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Marcus Eriksen speaks at ACES/Jessica Catto Dialogue

“We must understand and define conservation and social justice as our collective self-preservation – a rationale that crosses all boundaries between all people.”

Marcus Eriksen is the Research Director and co-founder of the 5 Gyres Institute. The organization, which he co-founded with his wife Anna Cummins, is committed to marine conservation through continued research, education, and adventure and teaches about the plague of plastic waste in our watersheds and in the sea. Join Marcus for insights into the strategy he believes works best: from science to solutions!

 

​In his presentation “More Ocean, Less Plastic,” Marcus discusses the global distribution and ecological impacts of plastic marine pollution based on sailing expeditions in all 5 subtropical gyres, the Bay of Bengal and Southern Ocean, as well as inland lakes and rivers. 5 Gyres recently published the first global estimate of plastic pollution floating in the world’s oceans, totaling 270,000 metric tons from 5.25 trillion particles. The organization also played a role in creating change far upstream in the Great Lakes, where the discovery of plastic microbeads in the lakes led to the federal 2015 Microbead Free Waters Act.

Marcus has authored two books, JUNK raft and My River Home, chronicling his experiences that have led to a strong conservation ethic and an active fight in the growing movement against plastic marine pollution. Marcus served in the Marine Corps during the Gulf War and received his Ph.D. in Science Education from University of Southern California in 2003.

JUNK raft, Marcus' new book, will be available for purchase at the event via Explore Booksellers.

This lecture broadcasted on Aspen Public Radio through the generosity of the John Denver Aspenglow Fund

ACES’ Jessica Catto Dialogues honor the environmental legacy of Jessica Hobby Catto through a speaker series featuring visionary thinkers and doers from all realms of environmental concerns. The series is supported by the Catto and Shaw families in Jessica’s memory.

Aspen native Elizabeth Stewart-Severy is excited to be making a return to both the Red Brick, where she attended kindergarten, and the field of journalism. She has spent her entire life playing in the mountains and rivers around Aspen, and is thrilled to be reporting about all things environmental in this special place. She attended the University of Colorado with a Boettcher Scholarship, and graduated as the top student from the School of Journalism in 2006. Her lifelong love of hockey lead to a stint working for the Colorado Avalanche, and she still plays in local leagues and coaches the Aspen Junior Hockey U-19 girls.