Australians rely on healthy waterways for recreation, food, culture, biodiversity and local economies. Yet an almost invisible form of pollution—microplastics—is now present throughout our aquatic environments. Until recently, governments and communities lacked the evidence needed to understand where contamination was greatest and where action should begin.
Environmental scientist, Sam Lynch is making invisible pollution visible. Sam initiated and led Australia’s first statewide Broadscale Microplastic Assessment, collecting 600 samples from 120 estuaries across New South Wales. Her research found microplastics in every waterway sampled, with the highest concentrations occurring in urbanised catchments.
Sam transformed these complex scientific findings into a publicly accessible heat map, enabling communities, councils and decision-makers to understand conditions in their local waterways and prioritise action. Her research is informing government policy, regulatory responses, and industry initiatives designed to prevent plastic pollution at its source.
Through national media, community events, and direct engagement with councils, government agencies, and industry, Sam has brought microplastic science to more than two million Australians. She is now tracing microplastics back to their sources so interventions and regulation can be targeted before pollution reaches our waterways. By showing us where the problem is, and where it begins, Sam’s science is helping Australia move from awareness to prevention.