The Global Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. Francesca's work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
About Francesca
Since 2021, Francesca has been a member of the International Marine Litter Research Unit at the University of Plymouth, working on the NERC-funded BIO-PLASTIC-RISK project. She investigates the environmental fate of biodegradable plastics and applies Py-GC-MS and other techniques to understand and trace plastic degradation in the environment.
Supervised Research Degrees
2022 – Present: Chun Yin Choi, PhD student, University of Plymouth, UK, PhD topic: “Investigation the release and behaviour of plastic nanofibers to air and the marine environment”.
2023: Vasiliki Soursou, PhD student, University of Valencia, Spain, visiting research period at the University of Plymouth on “Study of the release and fate of textile fibers in the environment”.
2022: Tommaso Nacci, PhD student, University of Pisa, Italy, visiting research period at the University of Plymouth on “Monitoring the degradation processes affecting materials made of biodegradable polymers in different environmental matrices”.
2020: Michela Volgare, Master’s student in Materials Engineering, University of Napoli “Federico II”, Italy, Master’s thesis: “Influence of detergent type on microplastic release during washing process of synthetic textiles”.
Teaching
I provide lectures on the topics of microplastic pollution and biodegradable plastics for different courses at the University of Plymouth
