Education

PhD, University of Toronto, Physical & Environmental Sciences, June 2024

MSc, University of Toronto, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, June 2019

BSc, University of Toronto, Environmental Chemistry, June 2017

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Awards

Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada, 2024-present

Graduate Student Best Paper Award, Department of Physical & Environmental Sciences, University of Toronto, Canada, 2023-2024

Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship, University of Toronto, Canada, 2020-2023

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Honours and Distinctions

Top 30 Under 30 Sustainability Leader, Corporate Knights, Canada, 2023

Junior Fellow, Massey College, Canada, 2017-2019

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Appointments

Banting Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Ocean Sciences, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Sept 2024-present

Limited-Term Postdoctoral Fellow (Assistant Facility Coordinator for Instrumentation and Infrastructure Setup), Dalhousie Centre of Excellence in Microplastic Studies and School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Dalhousie University, Feb-Aug 2026

Guest Researcher, Department of Science and Environment, Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark, March 2026

Visiting Fellow, Department of Marine Chemistry, Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research, Warnemunde, Germany, February-March 2026

Visiting Graduate Student, Department of Climate, Atmospheric Sciences, and Physical Oceanography, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San Diego, USA, January-December 2023

Visiting Research Scholar, Oceans and Atmosphere Flagship, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Tasmania, Australia, November-December 2018

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Media

Interview, ‘A double-whammy problem’: how plastic dust is altering natural processes, Nature (2025).

Interview, A deep-sea mineral hunt reveals hidden plastic pollution, Nature India (2025). 

Interview, Scientists develop framework to measure plastic emissions, U of T News (2024). 

Interview, Billions of bottles: Canadian statistics paint grim picture of plastic litter problem, The Canadian Press (2024). 

Interview, Balancing the Deep Ocean Plastics Budget, Eos (2024). 

Interview, In the Media: PhD student Xia (Alice) Zhu says bioplastics alone won’t save the planet, University of Toronto Faculty of Arts & Science News (2023). 

Interview, Biodegradable Plastics May End Up Doing More Harm Than Good, Bloomberg (2023). 

Interview, “There is no time to waste”: Protest calls for concrete action on climate change as COP26 continues, The Varsity (2021). 

Interview, Hundreds rally at Queen's Park to demand stronger government action on climate crisis, CBC News (2021). 

Interview, U of T students join rally at Queen’s Park for climate action ahead of federal election, The Varsity (2021). 

Interview, Canada's Still on Fire, Toronto350.org Blog (2021).

Interview, What do we know about microplastics? The Varsity (2020). 

Interview, Environment experts gather at U of T to discuss the Paris Climate Conference, The Varsity (2016). 

Interview, U of T delegates head to Paris for COP21, The Varsity (2016). 

Interview, Students compete to develop clean, human-powered designs, The Varsity (2015). 

Interview, Historic but flawed: U of T student delegates evaluate COP21 agreement, U of T News (2015).