Kathryn Willis

Kathryn Willis
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation | CSIRO · Environment

Doctor of Philosophy
Postdoctoral Researcher at CSIRO Marine Debris Research Team || 2021 Australian-American Fulbright Postdoc

About

22
Publications
18,100
Reads
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977
Citations
Introduction
A Tasmanian marine socio-ecologist passionately researching solutions to reduce plastic pollution. Always wanting to learn about community-based solutions that have social and environmental benefits beyond less plastic on our beaches, in our oceans and across our terrestrial and riverine landscapes. Big advocate for ECR led research, and promoting a healthy work - life balance.
Additional affiliations
December 2015 - December 2016
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
Position
  • Research Assistant
January 2014 - December 2016
University of Tasmania
Position
  • Scientific Diver
Description
  • Skilled in transects, pneumatic drilling, artificial reef construction/maintenance/deconstruction, installation and maintenance of sediment traps/flow monitors/light monitors, kelp collection.
Education
February 2017 - March 2020
University of Tasmania
Field of study
  • Coastal Pollution
June 2014 - May 2015
University of Tasmania
Field of study
  • Marine Debris
February 2011 - December 2013
University of Tasmania
Field of study
  • Geography and Spatial Sciences

Publications

Publications (22)
Chapter
Marine plastic pollution has increased exponentially despite global recognition of its impact on the environment. This chapter examines the extent of the problem and then explores the governance and socio-ecological aspects of marine plastics pollution in coastal and marine environments. We argue that well designed and implemented governance arrang...
Article
The dialogue on solutions to plastic pollution to date has largely focussed on targeting commonly found items or areas where large volumes of litter accumulate in the environment. The need to identify better solutions to reduce plastic pollution at the global scale has been highlighted in recent G7 and G20 discussions. Negotiations are underway for...
Article
Full-text available
Brand names can be used to hold plastic companies accountable for their items found polluting the environment. We used data from a 5-year (2018–2022) worldwide (84 countries) program to identify brands found on plastic items in the environment through 1576 audit events. We found that 50% of items were unbranded, calling for mandated producer report...
Article
Full-text available
This paper aims to guide the stakeholder engagement process related to plastic pollution research in marine environments. We draw on advice identified during an online workshop (Ocean Plastic Workshop 2022) organized by Early Career Ocean Professionals (ECOPs) from 11 countries, held in April 2022. International experts and workshop participants di...
Article
Full-text available
Non-technical summary Rivers are crucial to the water cycle, linking the landscape to the sea. Human activities, including effluent discharge, water use and fisheries, have transformed the resilience of many rivers around the globe. Sustainable development goal (SDG) 14 prioritizes addressing many of the same issues in marine ecosystems. This revie...
Article
Full-text available
There is an increased focus on plastic pollution and the resultant harms in our oceans and on our shores at local, regional, and global scales. New technologies are being developed and trialed, multilateral agreements are coming into play, and the role of a circular economy is increasingly touted as the key to help solve the plastic pollution crisi...
Article
Studies show that a driver of coastal debris is the rate between debris deposition and resuspension; however, the influence of beach zone topography on the distribution of debris remains poorly understood. Using five years of marine debris data collected by the COASST citizen science program, we explored the spatiotemporal trends in debris abundanc...
Article
Studies show that a driver of coastal debris is the rate between debris deposition and resuspension; however, the influence of beach zone topography on the distribution of debris remains poorly understood. Using five years of marine debris data collected by the COASST citizen science program, we explored the spatiotemporal trends in debris abundanc...
Article
Regardless of where plastic pollution originates, the management interventions made at the local level are crucial to the global success of reducing plastic pollution. Reduced plastic consumption and pollution have been observed in communities with plastic taxes and educational programs. However, there is currently a lack of a quantitative framewor...
Article
Full-text available
In the age of the Anthropocene, the ocean has typically been viewed as a sink for pollution. Pollution is varied, ranging from human-made plastics and pharmaceutical compounds, to human-altered abiotic factors, such as sediment and nutrient runoff. As global population, wealth and resource consumption continue to grow, so too does the amount of pot...
Article
Anthropogenic debris (AD) including plastics, foams and fishing debris, are an undesirable accompaniment to beaches worldwide, arriving through direct deposition (littering) and oceanic transport. We investigated the standing stocks of 12 types of AD on inhabited islands, uninhabited islands and mainland locations, and the potential factors relatin...
Article
Environmental harm from plastic pollution partly results from compliance failure at the individual level. Three prevalent non-compliant motivations for polluting plastics include economic gains, ignorance of the rules and unlikely penalization from inadequately enforced rules. Given compliance is primarily the responsibility of local waste manageme...
Article
Full-text available
Interest in understanding the extent of plastic and specifically microplastic pollution has increased on a global scale. However, we still know relatively little about how much plastic pollution has found its way into the deeper areas of the world’s oceans. The extent of microplastic pollution in deep-sea sediments remains poorly quantified, but th...
Article
Full-text available
Bottled water is one sector of the beverage industry that has recently experienced substantial growth. The littering of plastic water bottles and the carbon emissions produced from bottled water production results in harmful effects on the environment. To reduce the harm of bottled water production and litter, government and non-government organisa...
Article
Full-text available
As plastic production increases, so to do the threats from plastic pollution. Microplastics (defined as plastics <5 mm) are a subset of marine debris about which we know less than we do of larger debris items, though they are potentially ubiquitous in the marine environment. To quantify the distribution and change in microplastic densities through...
Article
Full-text available
Plastic production is increasing globally and in turn there is a rise of plastic waste lost into the coastal and marine environment. To combat this issue, there is an increase in policies that target specific types of plastic waste (such as microbeads and plastic shopping bags). Given that such anthropogenic waste have environmental impacts, reduce...
Article
Full-text available
Marine debris is a burgeoning global issue with economic, ecological and aesthetic impacts. While there are many studies now addressing this topic, the influence of urbanisation factors such as local population density, stormwater drains and roads on the distribution of coastal litter remains poorly understood. To address this knowledge gap, we car...

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