Adrift in Crisis: 20 years of quantifying the obvious impacts of plastic pollution

The last 80 years have seen unprecedented environmental destruction and collapse across the world because of collective inaction. This is exemplified by birds, one of the most visible aspects of animal life to most people around the world, who face habitat fragmentation & destruction, illegal killing, pollution, window strikes, predation by feral and introduced predators, and more. I will discuss the history of plastic pollution and the mission of the Adrift Lab to uncover its effects on seabirds and islands over the last 20 years and highlight the professional and personal challenges encountered as we researched the harm to and decline of seabird populations.