It has been a very busy and intense winter for Ocean Missions!
As our research grows and covers more content, while our steps lead us to go further into the world of marine scientific research and to open up to other entities, universities and events, there are more and more opportunities that we have to take our work and our dedication to new and extremely interesting places and people.
These new possibilities have led us to present our studies, results, passion and commitment in three prestigious events organized around the world (and soon they will take us even further, but I don’t want to give you spoilers!)
So… where have we been?
ASSW – Artic Science Summit Week, in Vienna
Belén represented Ocean Missions at the Arctic Science Summit Week, in Vienna, during the week of February 17-24.
The Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) is organized annually by the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) to provide opportunities for coordination, cooperation and collaboration between the various scientific organizations involved in Arctic research. It was initiated by the IASC in 1999 and has evolved into the most important annual gathering of the Arctic research organization, so we feel very honored to be able to participate.
During this seminar, called “Combining citizen-science with micro – and macroplastic research in Iceland” we talked about the birth of OM as a result of a real need to better understand the current problems facing the arctic and sub-arctic oceans, and to relate the science in a more humane and close way with the people of the region and with all those who come to visit our wonderful home: create and promote an eco-tourism movement in Iceland that helps us conserve our ecosystems without depriving people of the chance to discover them.
We also spoke about our latest major win, the creation of the First Hope Spot in Iceland! And about our research on micro and macroplastics, exposing our research methods and our results.
We look forward to coming back next year with new and equally exciting discoveries and projects!
Marlice Islands, Canary Islands
We also had the great honour of being able to participate in the I International Forum on Marine Litter & Circular Economy in Islands Environments, which took place in Puerto la Cruz, Tenerife, on March 7 and 8, 2023.
This forum, led by people full of energy and desire to change the world, invited us to represent the work that is being carried out in Iceland right now to preserve the island from plastic pollution, as well as to give voice to the entities and individuals who fight against this problem on our beautiful island every day.
For this, Carlota gave a seminar on all the work we have been doing not only collecting and studying microplastics in the high seas from the Opal in various transects around the Icelandic coast, but also on the dozens of beach clean-ups we have carried out since 2019 by the entire northeast coast of Iceland. These beach clean-ups have involved hundreds of people, both local and foreign, and have put schools, institutes and entities of all kinds to work. Carlota talked about all this in her presentation, in addition to presenting our results on the amounts, types, and material of the plastics that we have found.
Thanks to this forum we have been able to meet many people dedicated to the same objectives as us, wanting to put in advance territories as diverse and rich as there are islands in the world, and we have seen that we still have a lot of work ahead of us to ensure that Iceland is at the forefront of the treatment of plastics and the problems that derive from them.
There is still a lot of work to be done, and that is why we are here!
Ocean Missions has many future plans to fight marine litter. Interested? We will tell you everything here and through our social networks ☺
Sustainability Conference, at the University of Akureyri
For the third consecutive year, the University of Akureyri hosted the Sustainability Conference, on March 31 of this year 2023, for its students as well as for organizations and laboratories in the area, to bring the research and discoveries of all to the population in general.
The event was once again free, which we think is great and very much in line with our intention to make information easier to access, and we were surrounded by passionate people who inspired us greatly.
For our part, Charla presented the poster that we had designed in which you can find all the information about our studies in macro and micro plastics last year. We leave it here to you to see. What do you think? We really love how it turned out!
The summer season will start soon, and we are looking forward to working hard and with a lot of company, for next year to have even more opportunities like these!
A million thanks to all the people who have counted on us, who have given us their support and who have wanted to learn more about the mission that we hold so close to our hearts.
Soon more and better!
