The beaches of Hawaii accumulate high amounts of MPD given their location and proximity to the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (also known as the North Pacific Garbage Patch, NPGP). A better understanding of where plastics strand, accumulate and what type of plastic is in the pacific ocean will encourage evidence-based actions and policies to effectively target plastic pollution which will consequently reduce plastic entering the ocean. In this webinar we will share three different projects that aim to better understand the plastic pollution in the Pacific ocean and its correlation with the pacific islands, such as Hawaii. The three projects are connected by the Center for Marine Debris Research and presented by ECOPs: Astrid Delorme (Coordinator of ECOP Programme endorsed project STORAGE), Brittney Lockett and Katie Stevens; who are all at different stages of their careers, having followed very different career paths.