Finding practical solutions to plastic problems
Megan Fieser is focused on finding a solution to one of the most pressing sustainability problems: what to do about all the plastic accumulating in our environment.
Fieser, who is Gabilan Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, founded the Fieser Lab in 2018 to explore ways in which degradable plastics could be used as a replacement for commercial nondegradable plastics or how current products can be recycled or upcycled into commercially useful chemicals.
The following year, Fieser began organizing regular local beach cleanups with the dual purpose of removing plastic waste and tracking the types of plastic that wash up on the shores.
The group has since collected 225,505 plastic items from Southern California beaches. The next beach cleanup will be held Sept. 29 at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach, and Fieser says everyone is welcome.