Dr. Zoltan Fehervari has worked as an editor in scientific publishing since 2007 – first at Cell Press before moving to Nature Research and his current position as a Senior editor with Nature. Prior to making the transition to scientific publishing he worked as a postdoc at the Universities of Kyoto and Cambridge and did part of his PhD in industry with GSK. As an editor he covers all aspects of immunology but with a particular interest in infectious disease, cancer immunology, and the interaction of the immune system with the exposome.

 Maria Westerbos (1961, Ethiopia) is an expert in mass communications, specialised in both traditional as well as new media. Her greatest talent is the ability to strategize and bring projects for social change to life, with an almost unerring instinct for what different target groups need. 

Her biggest success was putting the Plastic Soup Foundation on the world map and transforming the attitudes of businesses, governments, consumers, and NGOs regarding microplastics in personal care products, the tremendous leakage of fibres to the environment by fast fashion and making micro/nano-plastics in relation to human health top of mind. 

The Foundation was founded by Maria in February 2011. The brand name reached 3.1billion people in 2022.   

Dr Charlotte Davies is the Executive Director of Common Seas, where she leads global efforts to tackle plastic pollution through policy innovation, strategic partnerships, and systems change - particularly focusing on plastic’s impacts on human health and coastal countries. 

With over two decades of experience spanning environmental conservation, finance, and nonprofit leadership, Charlotte’s career includes senior roles in the Marine Biological Association and Ocean Conservation Trust, alongside other funding organisations and charitable and educational trusts. Charlotte brings a blend of operational expertise and mission-driven vision to her work.   

Living by the sea and often found on or around the water, Charlotte is a passionate advocate for the marine environment. She is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Doctorate in Biochemistry from Oxford University. Her current work is driven by a desire to understand and address the scientific mechanisms behind plastic’s impact on ecosystems, the economy and human health. As the leader of Common Seas, she champions evidence-based, scalable solutions for a more just and sustainable future. 

Winnie is a marine environmental scientist with over a decade of experience researching the sources, effects, and solutions to plastic pollution.

Winnie is a Lecturer in Marine Pollution at Bangor University and holds an Honorary Associate Research role at the University of Plymouth. She has led research into the global land-sea releases and movement of plastics, and the environmental degradation and impacts of biodegradable and bio-based plastics across terrestrial and marine environments. Her interdisciplinary work has furthered understanding of the risks of plastic pollution in a changing world and informs effective solutions.  

Since 2021, Winnie has actively participated in and supported the development of the UN Global Plastics Treaty. She has attended several of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee sessions, and she leads working groups focused on core issues for the Scientists’ Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty. Winnie has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, policy briefs, and technical reports, and has spoken around the world at conferences, parliamentary meetings, and at the United Nations, as well as regularly featuring on TV, radio, podcasts, and in print articles.

Thilo Hofmann is Professor and Chair of Environmental Geosciences at the University of Vienna, where he has held a full professorship since 2005. He earned his PhD in aquatic geochemistry from the University of Bremen in 1998, followed by postdoctoral and assistant professor positions at the University of Mainz. His research explores the environmental impacts of nanotechnology, the behaviour of trace contaminants, sorption processes involving carbonaceous materials, and the fate of microplastics in the environment.

He directs the University of Vienna’s Environmental and Climate Research Hub, which brings together over 70 research groups across the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, law, and economics to address holistically today’s pressing environmental challenges. He has published more than 260 peer-reviewed papers and received awards from the German Academic Scholarship Foundation, TU Berlin (the Erwin Stephan Prize), and the German Water Chemistry Society. He holds adjunct and guest professorships at Duke University (USA) and Nankai University, Tianjin (China).