Blue Charter Fellowships: Malawi's first study on microplastics prevalence, types, and routes
Researcher: Dr Timothy Biswick, University of Malawi
Plastic pollution affects us all, but the degree of understanding on the issue varies greatly between regions. In Malawi, there is currently a paucity of research on plastic pollution and its sources, transport pathways, and ultimate fate.
With his Blue Charter Fellowship at the University of Leicester in the UK, Timothy conducted a trailblazing study on the origins and types of microplastics in Lake Malawi – the first study of its kind in his country. He established a set of baseline data to inform strategic interventions and clean-up operations, and plans to continue working with communities along routes where plastics enter the aquatic environment, so that individuals can be engaged in effective measures of intervention.