What will your role as a research coordinator entail?
– This role involves assisting in planning and facilitating the work package workshops that occur throughout the year. In addition, I am available to the WP leaders to help in coordinating meetings with industry partners in the project. The goal is to ensure a strong connection between work packages, and I plan to help this become common practice in the project.
Besides being a research coordinator, what is your contribution to Dsolve?
– In addition to RC, I work with WP5 on Circularity of bio-based, biodegradable and non-degradable plastics for fisheries and aquaculture equipment. I am particularly focused on helping develop the LCA model of the socially relevant aspects of fishing and aquaculture gear, environmental aspects of aquaculture gear and have been contributing to my colleague Mafalda de Silva's work in building the environmental-LCA model of the fishing gear.
Why do you find this field interesting? What is your main motivation to contribute to this work?
– The area of fishing and aquaculture is interesting to me because of my background in understanding microplastic impacts on marine biota and ecosystems in addition to my long-term interest and competence in thinking in a systematic way. In my scientific opinion, everything is connected, and it would be impossible to truly understand the implications of human behavior and activities, such as fishing/fish farming, without a holistic assessment of each of the steps in the industries' value chain.
I would like to understand how fishing and aquaculture practices play a role in a healthy or unhealthy environment and healthy or unhealthy society and compare this to what positive or negative impacts innovation in the fishing and aquaculture industries might have from a social and environmental perspective.
Why do you think this project is important?
– Fish is an important source of food, holds cultural significance and is crucial to the health of, obviously, marine ecosystems and human beings, but also other ecosystems and species that are connected both directly and indirectly. Fishing and aquaculture practices and innovation in this area will affect fish and marine ecosystems and must be understood if we are to take steps towards a more sustainable future.
What do you think is the most exciting or interesting that have come out of the project so far?
– The most exciting result of this project so far is the interdisciplinary and cross-sector research network that has been developed. The network seems to strengthen every year, and this is the type of approach that I strongly believe will provide the answers to complex environmental and societal challenges necessary for a more sustainable future. I can't wait to see how this project unfolds and I hope that Norway can act as an example for other countries as they work to create sustainable systems that meet their own demands.