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Plastic pollution is one of the most urgent and far-reaching threats facing our Oceans today—touching everything from marine life to coastal communities to climate resilience. In this powerful conversation with Rachel Bustamante of Plastic Pollution Coalition and Tamara Adame, a scientific ocean diver and anti-plastics activist, we explore the multifaceted impacts of plastic on Ocean health, and the deep interconnections between pollution, policy, and our relationship with the living world.
With a background in environmental policy analysis and campaign coordination, Rachel has worked to protect marine biodiversity and Ocean health at both state and global levels—including participation in the UN Global Plastics Treaty negotiations and direct advocacy with U.S. lawmakers. Her work is grounded in a commitment to justice, care, and solutions that protect people and planet.
As a scuba diving instructor in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, diving in the Mexican Caribbean, Tamara started noticing a huge influx of plastics to the Ocean about eight years ago. Her own grassroots efforts at organizing Ocean cleanup - and seeing how little impact that had on the quantity of plastics in the region - led her to become an anti-plastics activist, both in her state of Quintana Roo and at the national level. Plastic bags in supermarkets have now been banned across Mexico, thanks to the efforts of many anti-plastics advocates, including Tamara.
This session includes grounded insight, personal story, and tangible steps for those seeking to become more active stewards of Ocean health—whether in local watersheds or at the global level.
Special opportunity: Watch the documentary film, Mermaids Against Plastic, featuring Tamara Adame! This 10-minute film is available by special permission from the filmmaker, Sylvia Johnson, and is not available to stream elsewhere on the internet. This is a limited time opportunity - only for the duration of the Ocean Conversation Series - now through November 18.
Rachel Bustamante (she/her) is a Campaign Coordinator at Plastic Pollution Coalition. She has a background in environmental policy analysis, with three years of experience leading and supporting campaigns to protect marine biodiversity and ocean health. While living by the ocean in North Carolina and researching international ocean governance, she discovered her passion for ending plastic pollution. Her work, grounded in advocating for solutions that advance justice and care for people and our blue planet, led her to participate in the global plastic treaty negotiations and meet with members of the U.S. Congress.
Rachel holds a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Maryland and has published research in PLOS Biology and Sustainability. She is excited to dive into advocacy campaigns and communication efforts at the U.S. federal and state levels, including her home state of Maryland. In her free time, Rachel enjoys soaking up sunshine, biking, running, walking her senior beagle, collecting plastic pollution on beach walks, or enjoying a good read outdoors.
Tamara Adame is a Mexican cave diving instructor, explorer, and scientific diver whose life has been shaped by her deep connection to Nature and the sea. Growing up in the fishing village of Puerto Morelos, she developed an early intimacy with aquatic environments that continues to guide her work today.
With a BSc in Communication, Tamara has dedicated recent years to the exploration of flooded caves, while also joining scientific diving expeditions to Alaska, the Maldives, the Marshall Islands, and Belize. Her journey was featured in the film Mermaids Against Plastic, which follows her efforts to confront marine plastic pollution in the Mexican Caribbean. Through her teaching, exploration, and advocacy, Tamara works to inspire the diving industry and local communities to reduce single-use plastics and protect the marine environments she loves. To learn more about Tamara and her work visit her website.
Explore More Ocean Offerings
This webinar is part of a larger collective offering from the Organization of Nature Evolutionaries. Visit the main Ocean page to explore the full Ocean Conversation Series, join the Ocean Gratitude Ceremony, and enjoy spoken stories, poetry, recipes, and other ways to connect with the living Ocean.
→ Return to the main Ocean page
Conversation Series Schedule
Amazon to Ocean: The Currents That Connect Us, September 16th
Featuring Dr. Rosa Vasquez Espinoza, Peruvian chemical biologist, Author, and NatGeo Explorer
➡️Replay
The Plastic Crisis & Our Interconnected Ocean, September 23rd
Featuring Rachel Bustamante, Ocean Advocate and Environmental Campaign Coordinator
Tamara Adame, Scientific Diver and Anti-Plastics Activist
➡️Replay
Whale Kinship: Stories of Love and Evolution, October 14th
Featuring Pat McCabe, (Weyakpa Najin Win, Woman Stands Shining)—Diné mother, Grandmother, Activist, and Ceremonial Leader
➡️Register Here
Herring Protectors, October 23rd
Featuring Kh'asheechtlaa Louise Brady, Tlingit Nation, Kiks.ádi (Raven Moiety – Frog Clan), from Sheet’ká Kwaan (Sitka, Alaska), and leader of the Indigenous-led group Herring Protectors
➡️Register Here
Ocean Voices: A Journey into Intuitive Interspecies Communication, November 11th
Special 2-hour interactive webinar workshop on Intuitive Interspecies Communication and how this is being implemented to support Ocean health and research. Featuring Dr. Lynne Shannon, Wynter Worsthorne, Eleni Gkikakis, & Christine Noble Seller
➡️Register Here
When the Ocean Has Rights: Sea Turtles and People, November 18th
Featuring Callie Veelenturf — Marine biologist, National Geographic Explorer, and Founder of The Leatherback Project.
And Michelle Bender — Ocean Rights expert and international environmental lawyer.
➡️Register Here
