Richard Thompson | |
---|---|
Born | Richard C. Thompson |
Alma mater | University of Newcastle (BSc) University of Liverpool (PhD) |
Awards | Volvo Environment Prize (2022) [1] |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Marine biology Microplastics |
Institutions | University of Plymouth |
Thesis | The Ecology of Epilithic Microalgae (1996) |
Richard Charles Thompson is a marine biologist who researches marine litter. At the University of Plymouth he is director of the Marine Institute; professor of Marine Biology; and leads the International Marine Litter Research Unit. Thompson coined the term "microplastics" in 2004. [2] [3] In 2025, Time magazine listed him as one of the world's 100 most influential people. [4]
Thompson was educated at University of Newcastle and the University of Liverpool, where he was awarded a Ph.D in 1996.
Thompson's paper, Lost at Sea: Where is All the Plastic?, [5] published in the journal Science in 2004, was the first to use the term microplastics, which has since become common parlance. [6] [7] [8]
Since 2010 he has been professor of Marine Biology at the University of Plymouth. [9] Since 2018 he has also been director of the Marine Institute, part of the School of Biological and Marine Sciences at the University. [9] He also leads the University's International Marine Litter Research Unit. [10] [11]
He is a co-coordinator of The Scientists' Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty, [12] and in September 2024 led a further study - also published in Science [13] - which stated that after two decades of research into microplastics, the world had sufficient evidence to agree global action to tackle them.
In 2016, Professor Thompson was referred to by Mary Creagh as "The Godfather of Microplastics" during a public inquiry into the Environmental Impact of Microplastics by the Environmental Audit Select Committee. [22] This moniker has since been repeated extensively by media outlets across the world. [23] [24]
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)