Cristina Robinson: Making the Ocean My Office
By: Defenders Of Wildlife
Tags: Oceans, Wild Features, Outdoors, Women in STEM, Plastic

Learning about whales and dolphins and their behaviors and intelligence captivated and fueled me to pursue my marine biology career goals, regardless of how challenging the road became. After finally graduating with my B.S. in marine biology from California State University of Long Beach, I worked for an environmental consulting company, MBC Aquatic Sciences, where one of my duties included microscopic sorting of various coastal benthic samples. This microscope sorting introduced me to microplastics, tiny sesame seed-sized pieces of plastic and microfibers (these shed from synthetic clothing) mixed with organic material and invertebrates in almost every sample jar. This was my lightbulb moment! It opened my eyes to the ubiquitous impacts of our plastic pollution and how interconnected humans are to our environment, whether we realize it or not. I started sharing plastic pollution information with friends and family and looking into solutions.

© Cristina Robinson

To spread awareness of the consequences our plastic use has on human health, wildlife and the environment, I created my own ​website and included information on plastic alternatives, zero waste options and educational resources. I also created a ​social media​ presence to reinforce these efforts and amplify my message and get people involved. I like to share tips on ways we can all incorporate more eco-friendly habits in our everyday lives. Doing this not only benefits our planet by reducing our negative impacts, but it can also inspire others to make lifestyle changes that have a ripple effect on those around us.

Plastic alternatives for the kitchen! (© Cristina Robinson)

This felt like something I HAD to do because it’s something I CAN do. So much of my fieldwork with both OC Coastkeeper and Laguna Ocean Foundation highlighted litter and plastic pollution in my local watersheds. Seeing littered beaches and picking up trash while surfing drove me to want to do something to prevent this litter from turning into marine debris and harming sea life. Years ago, I started grabbing five pieces of plastic while walking back to my car after every surf session, then asked my friends to do the same and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that some of them even do this on days we don’t surf together. This is something I encourage everyone to do anytime they go outside. Realizing I help change others’ behavior and knowing I am making a difference feeds the resilience and motivation that keeps me going. Helping to protect the ocean and its inhabitants has increasingly resonated as my life’s purpose over the years, and that passion continued to drive me when I struggled with my career path. I am really proud of my younger self for trusting my gut instincts to not pursue work with any scientists who made me feel uncomfortable as a young woman and for learning from those experiences instead. I know that I can stand up for myself and my scientific integrity, even to scientists I once admired, if their behavior is inappropriate and unprofessional, and I will not be intimidated by their achievements in the field as I forge ahead on my own path and create my own accomplishments.

© Taylor Parker

One of the accomplishments I’m most proud of is what I created last year with one of my favorite friends (and trash-removing partner in crime) Janine Rodriguez. We designed stickers encouraging people to protect our planet from pollution and started picking up one pound of trash for every $1 sticker sold. We started this year with a goal of removing 1,000 pounds of trash. To chip away, we’ve been doing weekly cleanups and by the end of May 2021 we already collected about 1,100 pounds collected and surpassed our sticker goal as well! The last week of January we had a big rainstorm so I planned to head down for a beach cleanup that weekend. But I was not expecting and have never seen so much trash in one area before. I managed to collect 124 pounds, but there were bulky furniture items, shoes galore, lots of facemasks, tons of single-use food and beverage containers, toys, endless pieces of Styrofoam and lots of broken up plastic. It quite frankly moved me to tears. Thanks to wonderful friends who heard my call for help, we removed almost 400 pounds of trash the following day. I am simultaneously so proud of these efforts, but sad that this much trash was there to begin with, and that so much trash remains.