Areas of expertise

• Marine debris
• Impacts of plastic pollution on wildlife and ecosystems
• Economic dimensions of plastic pollution
• Marine ecology

Education

• D. Ecology, Economics and Ethics of the Environment – Arizona State University
• Sc. Geology – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Sc. Integrative Biology – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Erin serves as the Manager of Ocean Plastic Research at Ocean Conservancy. She is based in Anchorage, Alaska. Erin’s primary responsibility at Ocean Conservancy is to conduct policy-relevant research to better address the social and ecological impacts of plastic pollution on marine ecosystems and coastal communities. She leads primary research on the risk plastic pollution poses to marine biodiversity through ingestion and entanglement, as well as on the social cost of plastic pollution and the benefits of abatement strategies. Erin also serves as adjunct faculty at Arizona State University with the Center for Biodiversity Outcomes.

Before joining Ocean Conservancy, Erin researched ecological, economic and social dimensions of plastic pollution in her doctoral program and postdoctoral position. Outside of plastic pollution, she has researched fisheries and other coastal pollutants—nutrients, sedimentation, pesticides and vessel-based pollution—both within the United States and internationally.

Favorite Thing About the Ocean

The peace and humility I feel diving on a coral reef. Whether I am floating along a drift dive watching thousands of fish swim around me or observing the interactions between the small critters inhabiting a single coral colony, I always find myself struck by the breadth of life that these coral reefs sustain.

Select Scientific Publications

Murphy, E. L., Gerber, L. R., Rochman, C., Polidoro, B. (2024). A macroplastic vulnerability index for marine mammals, seabirds, and sea turtles in Hawai‘i. Science of the Total Environment.

​Murphy, E. L., Fredette-Roman, C., Rochman, C., Gerber, L. R., Polidoro, B. (2023). A multi-taxonomic, trait-based framework for assessing macroplastic vulnerability. Science of the Total Environment.

​Murphy, E. L., Polidoro, B., & Gerber, L. (2023). The plastic-scape: Applying seascape ecology to marine plastic pollution. Frontiers in Marine Science, 2119.

​Murphy, E. L., Iacona, G., Bernard, M., Barnes, M., McGivern, A., & Gerber, L. R. (2022). A decision framework for estimating the cost of marine plastic pollution interventions. Conservation Biology.

​Helm, L., Murphy, E. L., McGivern, A., Borrelle, S. B. (2021) Impacts of plastic waste management strategies. Environmental Reviews.

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Murphy, E. L., Eikenberry, S., Iacona, G, Watson, G, & Gerber, L. R. (2021) The value of increased spatial resolution of pesticide usage data for assessing risk to endangered species. Conservation Science and Practice.

​Murphy, E. L., Bernard, M., Gerber, L. R., & K. Dooley. (2021) Evaluating the role of market-based instruments in protecting marine ecosystem services in wild-caught fisheries. Ecosystem services.

Borrelle, S. B., Ringma, J., Law, K. L., Mannahan, C. C., Lebreton, L., McGivern, A., Murphy E., … M., & Rockman C. M. (2020) Predicted growth in plastic waste exceeds efforts to mitigate plastic pollution. Science.