Overall winner of the NERC Impact Awards: Uncovering the impacts of microplastics in the ocean

Dr Pennie Lindeque (DIAPOD) is a member of the research team that were overall winners of the NERC Impact Awards for research into uncovering the impacts of microplastics in the ocean.

More information about the award is available on the NERC website:

Pioneering research from this team of researchers has contributed substantially to public awareness of the problem of marine plastic pollution. These researchers were the first to predict that microplastics could be widespread in the marine food chain, and went on to provide evidence that this is the case. The term ‘microplastics’ was coined by Professor Richard Thompson, University of Plymouth, in a seminal research paper in 2004, and subsequent NERC-funded research by the team has gone on to directly influence policy in the UK and around the world. For example, the UK’s ban on microbeads in cosmetics.

Many congratulations to the research team for their success: Professor Tamara Galloway, with Professor Brendan Godley and Dr Ceri Lewis, all from the University of Exeter; Professor Richard Thompson OBE, Plymouth University; and Dr Penelope Lindeque and Dr Matt Cole from Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML).