PLASTIC OCEAN PROJECT

Bonnie Monteleone, a dedicated plastic marine debris researcher and the cofounder and executive director of the non-profit, Plastic Ocean Project, Inc. Bonnie has covered 10,000 nautical miles investigating microplastic pollution throughout four of the five global oceanic gyres, produced the international award winning short documentary, 356 and is currently producing the upcoming documentary, If the Ocean Could Talk, A Voice For the North Atlantic. Bonnie is also an adjunct instructor at University of North Carolina, Wilmington teaching plastic marine debris field studies. Her research has been featured in peer-reviewed scientific journals,including Science of The Total Environment, Limnology and Oceanography, Environmental Pollution, Royal Society of Chemistry and Technical Report. An accomplished artist, Bonnie turns plastic she collects on her voyages into modern artistic masterpieces.

BEYOND PLASTICS

Appointed by President Obama, she served as the Regional Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency overseeing environmental protection in NY, NJ, 8 Indian Nations, Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands. Working with a staff of 800 and managing a $700 million budget, Judith secured a number of environmental accomplishments during her tenure at EPA.

She has worked on environmental and energy issues related to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and the U S Virgin Islands, serving on the Governor’s Hurricane Recovery and Resiliency Advisory Committee in the US Virgin Islands.

Judith previously served as Deputy Secretary for the Environment in the New York Governor’s Office and served as a Policy Advisor to the New York State Attorney General. Prior to that, she was Senior Environmental Associate with the New York Public Interest Research Group. She also served as the Executive Director of Environmental Advocates of New York. She is a past President of Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, former Executive Director of the Non-Profit Resource Center and a designer of her town’s rural recycling program.

She is panelist on the “Roundtable” a public affairs radio show WAMC, an NPR station in upstate New York.

She was appointed to the New Jersey Plastics Advisory Council by the Governor of New Jersey.

CLEAN VIRGINIA WATERWAYS

Katie Register is Founder and former Executive Director of Clean Virginia Waterways, and represents the USA on the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup Advisory Board. She is also co-founder of the Virginia Plastic Pollution Prevention Network.

She has worked joyously and extensively on preventing water pollution, focusing mainly on land-based sources of plastic pollution. She has done extensive research on the impacts of cigarette litter, convenience food packaging, helium-filled balloon litter, abandoned boats, and influencing behavior change. She is the lead author of the Virginia Marine Debris Reduction Plan.

Katie has a Master’s degree from Miami University in Teaching Biological Sciences, and a Master’s degree from George Mason University in Environmental Sciences and Public Policy.

She has consulted with the National Geographic Society, the US Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and works closely with the Ocean Conservancy, and the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program.

In 2022, she was appointed by Governor Northam to the Virginia Litter Control and Recycling Fund Advisory Board.

Katie’s keynote presentation will INSPIRE you to see how plastic pollution prevention can motivate a new generation of citizen scientists and passionate caretakers of our Ocean and Earth.