Welcome, Sydney Rilum!

USC Sea Grant is excited to welcome our newest staff member, Sydney Rilum!

Sydney is our new Science, Research and Policy Specialist with a focus on marine debris, shared between our program and USC Wrigley Institute for Environment and Sustainability (WIES). Sydney will work with communities in Southern California to develop improved technologies as well as impactful outreach and education programming to decrease the amount of marine debris and microplastics that enter into coastal systems. Sydney will help lead research and policy development on marine microplastics, contribute to program management, and develop extension work that connects program outcomes to public stakeholders.

With a diverse career portfolio, Sydney has worked in education, habitat and species monitoring, research and data science fields within a variety of environmental and sustainability sectors, including non-profit (Laguna Ocean Foundation, Aquarium of the Pacific, OC Habitats), state agency (CA Department of Fish and Wildlife, State Water Resources Control Board), and corporate (Ocean Rainforest). Sydney holds a Master of Environmental Science and Management (MESM) from the University of California, Santa Barbara Bren School with specializations in Coastal Marine Resources Management and Environmental Data Science, as well as a Bachelors in Environmental and Ocean Sciences with a Marine Ecology focus from the University of San Diego.