A Day Late (but that's fine)

In lieu of posting yesterday, I wanted to take the time today to talk about the paper that I published two weeks ago alongside my advisor, Dr. Jeroen Ingels. A lot of my work focuses on microplastics pollution but I am also using nematodes as key species to measure the effects of plastics on coastal systems. Nematodes are exceptionally important indicator species across the globe, especially in Europe and Southeast Asia, but there are few environmental regulations and indicator guidelines in the states involving nematodes. Nematodes are important indicators because they exist all over the world, have been studied extensively in their responses to different pollutants, and are efficient [in some senses] as study organisms. Although I had very little working experience with nematodes prior to my graduate program, I was well aware of their importance in the biology world.

The paper that we wrote focuses on summarizing over 40 years of research involving nematodes as important indicator species. From heavy metal pollution to nutrient loading in coastal systems, Dr. Ingels and I present the fundamental characteristics of nematodes as indicator species and the important works that have used marine nematodes to depict what is happening in the ocean. Along the way, we also talk about some broad gaps in understanding that still hinder governmental use of nematodes in indicator guidelines across the world. The major challenges, in our opinion, are (1) the lack of a unified metric that can be used to assess nematode responses to all pollutants, (2) the need for inter- and intra-governmental cooperation to understand the value of nematodes as indicators and to develop more worldwide guidance on environmental management, and (3) the absence of literature and studies regarding nematode responses to microplastics.

I am extremely biased in saying that it's a good read if you are interested in understanding how my work fits into the major field that is oceanography (or biology). My hope is that it will encourage new research exploring the effects of microplastics on nematodes or that international committees will meet to discuss some of the metrics used in the field of nematode indication to create a unified language within the field.

If you are interested in reading the full paper, it is available for free at: ​https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.685327/full.