The first expedition to collect samples took place in Bolivia during the recent coup in La Paz. Samples collected safely though and returned to London, Gatwick by co-lead Karen Frake. #ExploreBolivia #ScienceAndAdventure #AndesMountains #microplastics #scientificexpedition

The 2nd expedition collecting samples for GAPS is an American team led by Wayne Pettigrew. After a political coup during the 1st expedition, we hoped things would be easier this time. Rwanda certainly looked beautiful. #rowenzori #MicroplasticsResearch #EnvironmentalResearch

The airline has lost the team's luggage - including the sampling equipment! Potentially this means no sampling in the Rwenzori. All we can do is hope and make the best of side trips. #gorillas #lostluggage #scientificexpedition #MountainsOfTheMoon #MicroplasticsResearch #rwanda

Project leader Al Gill meeting Mike Edmonstone (leader of our Kazbek expedition) in a London coffee shop to hand over science kits. Dr Dusan Materic (Matt) Not as good as Kaffee in Leipzig! #coffee #expeditioncoffee #scientificexpedition #microplastics #London

Expedition dog Leia supervising the checking of a sample kit for leakage. When you're doing citizen science, not all of the citizens are human! #citizenscience #expeditiondog

How might nanoplastics impact the (human) immune system? Using advanced analytics, association and interference of NPs with a suite of immune cells in lab systems was tested. More work remains to assess how these interactions affect immune regulation. Read more about it here:

For more info. on our endorsement by the SES, see this video by Vanessa O'Brien (mountaineer, explorer, astronaut and submariner) x.com/vobonline/stat… Vanessa O'Brien Scientific Exploration Society Dr Dusan Materic (Matt) #microplastic #scientificexpedition #citizenscience

The ratio between reviews and original research is fascinating.....

Just got this. 😊😊😊 I am now a proud fellow of the Royal Geographical Society Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Thanks, Al Gill HLR for the endorsement. #gaps24 Expect a lot of missions to remote places, and with it, #microplastics and #nanoplastics research!

Vital for GAPS - this paper (Nature) validates the method we use to sample glaciers & measure atmospheric micro/nano-plastics. Until now, problems with sample contamination meant 'citizen scientists' could not measure nanoplastics reliably. #citizenscience #microplastics #nature

For those on LinkedIn, there's a neat summary of the current state of play with our atmospheric plastic pollution survey here bit.ly/3WSyPKK. #microplastic #scientificexpedition #greedisgood #esg #csr #ESGLeadership #CorporateSustainability #CircularEconomy

The Global Atmospheric Plastics Survey (GAPS) has completed phase one. We are extremely proud to recognize those first 9 expeditions & 1 special mission to further advance atmospheric sampling. We want to say THANK YOU, give you a virtual hug & a massive pat on the back. Most

GAPS in Space......GAPS_2024 instagram.com/p/DGtrtmjCW0X/…

Welcome back Borge Ousland & Vincent Colliard who just traversed Ellesmere Island - sampling for GAPS during their Ice Legacy project. # Hardest GAPS expedition so far! #SES #IceLegacy #IceLegacyProject #ProtectOurGlaciers #scientificExploration #microplastic #arcticExploration

JOUR 0 – LONGYEARBYEN Couvertures, sacs, nouilles et mousquetons partout ! Listes vérifiées, revérifiées... « Quelqu’un a vu un sac de chocolat ? » Chaos organisé. Tâches logistiques essentielles, rigueur et enthousiasme seront récompensés demain sur le terrain. Prêts au départ!