Episode 2.3: Anastasia Telesetsky — Single-Use Plastics

“Someone reported that they were finding…single-use plastic bags in the Mariana Trench, which is one of the deepest places in the ocean, and it’s kind of remarkable just how far it’s traveled. And I’m a believer that this is a particular issue that we have social capital around, and we can actually see changes. That we can see behavioral changes.” Meet Anastasia Telesetsky, (bit.ly/2Pufm15) a professor of law at the University of Idaho. Anastasia has focused much of her law career on international and environmental law including work on whaling, sustainable fisheries and climate change. Now, she is tackling a new oceanic plague, plastic pollution. Researchers (bit.ly/2qTUy9f) estimate 8 million metric tons (bit.ly/2Wv6mKR) of plastic enter the ocean every year; that’s roughly the weight of 90 aircraft carriers. To help solve the problem, Anastasia proposes an international ban on most single-use plastics. Read more at The Conversation (bit.ly/31UL6ix). Visit our website go.uidaho.edu/thevandaltheory​. Email us at [email protected]. Learn about Idaho’s premier research university, University of Idaho, at uidaho.edu. More U of I research: Katherine Himes and U of I’s James A. and Louise McClure Center for Public Policy Research have initiated the Idaho Climate-Economy Impacts Assessment, a two-year project to evaluate the economic impact of climate change on Idaho. Read more (bit.ly/34jpo9J). Doctoral student Andrew Maguire was awarded the Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology fellowship that will support Maguire’s Arctic research on trees. Learn more (bit.ly/2poBXSb). Research at U of I often takes place beyond Idaho’s borders. Check out uidaho.edu/explorers2019 to watch five students who, during summer 2019, investigated everything from antelope diets in Mozambique to the logistics of building a boarding school in Togo. Music: “Young Republicans” by Steve Combs (bit.ly/2PsMCpw) via freemusicarchive.org, not modified (bit.ly/2Ju7MQb). “Assignment” by BoxCat Games (bit.ly/32VFbLg) via freemusicarchive.org, not modified (bit.ly/2PnTgx8).