Professor Alyson Santoro is leading a team of researchers looking at a novel solution: using nature to help create biodegradable plastics.

"There's actually bacteria that has evolved a way to break that down, and they naturally occur in the oceans," said Santoro. "What we're trying to do is figure out what things those microbes might need to help break down those plastics faster."

Santoro is a Marine Microbiologist in UCSB’s Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology. 

The National Science Foundation has funded a project to start exploration of the concept.