NOAA EPP/MSI CESSRST Scholar Delivers Talk at Fridays For Future, NYC’s Climate Speaker Series and Wins Award for Commitment to Community Service

Posted on March 1, 2021

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) EPP/MSI CESSRST Earth System Sciences and Remote Sensing graduate scholar, Timothy Aaron Medina successfully presented his research titled ‘Making an Education Campaign on the Environmental Impacts of Microfiber’ at Fridays For Future, New York’s (FFFNYC) Climate Speaker Series on December 19th, 2020. He also won the Best Student of the Year Award for community outreach at the virtual 2020 NOAA CREST Day. Further, he continues his master’s research under NOAA CESSRST mentors, Dr. Shakila Merchant, Associate Director, and Dr. Valerie Were, Social Science Lead and NOAA CESSRST faculty mentor, Dr. Maria Tzortziou, Associate Professor of Earth, and Atmospheric Science and CESSRST Theme, 1 Research Coordinator.

Timothy began his presentation at the Climate Speaker Series by demonstrating how clothes help connect us all and how microfiber pollution causes threats to marine life. Then, he stressed the importance of making choices that have a positive impact on the environment and shared his life-changing summer 2018 internship experience in Hawaii where he learned about sustainable fashion, marine debris, microplastic, and microfiber. Further, he emphasized that as the population grows, the need for fabrics grows and when people buy, waste is created. He advised practicing the reduce, reuse, repurpose and recover technique and using science to innovate, something he is currently involved in through his NOAA CESSRST training. Timothy diligently prepared for the talk, “I assured that I understood the demographic of the audience, incorporated my personal and professional experiences, and wrote a captivating script that ended with a call for action.”

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