Overview
I am currently a NERC funded post-doc on the MINIMISE program seeking to understand and map the threat microplastics play to the UK shelf seas. As such I have been undertaking exposure experiments, meta-analyses and some field sampling to try to answer some of the key aims of the project.
More broadly I am an ecologist interested and concerned with anthropogenic disturbances to the marine environment at a population or system scale. I have over 10 years’ experience in planning and executing field sampling campaigns to collect environmental data answering key questions pertaining to our impact on the marine environment. I enjoy the analysis of big datasets and have an interest in using GIS and digital media in data collection, analysis and presentation. I have also developed extensive laboratory protocols for the processing of environmental samples looking at microplastic contamination in aquatic systems and organisms.
Outside of research I am a keen diver, and sailor, photographer and drummer and enjoying life in Devon walking on Dartmoor and surfing on the North coast.
Qualifications
PhD University of Exeter (2014-2018)
MESci Marine Geoscience Cardiff University (2008-2012)
Research group links
Publications
Key publications | Publications by category | Publications by year
Publications by category
Journal articles
Jones JS, Porter A, Muñoz-Pérez JP, Alarcón-Ruales D, Galloway TS, Godley BJ, Santillo D, Vagg J, Lewis C (2021). Plastic contamination of a Galapagos Island (Ecuador) and the relative risks to native marine species.
Science of the Total Environment,
789Abstract:
Plastic contamination of a Galapagos Island (Ecuador) and the relative risks to native marine species
Ecuador's Galapagos Islands and their unique biodiversity are a global conservation priority. We explored the presence, composition and environmental drivers of plastic contamination across the marine ecosystem at an island scale, investigated uptake in marine invertebrates and designed a systematic priority scoring analysis to identify the most vulnerable vertebrate species. Beach contamination varied by site (macroplastic 0–0.66 items·m−2, microplastics 0–448.8 particles·m−2 or 0–74.6 particles·kg−1), with high plastic accumulation on east-facing beaches that are influenced by the Humboldt Current. Local littering and waste management leakages accounted for just 2% of macroplastic. Microplastics (including anthropogenic cellulosics) were ubiquitous but in low concentrations in benthic sediments (6.7–86.7 particles·kg−1) and surface seawater (0.04–0.89 particles·m−3), with elevated concentrations in the harbour suggesting some local input. Microplastics were present in all seven marine invertebrate species examined, found in 52% of individuals (n = 123) confirming uptake of microplastics in the Galapagos marine food web. Priority scoring analysis combining species distribution information, IUCN Red List conservation status and literature evidence of harm from entanglement and ingestion of plastics in similar species identified 27 marine vertebrates in need of urgent, targeted monitoring and mitigation including pinnipeds, seabirds, turtles and sharks.
Abstract.
Pereira JM, Rodríguez Y, Blasco-Monleon S, Porter A, Lewis C, Pham CK (2020). Microplastic in the stomachs of open-ocean and deep-sea fishes of the North-East Atlantic.
Environmental Pollution,
265Abstract:
Microplastic in the stomachs of open-ocean and deep-sea fishes of the North-East Atlantic
The presence of microplastic in marine fishes has been well documented but few studies have directly examined differences between fishes occupying contrasting environmental compartments. In the present study, we investigated the gut contents of 390 fishes belonging to three pelagic (blue jack mackerel, chub mackerel, skipjack tuna) and two deep-sea species (blackbelly rosefish, blackspot seabream) from the Azores archipelago, North-East Atlantic for microplastic contamination. Our results revealed that pelagic species had significantly more microplastic than the deep-water species. In all of the species studied, fragments were the most common plastic shape recovered and we found a significant difference in the type of polymer between the pelagic and deep-water species. In deep-sea fish we found almost exclusively polypropylene, whereas in the pelagic fish, polyethylene was the most abundant polymer type. Overall, the proportion of fish containing plastic items varied across our study species from 3.7% to 16.7% of individuals sampled, and the average abundance of plastic items ranged from 0.04 to 0.22 per individual (the maximum was 4 items recovered in one stomach). Despite the proximity of the Azores archipelago to the North Atlantic subtropical gyre, a region of elevated plastic abundance, the proportion of individuals containing plastic (9.49%) were comparable with data reported elsewhere.
Abstract.
Full text.
Publications by year
2021
Jones JS, Porter A, Muñoz-Pérez JP, Alarcón-Ruales D, Galloway TS, Godley BJ, Santillo D, Vagg J, Lewis C (2021). Plastic contamination of a Galapagos Island (Ecuador) and the relative risks to native marine species.
Science of the Total Environment,
789Abstract:
Plastic contamination of a Galapagos Island (Ecuador) and the relative risks to native marine species
Ecuador's Galapagos Islands and their unique biodiversity are a global conservation priority. We explored the presence, composition and environmental drivers of plastic contamination across the marine ecosystem at an island scale, investigated uptake in marine invertebrates and designed a systematic priority scoring analysis to identify the most vulnerable vertebrate species. Beach contamination varied by site (macroplastic 0–0.66 items·m−2, microplastics 0–448.8 particles·m−2 or 0–74.6 particles·kg−1), with high plastic accumulation on east-facing beaches that are influenced by the Humboldt Current. Local littering and waste management leakages accounted for just 2% of macroplastic. Microplastics (including anthropogenic cellulosics) were ubiquitous but in low concentrations in benthic sediments (6.7–86.7 particles·kg−1) and surface seawater (0.04–0.89 particles·m−3), with elevated concentrations in the harbour suggesting some local input. Microplastics were present in all seven marine invertebrate species examined, found in 52% of individuals (n = 123) confirming uptake of microplastics in the Galapagos marine food web. Priority scoring analysis combining species distribution information, IUCN Red List conservation status and literature evidence of harm from entanglement and ingestion of plastics in similar species identified 27 marine vertebrates in need of urgent, targeted monitoring and mitigation including pinnipeds, seabirds, turtles and sharks.
Abstract.
2020
Pereira JM, Rodríguez Y, Blasco-Monleon S, Porter A, Lewis C, Pham CK (2020). Microplastic in the stomachs of open-ocean and deep-sea fishes of the North-East Atlantic.
Environmental Pollution,
265Abstract:
Microplastic in the stomachs of open-ocean and deep-sea fishes of the North-East Atlantic
The presence of microplastic in marine fishes has been well documented but few studies have directly examined differences between fishes occupying contrasting environmental compartments. In the present study, we investigated the gut contents of 390 fishes belonging to three pelagic (blue jack mackerel, chub mackerel, skipjack tuna) and two deep-sea species (blackbelly rosefish, blackspot seabream) from the Azores archipelago, North-East Atlantic for microplastic contamination. Our results revealed that pelagic species had significantly more microplastic than the deep-water species. In all of the species studied, fragments were the most common plastic shape recovered and we found a significant difference in the type of polymer between the pelagic and deep-water species. In deep-sea fish we found almost exclusively polypropylene, whereas in the pelagic fish, polyethylene was the most abundant polymer type. Overall, the proportion of fish containing plastic items varied across our study species from 3.7% to 16.7% of individuals sampled, and the average abundance of plastic items ranged from 0.04 to 0.22 per individual (the maximum was 4 items recovered in one stomach). Despite the proximity of the Azores archipelago to the North Atlantic subtropical gyre, a region of elevated plastic abundance, the proportion of individuals containing plastic (9.49%) were comparable with data reported elsewhere.
Abstract.
Full text.
Refresh publications
