EGU25-18185, updated on 15 Mar 2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-18185
EGU General Assembly 2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Advancing river plastic research through serendipity and stupidity
Tim van Emmerik1 and the WUR-HWM River Plastic Team*
Tim van Emmerik and the WUR-HWM River Plastic Team
  • 1Wageningen University, Environmental Sciences Group, Hydrology and Environmental Hydraulics, Wageningen, Netherlands (tim.vanemmerik@wur.nl)
  • *A full list of authors appears at the end of the abstract

Rivers play an important role in the global distribution of plastic pollution throughout the geosphere. Quantifying and understanding river plastic pollution is still an emerging field, which has advanced considerably thanks to broad efforts from science, practice, and society. Much progress in this field has been achieved through learning from failures, negative results, and unexpected outcomes. In this presentation we will provide several examples of serendipity and stupidity that has led to new insights, theories, methods, and completely new research lines. We will share what we learned from rivers flowing in the wrong direction, sensors that disappear, equipment blocked by invasive plants, and dealing with suspicious local authorities. Pushing the science sometimes requires an opportunistic approach, embracing surprises and chaos you may face along the way.

WUR-HWM River Plastic Team:

Rahel Hauk, Yvette Mellink (former), Ámbar Pérez-García, Rose Pinto, Louise Schreyers, Miranda Stibora, Paolo Tasseron, Khoa Thi, Paul Vriend (former), Eline Zweers

How to cite: van Emmerik, T. and the WUR-HWM River Plastic Team: Advancing river plastic research through serendipity and stupidity, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-18185, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-18185, 2025.