Today’s guests were Shannon Gowans and Amy Siuda, professors at Eckerd College located in St. Petersburg, Fl.
At Eckerd’s, Shannon is a Professor of Marine Science and Biology, and Amy is an Associate Professor of Marine Science there as well. They both lead the Tampa Bay Microplastics Monitoring Project and the Reduce Single-Use Project at Eckerd College.
We talked about the grant funded scientific research they are conducting in the Tampa Bay and neighboring waters. Part of the work is to document what type of plastic is in the water and when there is more of it.
They spearheaded a program in 2019 that Eckerd College President Donald Eastman signed a pledge that prohibits purchase of most non essential single use plastics using college funds.
Recently, a nearly $500,000 grant was awarded to them by the Environmental Protection Agency. This is to also find ways to learn how to reduce plastic consumption in Pinellas county. This will also fund building an app that will be available for monitoring ourselves and join in with groups. We hope to see that in around 6 months. It’s expected this will be used worldwide as it catches on to the public.
Great things to help us do better for our planet. Remember, if you don’t buy plastic, you aren’t part of the problem. Refusal is the first “R” in our “ recycle efforts.
