Tracking how ocean currents transport plastic, plankton and other materials

The Lagrangian Ocean Analysis team at Utrecht University

The Lagrangian Ocean Analysis team within the Institute for Marine and Atmospheric research at Utrecht University's Department of Physics, uses the OceanParcels framework to create and analyse simulations of the transport of material (plastics, plankton, fish) by ocean currents and its impact on climate and marine ecosystems. Within the group, we adhere to Open Science principles and aim to create a collaborative and inclusive atmosphere.

The team (alphabetical)

Ilse Bos

BSc student

Ilse investigates how ocean currents transport turtles that have been found on Dutch beaches.

Philippe Frankemölle

MSc student

Philippe investigates how currents in the Tropical Pacific Ocean transport floating material.

Laura Gomez Navarro

Postdoctoral researcher

Laura investigates how to track floating material in currents from remote sensing.

Cleo Jongedijk

PhD researcher

Cleo investigates how plastic litter ends up on beaches.

Mikael Kaandorp

PhD researcher

Mikael investigates how to use machine learning to incorporate plastic distribution data into models.

Christian Kehl

Postdoctoral researcher

Christian investigates how Parcels can best be optimised for High Performance Computing.

Delphine Lobelle

Postdoctoral researcher

Delphine investigates how 3D ocean circulation impacts plastic transport.

Darshika Manral

PhD researcher

Darshika investigates how plankton interact with nutrients and plastic in the Atlantic Ocean.

Sophie van Mil

MSc student

Sophie investigates how the pathways of surface drifters in the Galapagos region.

Ina Nagler

MSc student

Ina investigates the sources of plastic ending on the Galapagos Islands.

Peter Nooteboom

Postdoctoral researcher

Peter investigates how to simulate the dynamics of tuna interaction.

Victor Onink

PhD researcher

Victor investigates the global dispersion patterns of marine plastic pollution.

Claudio Pierard

PhD researcher

Claudio investigates the origin and fate of nanoplastics in our ocean.

Daan Reijnders

PhD researcher

Daan investigates how to incorporate diffusion into particle simulations in biogeochemical oceanography.

Jiongqiu Ren

MSc student

Jiongqiu analyses how ocean currents in the Tropical Pacific transport plastic towards the Galapagos Islands.

Joey Richardson

MSc student

Joey explores how to simulate the transport of oil at the surface of the ocean.

Siren Rühs

Postdoctoral researcher

Siren investigates how the latest generation of ocean models can be used to simulate the dispersion of plastic.

Denise Ruijsch

MSc student

Denise simulates how past ocean currents have facilitated the dispersion of lemurs

Erik van Sebille

Professor

Erik investigates how ocean currents move 'stuff' around, and leads the OceanParcels project.

Steffie Ypma

Postdoctoral researcher

Steffie creates a tool that supports plastic cleanup in the Galapagos.

Previous team members

Current Projects

Social Media


Youtube channel