Deep Blue stories: Minja in Austria (remotely)

Deep Blue Story #14 | Minja Marijanski is a young Serbian researcher who took part to the Advanced Master course in Sustainable Blue Growth coordinated by the University of Trieste and the Italian Research Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics – OGS. She run a three-month online traineeship in collaboration with the University of Wien (Austria) working on the project “Tyres as a source of micro-plastics in the Marine environment”.

Marine litter is a global issue, impacting oceans as well as freshwater systems. The sources of both macro-plastics and micro-plastics are many and diverse. The impact of plastic litter is huge, while the wear and tear from tyres significantly contributes to the flow of micro-plastics into the environment. The main objective of this research is then the impact of tyre residues as a source of micro-plastics to the marine ecosystems and the organisms. In addition, the aim is to identify the innovative solutions how to prevent and solve the issues of marine litter, as well as the best available practices.

About her Deep Blue programme participation says:

“I am grateful that I had this opportunity to do the traineeship, improve myself and expand my knowledge. Especially having in mind that in the time of World's crisis caused by COVID, it was particularly challenging to gain the international experience. During the three months traineeship, I had the opportunity to work on the topic that is of my interest, which was also the topic of my Final Project Work for the Sustainable Blue Growth master studies. In addition, I have meet new colleagues, joined the seminars and journal clubs organized by the scientists from the Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology. It was my pleasure to collaborate with the University of Vienna and people there. I appreciate the opportunity given by the Deep Blue Project and I am sure that this experience will have the big impact on my future career.”

Minja is now a PhD student at the University of Belgrade in Environmental Engineering. She is also tutoring the Master in “Water Awareness, Consciousness, Knowledge and Management” promoted by the International Telematic University UNINETTUNO.  

Congratulations Minja for your achievements!

 

Do you want to hear more Deep Blue stories? ➡️ http://bluegrowth.inogs.it/content/deep-blue-stories-0 

Further info about the project on our website ➡️ http://bluegrowth.inogs.it/deepblue

 

Minja