Justine Ammendolia

Justine Ammendolia is a Canadian environmental scientist and National Geographic Explorer who is passionate about tackling our plastic pollution problem. Originally from Toronto, Justine won her first National Geographic Society grant in 2014, where she traveled to Eastern Greenland and lived off-grid to study Arctic seabird colonies. After learning about the impact of plastics polluting our Northern Hemisphere, Justine searched for solutions by tracking pollution to the source, from mapping marine debris on the remote beaches of Newfoundland, to finding leakage points of COVID-19 masks littering global cities during the pandemic. Through National Geographic’s Planet or Plastic campaign, Justine keynoted the 2018 Education Summit and Youth Leadership events, wrote educational content for Explorers Magazine and contributed to plastic awareness campaigns.

Justine combines her love of science, photography and storytelling to inspire audiences to advocate for change by participating in citizen science in their own backyards. Justine has been working with National Geographic Expeditions since 2022 and has traveled to Greenland, Svalbard and Southern Norway, Iceland and Patagonia. Recognized as an NSERC, Killam, Royal Canadian Geographic Society, and P.E.O. Peace Scholar, Justine self-funded her PhD at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Also supported by a National Geographic Society grant, she is wrapping up her PhD work on atmospheric microplastic pollution. When Justine isn’t globetrotting, she enjoys swimming in the Atlantic, experimenting with spices in the kitchen, and hanging out with her cats.