Search
Educational and Outreach

Ocean Action

Mar de Plástico

Principal Investigator
Administrative Services
Environmental and Social Sustainability

José Teixeira has a PhD in Biology and completed a post-doctorate in Science Communication. He is currently coordinator of the Environmental and Social Sustainability Office at CIIMAR, where he was coordinator of the Communication and Dissemination Office between 2014 and 2023. His interests are focused on sustainability and environmental education, hatitat restauration and biodiversity conservation. He is responsible for the coordination of enviromental awareness projects, such as “Ponds with Life” and “Ocean Action”, which was awarded in 2016 with the Green Project Award for the best Mobilization Initiative in Portugal. He integrates several European conservation programs, including the EC-funded H2020 Ponderful and LIFE+ Trachemys projects, and he is responsible for the curation and production of science exhibitions, such as: “Plastic Sea”, “Sea Monsters”, “Amphibians: a paw on water another on land”, “Museum’s Animals” and “Darwin’s Evolution”. He’s author of more than 20 scientific papers in international journals and coordinates advanced training in science communication and freshwater ecology.

No results found.

More than 8 million tons of plastic reach annually the ocean, causing very significant negative impacts on marine life, economic activities and human health (accumulation of contaminants in marine food).
Plastic Sea project is part of the Ocean Action Campaign and invested in different communication tools to address and raise awareness of school community and general public about the problem of marine debris, particularly plastic waste in the ocean.

 

The exhibition “A Plastic Ocean” spread three large sculptures constructed in partnership with ESAP (Artistic School of Oporto) with plastic discarded throughout different public noble spaces of Porto, Matosinhos and Gondomar cities. The sculptures depict different consequences of plastic debris on marine life and human health. An original theatre piece “Pearl in Plastic Sea” was developed to explore the marine litter problem and its consequences for biodiversity and the marine ecosystem by recreating the story of the little mermaid, an adventure fraught with danger due to the ever increasing garbage that reaches the sea.
Plastic Sea project, financed by the EEA Grants, also included more conventional hands-on science activities and lectures in schools, beach cleaning activities and the translation and production of educational videos.
All different communication methods aimed to encourage the critical reflection about this environmental problem of great importance and scientific complexity and the need to adopt environmentally responsible behavior by the population through the use of complementary, artistic and innovative approaches.

Leader Institution
CIIMAR-UP
Program
EEA GRANTS
Funding
Other projects