Britta Baechler

Dr. Britta Baechler serves as Director for Ocean Plastics Research at Ocean Conservancy, where she leads primary research on varied topics related to the distribution and impacts of plastic pollution, including prevalence of microplastics in the human food system, movement of trash from inland out to sea and public knowledge and perceptions of the plastic pollution issue. She is adjunct faculty in University of Toronto’s Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences and Portland State University’s Environmental Science and Management. She earned her doctorate at Portland State University researching the ecological and social dimensions of microplastics in Pacific Northwest shellfish. She has more than a decade of experience in fisheries management and marine conservation, having served in roles including Assistant Area Management Biologist for Shellfish in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands region of Alaska as well as Marine Protected Area Coordinator in Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands.