Marine Litter - Dr Tom Stanton

Dr Stanton researches the prevalence and distribution of pollution in different environments with a particular focus on rivers and lakes. His work focuses on anthropogenic litter, microplastic particles, and natural textile fibres such as cotton and wool.

He originally chose to study geography because of his love for the outdoors. He wanted to understand how the places he enjoys spending time were formed and function, and how society is influencing them. His work now focusses on how society is putting these environments at risk, but also how we can protect them.

Dr Stanton's research journey started by investigating microplastic pollution in river systems, but in 2019 he published a piece of work highlighting the prevalence of natural textile fibres, like cotton and wool, alongside the microplastic particles he was studying. Since this publication he has been working to understand the occurrence and impacts all material pollutants, not just plastic. This has included working with large citizen science datasets, as well as with communities to explore the social and environmental impacts of material pollutants across some of the UK’s littered coastlines.

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