Trisia Farrelly’s sabbatical at NUI Galway in January 2017 included a forum on plastic waste (see poster below). Trisia led the morning session with a presentation on the need for more inter- and trans-disciplinary research that politicized the challenges posed by the production, consumption, and disposal of plastics. The NUI Galway and GMIT presentations that followed captured the depth and breadth of research on plastics produced by these two Galway institutes which predominantly focused on marine microplastics.
Six break-out groups then generated lively discussions in World Café format. The groups were prompted to discuss research that would best respond to the most pressing challenges posed by plastics. These discussions culminated in some innovative interdisciplinary research ideas. One of these was of particular interest to attending researchers and was taken up again in later discussions. Trisia will be working on research projects in this field with GMIT and NUI Galway this year.
