A University of Georgia researcher is receiving national recognition for her work. College of Engineering professor Jenna Jambeck is a professor in UGA’s College of Engineering has been selected as a National Geographic Explorer due to her pioneering research in plastics.
The magazine’s June issue kicks off the start of a multi-year campaign called “Planet or Plastic.” It’s urging everyone to become more thoughtful about single-use plastic.
“When we think about plastic we see its usefulness in our daily lives and it’s made us be able to have the electronic systems that we do, healthcare, there’s many important components to it,” according to Jambeck.
She says while using single-use plastics can become a habit, there small steps everyone can take.
“The single use has made out lives more convenient and trying to change those habits can be hard and so I just think about just taking one step at a time and started with my reusable bottle and that’s become such a habit I feel like if I leave the house [without it] I feel like I’ve left my phone, which has become another habit.”
Thanks to a grant, Jambeck will conduct field work in Vietnam this summer. Jambeck recently spoke to the United Nations for World Oceans Day.