kudos to Gabrielle for her upcoming scientific paper – a great achievement for an undergrad!)

To view all the links to the websites and documents, make sure you visit the show notes on our website. Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast, leave us a review and share this episode with your friends and family.

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