The Center for Ocean Plastic Studies (COPS) was established in 2022, alongside the launch of a collaborative research partnership between Kyushu University (Research Institute for Applied Mechanics) and Chulalongkorn University (Aquatic Resources Research Institute and the Department of Marine Science, Faculty of Science).
This collaboration focuses on advancing research on ocean plastic pollution, fostering academic exchange, and supporting the mobility and co-training of researchers across both institutions.

Mission:

• Determine the plastic pollution flow from the land to oceans via rivers
• Monitor ocean plastics in estuaries and surrounding oceans
• Model present and future plastic pollution presence based on global datasets
• Assess the impact of plastic pollution on marine organisms
• Contribute to the creation of action plans to achieve the SDG 14 “Life below water” based on scientific evidence

Research topics:

• Microplastics contamination in coral reef systems
• Microplastics ingestion by zooplankton communities
• Floating microplastics in surface waters of the Gulf of Thailand (Neuston)
• Floating microplastics in surface waters of the Bangpakong river (Neuston)
• Hydrodynamic modelling of floating plastic debris
• Standardization of sampling and analytical protocols for microplastics research

Best practices for microplastic research (online webinar)

Bangkok – 17/05/2024

Dive into the latest advancements in microplastic research with our expert-led webinar. This session covers cutting-edge monitoring techniques, sample processing, QA/QC protocols, and spectroscopy identification methods.

Lecturers: Dr. Suppakarn JANDANG, Dr. María Belén ALFONSO and Dr. Haruka NAKANO (COPS-RIAM, Kyushu University)

Found the PDF materials here:

Organized by the project: Formation of a center of excellence for marine plastics pollution studies in the Southeastern Asian seas

Organizers: Japan International Cooperation Agency, Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development (JICA-SATREPS) Center for Ocean Plastics, Research Institute for Applied Mechanics (COPS-RIAM), Kyushu University, Japan Aquatic Resources Research Institute (ARRI), Chulalongkorn University, Thailand Marine Sciences Department, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand