Kristina Bell

Kristina Bell

Crystal Coast, NC

Kristina Bell attends NC State, and attended Croatan High School in Newport, North Carolina, right near both Bogue Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. She has lived near the beach her whole life, and her frequent trips to the beach throughout her life have contributed to a great appreciation for the ocean and all it provides. She first became involved with POP when she worked at the North Carolina Youth Ocean Conservation Summit and met Director of Chapters Sam Athey. Since then, Kristina has became greatly involved in marine and environmental biology, working with programs such as the Sea Wolves 4-H club, the Plastic Ocean Project, the North Carolina Coastal Federation, and even formed her own chapter of NC State University’s Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) club at her high school. Kristina is particularly interested in the effects of plastic pollution and microplastics on aquatic health and marine biomes, and is currently working on writing an analytical thesis with the help of POP founder Bonnie Monteleone. Next fall, Kristina intends to transfer with her Associates in Science degree to a four-year university, where she will study marine and molecular biology. She hopes to bring greater awareness to the effects of plastic pollution on the marine environment and its organisms, as well as humans, to as many people as she can.