1. Confronting Plastic Marine Debris Science & Collaboration as the Foundation for Action GEORGE H. LEONARD, PHD WPA – June 19, 2014

2. OUR BLUE PLANET 1

3. Taking Too Much Out Putting Too Much In Uncertain Future for Our Ocean OUR OCEAN HEALTH EQUATION

4. PUTTING TOO MUCH IN: MARINE DEBRIS A PREVENTABLE PROBLEM

5. OCEAN POLLUTION PERSISTS  4.5 cigarette butts/person

6. PACKAGING IN THE OCEAN

8. A SHARED RESPONSIBILITY  8 Brands account for 50% of identifiable bottle caps N = 561 Plastic beverage bottle caps from 6 remote Alaska beaches

9. PLASTICS SHOULDN’T BE IN THE OCEAN

10. WE MUST CONFRONT THIS CHALLENGE 1 Koelmans et al., 2013 Scientific InquiryPlastics Production

11. SCIENCE: BUILDING THE FOUNDATION 1 How much enters? Where does it go? What are the impacts? National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis University of California, Santa Barbara

12. THE FRONTIER: PLASTICS TOXICITY Rochman, 2013

13. TRASH FREE SEAS ALLIANCE

14. HARNESS MOMENTUM: CATALYZE ACTION Workstreams 1. Bottle Caps: Material Flow and Redesign 2. Accelerate the Science 3. Island Intervention

15. HOLISTIC APPROACH: TRASH FREE SEAS Integrated Strategies Empower Individuals Advance New Understanding Lead Collaborative Action Support Smart Public/Private Policy

16. 1 ALL HANDS ON DECK George H. Leonard, PhD gleonard@oceanconservancy.org @GeorgeHLeonard Ocean trash is not an ocean problem. It’s a people problem. That means WE are the solution.