Plastics – they’re everywhere! When marine scientist Jay Brandes found microplastics in ocean samples from half a world away, he was motivated to explore the waters closer to home. The variations he found in the amount of microplastics along the Georgia coast pointed toward a local solution: We should all be buying and wearing only natural fibers and fabrics.

A professor who works at the University of Georgia – Skidaway Institute of Oceanography in Savannah, Georgia, Jay is a marine and freshwater chemist. He specializes in the study of the chemistry of the oceans and conducts research on carbon and nutrient cycling in estuaries and coastal oceans and evaluates the composition of particles and microplastic pollutants.