Marcus Eriksen, co-founder of the 5 Gyres Institute and an expert on the ecological damage of plastic pollution in the oceans, will share his insights into the havoc that trash wreaks on wildlife, waterways, and the food supply at international environmental consulting firm Marstel-Day’s Wildlife Conservation Awareness Campaign event Monday, May 11, from noon to 1:30 p.m. Eastern time. His talk is titled “Plastic in the Ocean Gyres and Its Impact on Wildlife.”
Eriksen’s remarks will be livestreamed online and broadcast to the firm’s Fredericksburg, Va. headquarters, where the public is invited to attend. Instructions for watching the livestream will be posted on marstel-day.com the morning of the May 11 presentation. To watch the broadcast from the Fredericksburg office at 513 Prince Edward St., please register by email to [email protected].
“The impact of trash, and especially plastics, on the ocean gyres and its wildlife–as well as to our food chain–are orders of magnitude worse than what most people realize or understand them to be,” said Marstel-Day President and CEO Rebecca R. Rubin. Rubin created Marstel-Day’s Wildlife Conservation Awareness Campaign (WCAC) speaker series to highlight major wildlife conservation issues and to present ways that individuals and organizations can help.
Eriksen’s presentation will draw from his experiences sailing 35,000 miles through the five subtropical gyres to discover new patches of garbage polluting the Southern Hemisphere. His first book, My River Home, chronicled his 2,000-mile, 5-month journey down the Mississippi River on a homemade raft, paralleling that odyssey of self-preservation with his tour as a Marine in the 1991 Gulf War. “We must understand and define conservation as self-preservation–a rationale that crosses all boundaries between all people,” said Eriksen, who has a Ph.D. in science education from the University of Southern California.
The 5 Gyres Institute drives marine conservation through research, education, and action, including Eriksen’s lectures about the plague of plastic waste in watersheds and seas.
WCAC event videos are posted on marstel-day.com. Previous speakers in the series have included senior U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service official Brian Arroyo identifying ways that the illegal wildlife trade threatens populations of endangered species; Dr. Mamie Parker celebrating efforts to reconnect children to nature; Discover Nature Apps co-founder Evan Hirsche on smartphone technology as a way for Americans to appreciate and interact with public lands; and all-star drummer Rich Redmond’s high-energy performing and philosophy for success coupled with his environmental ethic on ways individuals can serve the planet.
Marstel-Day is an international natural resource and environmental services management consulting firm that provides innovative solutions, including: climate and water risk analysis and mitigation, land use/encroachment management, sustainability management, energy planning, and natural resource services, to business, government, and nonprofit clients.
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