David was invited to be a keynote speaker at the International Conference on Frontiers in Marine Science – Challenges and Prospects (MARICON 2019) in Kochi, India. The conference was organized by the School of Marine Science of the Cochin University of Science and Technology. The conference was held over 5 days, December 16 to 20, and every day had a different focus.

The conference was inaugurated by the Hon Governor of Karala in a ceremony also attended by the local MP and key academics from the University. We were honoured to be asked to provide a short speech at that event. On the opening day David’s 40-minute keynote presentation was titled: Is it too late to save our ocean? An intriguing question and during the presentation David outlined how a more holistic and integrated strategic approach similar to that of marine spatial planning could be utilised to resolve the plastic pollution problem.

On the second day David gave a presentation about the importance of public engagement in furthering our scientific knowledge and specifically the role of citizen science. The presentation and the conference appeared in the local newspapers several times. If anyone can provide us with a translation we would appreciate it!

The last couple of months Just One Ocean has been working closely with the Cochin University’s School of Marine Science in the collection of data for the Big Microplastic Survey project. We are looking forward to continuing this relationship in 2020 and it is our intent to be sponsoring some of their research in the years to come.

Monica Hartlief

Author Monica Hartlief

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