Siskowet Ocean Foundation

My newly minted sheepskin: Chief Sustainability Officer from MIT. It is impossible to adequately thank everyone. But, there are some notable people, without whom, this would have been much less rewarding. Gaurav Das, Patrick Cellie, Flavio Fuertes, Miyelmi Abraham, and Andy Prior gave freely of their important first-hand knowledge and industry experience to provide applied context to the coursework. Professors Oliver de Weck, and John Fernandez, Dr. David Nino, and Dr. Afreen Sidiqi, all leaders in their respective fields, guided us through the theoretical and technical aspects of Sustainability across the 5 courses (Leadership and Innovation, Sustainability: Strategies and Opportunities for Industry, Sustainable Infrastructure Systems: Planning and Operations, Life Cycle Assessment: Quantifying Environmental Impacts, and Circular Economy: Transition for Future Sustainability). Isidora Díaz Heredia provided invaluable support and guidance on our Impact Project. Clara Piloto Ed.M, and Mr. Bhaskar Pant (pictured below) from MIT, along with the entire Global Alumni Madrid team, made this giant machine function smoothly, keeping all the moving parts timed perfectly.

My Impact Project team - ArcBender: Design...Like the World Depends on It - Carsten Hochmuth, Lee Smith, and Anila Prabhu found creative, practical, and meaningful ways to decrease the impacts associated with materials choices at the critical moment of design where 90% of product life cycle impacts are determined. ArcBender provides rapid, qualitative impact information across all 9 Planetary Boundaries (https://lnkd.in/gYe5tTGT
), not solely focused on carbon impacts. This allows designers to choose materials that help claw back some of the exceedances that define the climate polycrisis.

Lastly, I made some wonderful friends during this journey, many of whom were my cultural, technical, and personal teachers as well as classmates and collaborators. This would be a never ending post if I tried to list you all here. So, I will simply say that I am profoundly grateful to you all and wish you all the successes coming your way.

Mens, manus, et cor.

I am excited to see the White House produce a strategy for addressing plastic pollution. I would like to see more of an emphasis on reducing the production of plastics - especially single use plastics. Also, I would like to see more meaningful investment in cleaning up the mess we already have. Too often, the conversation around plastic produces policy ideas that are centered on plastics that have yet to come into existence. We have a massive mess to clean up. We need technological advances and resources to work on that aspect of the problem as well.

White House Releases New Strategy for U.S. Federal Government Action on Plastic Pollution Today the White House released a new strategy for U.S. Federal Government action on plastic pollution. It is their most comprehensive plan to date, yet critical gaps remain.

The White House just released their draft plan to reduce plastic pollution impacts. The comment period will be open for 45 days once it is published in the National Register.

Draft National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution | US EPA EPA releases the Draft National Strategy for Reducing Plastics and Other Waste in Waterways and Oceans

“I will keep our ocean debris-free by not throwing my debris on the roadways, and I will pick up debris on the beaches.” - K’Moya S. (Grade 3, U.S. Virgin Islands), a winner of the annual Marine Debris Program Art Contest and the featured January artist in the 2023 Marine Debris Calendar.

Learn more about how you can help prevent marine debris: https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/discover-marine-debris/how-help