Leadership | Alice (Xia) Zhu

Leadership, Outreach, and Community Involvement

Leadership in Science

I was a co-Chair of my department's 6th Doctoral Environmental Science Colloquium (DESC VI) in 2022. I led a scientific session on the transport and fate of plastic pollution at the 7th International Marine Debris Conference (7IMDC) in Busan, Korea in 2022, and at Ocean Sciences Meeting 2024 which were attended by 1,000+ scientists and knowledge users from all over the world. My research has influenced policy on plastic pollution locally and internationally. I regularly attend research conferences, collaborate internationally, mentor students, and give talks on my work to exchange ideas and advance scientific knowledge.

Notable activities

Co-organizer, Symposium on Plastic Pollution Research, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, November 2024

Primary Chair, Transport and Fate of Plastic Pollution in the Marine Environment (Oral and Poster), New Orleans, Louisiana, February 2024

Co-Chair, Transport, mixing, and fate of plastic pollution in the ocean, 7th International Marine Debris Conference, Busan, Korea, November 2022

Guest Speaker, Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences (EOAS) Colloquium Series, University of British Columbia, November 2023 (Specialized Talk and Departmental Colloquium)

Guest speaker, Climate, Atmospheric Sciences, and Oceanography (CASPO) Seminars, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, October 2023

Guest Speaker, Seminar Series, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, April 2023

Guest Speaker, Graduate Student Seminar Series, University of Toronto Scarborough, November 2020

Leadership on Campus

I am one of the founding members of the EDI-AR Committee within the Ocean Sciences Department of Memorial University of Newfoundland in 2024. In my first year of undergraduate studies in 2014, I founded Climate Impact Network, a student organization dedicated to raising awareness of climate change and increasing climate literacy within youth. I served as the Sustainability Commissioner of the University of Toronto Students' Union from 2015-2017. In 2015, I founded my university's student delegation to the Paris Climate Summit; I along with five other students participated in international climate negotiations in Paris and hosted a conference in Canada afterwards to galvanize action and demand climate leadership from our government.

Notable activities

Founding Member, EDI-AR Committee, Department of Ocean Sciences, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2024-present

Co-Chair, Environment Committee, Massey College 2017-2019

Lead Organizer, "COP21 Paris Climate Agreement - What's Next for Canada?" Conference, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, March 2016

Sustainability Commissioner, University of Toronto Student Union, Toronto, Canada 2015-2017

Founder, COP21 University of Toronto Student Delegation, Paris, France 2015

Founder, Climate Impact Network, Toronto, Canada 2014-2017

Founder, InnovaMasters Annual Competition, Toronto, Canada, 2014-2016

Leadership in the Community

I am heavily involved in local, national, and international climate advocacy and am passionate about raising awareness of climate change through event organization, speaking at rallies, and contributing op-eds to magazines and newspapers. I am an executive member of People's Climate Movement, a grassroots organization dedicated to raising awareness of climate change and influencing climate policy in both Toronto and Canada. I am also a member of the University of Toronto Trash Team, a group dedicated to educating the public about waste management and plastic pollution and taking direct action through community clean-ups.

Notable activities

Community Cleanup Organizer, University of Toronto Trash Team, Toronto, Canada, 2017-present

Lead Organizer, Plastics Policy in Canada: A Panel Event and Conversation, Massey College, April 2024

Lead Organizer, Toronto on Fire Rally, Queen's Park, Canada, November 2021

Lead Organizer, March for Jobs, Justice, and Climate, Toronto, Canada, July 2015

Guest Appearance, "Frontlines": A Documentary about Youth at the Frontlines of the Climate Movement in Toronto, Canada, 2022

Guest Appearance, "Beyond Crisis": A Documentary about the Climate Movement, Toronto, Canada, 2017

Speaker, Global Day of Action COP26 Rally, Queen's Park, Canada, September 2022

Producer and Narrator, "Let's Break Down Plastic" Video Series, Toronto, Canada, 2021-2022

Executive Member, University of Toronto Trash Team, Toronto, Canada 2017-present

Executive Member, People's Climate Movement, Toronto, Canada 2015-present

Seminars for the Public:

Keynote Speaker, "Climate Change Science and Policy", STEM Perspective on Climate Change Conference, Toronto, Canada, September 2021

Guest Speaker, "What Are Microplastics?", Vaughan Public Library, February 2021

Guest Speaker, Talk: "Individual Actions Against Waste", Global Leadership Organization, November 2020

Guest Speaker, Talk: "From the Bay Area to the Arctic: Shezad Dawood and Alice Xia Zhu", Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto, Canada, September 2019

Blogs, Newspaper Articles, Magazine Pieces:

Zhu, X., Rochman, C., and Mazloff, M. (2025). One green sea turtle can contain the equivalent of 10 ping pong balls in plastic. The Conversation. June 3, 2025.

Zhu, X. (2023). Platforms of Leading 2023 Toronto Mayoral Candidates. People's Climate Movement Website, June 19, 2023.

Zhu, X. and Rochman, C. (2022). Here’s how the new global treaty on plastic pollution can help solve this crisis. The Conversation. March 29, 2022.

Zhu, X. (2021) Plastic is part of the carbon cycle and needs to be included in climate calculations. The Conversation.

Zhu, X. (2021) "Polluter Pays Principle": Stopping fishing gear loss to our oceans requires greater accountability from fishers. The Starfish.

Zhu, X. (2021) The social, environmental, and economic impacts of space colonization. The Starfish.

Zhu, X. (2021). Five years are up! It’s time for a more ambitious Canadian Contribution to COP26. People's Climate Movement Website, February 2, 2021

Zhu, X. (2019). Pipeline Perspectives. People's Climate Movement Website, September 15, 2019

Zhu, X. (2016). On the Paris climate summit, the role of youth, and next steps for Canada. The Starfish. January 6, 2016