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Toward place-based marine plastic monitoring in Arctic surface waters
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A thesis investigating marine plastic pollution in Nunatsiavut (Arctic Labrador) developed community-relevant monitoring methods combining Indigenous knowledge and scientific sampling, finding that localized place-based analyses reveal microplastic distribution patterns obscured by regional averaging. The study demonstrates that community-centered monitoring approaches better serve Inuit communities whose foodways and ecosystems are directly affected by microplastic contamination in Arctic surface waters.
The Nunatsiavut Government (NG) has long led interdisciplinary, Inuit-prioritized environmental monitoring in Labrador. As marine plastic pollution increasingly interacts with Arctic ecosystems and Inuit foodways, community-based approaches to monitoring plastics are essential. However, typical academic monitoring often produces generalized, large-scale results that are not easily applicable to local concerns. The first portion of this thesis investigates plastics in surface water in Nunatsiavut and proposes two methods to support community-relevant monitoring. First, we develop a technique that combines scientific and local knowledge to assess whether plastics likely enter Nunatsiavut's marine environment locally or from long-range transport. Second, we argue that place-based analysis offers more meaningful insights than broad, regional averages. While Nunatsiavut samples share some characteristics with other Arctic studies, we find that local differences in concentration and type of plastics highlight the value of localized analyses. Building on these findings that support place-based monitoring, the second portion of this thesis critically reviews how Arctic surface water plastic studies scale their research, showing that research tends to prioritize academic interests over local relevance through an analysis of scale. Overall, both studies argue for more locally grounded, place-based research approaches.
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