Aloha from 5IMDC!

Well folks…I’m here.

Yes, it’s finally time for the 5th International Marine Debris Conference. What I’ve been waiting for since last fall. And it looks like this week will be even more awesome than I could have ever imagined!

Let’s just do a brief run-down of all the things I have to look forward to, shall we?

– Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of the famed Jacques Cousteau will be a plenary speaker Monday morning.

– Stiv Wilson, Communications Director for The 5 Gyres Institute will be on an Ocean Filmmakers panel on Thursday.

– Daniella Russo, Co-Founder of the Plastic Pollution Coalition is giving a talk on Thursday afternoon.

– Jack Johnson will be making an appearance at some point in the week.

– The multitude of what will surely be awesome poster presentations (including yours truly). Special thanks are in order for JDK, they did a bang-up job printing my mammoth poster (how I’ll hang it up by myself remains to be seen…). I’ll be reppin’ Glass Dharma, makers of the original glass straw during the poster sesh, because ending our use of those flimsy plastic straws is one step to curbing our plastic addiction. Pictures will be forthcoming, so be sure to check back!

And this is just a snapshot. There will be panel discussions, session upon session about finding solutions to marine debris (educational tools, stories of success, etc.) a field trip to the Pier 38 fish market…I’m having a hard time nailing down a schedule, because I want to do it all!

Luckily, today is a light day. No workshops for me, just hanging up my 7-foot wide poster. I’m thinking some beach time/island exploring might be in order for the afternoon.

Stay tuned for more conference updates! I’ll be blogging every day, tweeting up a storm and updating FB like it’s my job. If anybody has comments/questions, let me know!

Aloha 🙂