Maria Kristina Paler, PhD is an Associate Professor at the Department of Biology University of San Carlos, Philippines. She handles graduate courses on Environmental Sciences including Pollution and Circular Economy. She was a researcher at the University of Basel and collaborates with Chiba Institute of Technology for the analysis of macro and microplastics in environmental systems. She has produced publications on the socio-ecological nexus of the plastic issue which she started a decade ago. She was a co-investigator of research projects funded by UK Natural Environment Research Council and Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture.