Plastic waste in the oceans is a global problem. But while some people wonder what can be done, Kristal Ambrose is taking action.
That action has led her to the GRID-Arendal office in Norway where she is working as an intern with Joan Fabres, the organisation’s Marine Litter Program Officer.
Kristal is from Eleuthera, Bahamas, where she runs a non-governmental organisation, The Bahamas Plastic Movement, dedicated to raising awareness about, and taking action on, marine litter. She is also doing a graduate course on Marine Management at Dalhousie University in the Canadian coastal city of Halifax.
Fabres had heard about Kristal’s work and invited her to moderate a panel on marine plastic pollution policy held at last year’s United Nations Environmental Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya. She says:
“This beautiful happenstance led me all the way to Arendal, Norway, to complete a summer internship focused on my graduate research around plastic pollution.”
While at GRID, she is analysing a year-long citizen science data set aimed at assessing the diversity and abundance of marine debris on Eleuthera and using predictive mapping to understand what variables drive plastic debris onto local shorelines.
Working with GRID-Arendal’s GIS team, Kristal is investigating the role of wind, waves, currents, substrate and beach slope in influencing debris deposition throughout The Bahamas.
Kristal’s time in Arendal is short but before she leaves she will give the keynote speech – “Norwegian Solutions in a Sea of Plastic” – during the annual Arendalsuka conference which draws politicians, civil society, business and media from around the country to this small coastal town every August.
Even after Kristal leaves, GRID-Arendal and the Bahamas Plastic Movement will continue their partnership to find viable solutions to plastic pollution in the Caribbean region.
Video produced and edited by Louis Pille Schneider and Kristal Ambrose.
© 2026 GRID-Arendal
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
/1x.jpeg?auto=webp)
/1x.jpeg?auto=webp)
/1x.jpeg?auto=webp)
/1x.jpeg?auto=webp)
/1x.jpeg?auto=webp)
/1x.jpeg?auto=webp)