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When my video went viral, I found that communicating to non-scientists is uncomfortable - and effective, says Christine Figgener.
Three years ago, I uploaded a video of a sea turtle in distress. While collecting data for my PhD off the coast of Costa Rica, my team decided to remove what looked to be a barnacle encrusted in the nostril of the turtle, which we had captured for a research study. The object turned out to be a 10-centimetre section of a disposable plastic drinking straw. We filmed the process. That upsetting video (see go.nature.com/2qfci6f) has now had more than 33 million views, and became an emblem ofthe anti-straw movement.
It also thrust me into a world of high-profile advocacy I never expected to enter. I became involved in a documentary project, and community activists who were launching plastic-free campaigns asked for my support; I've gone to schools, conferences and screenings to talk about a subject that is not my main research focus. Last month, to my surprise, Time named me a 2018 Next Generation Leader, alongside celebrities such as Ariana Grande and Hasan Minhaj. All this has taught me that communicating beyond academia is worth trying, but it demands constant vigilance and caution.
I always have to remind non-scientists that my video is, of course, not the first documentation of how plastic harms marine wildlife. A legion of scientific articles does exactly that....