Zara Lizzeth Zuniga
I am a MSc. Student in the Geography department at Carleton. I am working under the supervision of Dr. Jesse Vermaire (Carleton) and Dr. Lisa Erdle (5Gyres Institute). I completed my bachelor’s degree in biology in my home country Honduras at the National Autonomous University. In 2019, I began researching microplastics in fish for human consumption and beached animals in the Caribbean of Honduras, and today, I continue to further research these topics for my master’s thesis.
My work focuses on exploring the fate of plastic from the Motagua River in Guatemala to the Caribbean Sea; and the concentration, composition, and accumulation of marine litter in the mangrove ecosystem of Roatan Island, located in the Bay Islands of Honduras.
This work is necessary for the region since around 20,000 tons of marine litter are discharged each year from the Motagua River in Guatemala and several rivers in Honduras. Our region has the second largest reef in the world, the Mesoamerican reef, and three wetlands declared of international importance by the RAMSAR Convention on Wetlands. Our results will be baseline studies in the region, and we hope they will be used to strengthen existing plastic ban laws and establish new ones in Honduras and Guatemala. Outside of academia, I enjoyed being outdoors doing activities like scuba diving, cycling, hiking, and camping