Dorothy Horn, a Ph.D. student at Portland State University, studies impacts of microplastics on near shore marine organisms. In her Dec. 12 Nature Matters presentation, she will discuss overall problems with marine debris, how it impacts our watersheds from upriver all the way to our coastal ecosystems and what we know so far. She will present research investigating the impacts of microplastics on invertebrates in Oregon, and some of the ways we can all make changes to help with the problem.

The free 7 p.m. presentation takes place Dec. 12 at the Fort George Lovell Showroom, 1483 Duane Street, Astoria. Doors open at 6 p.m. to purchase dinner or beverages at the Fort George Brewery before the event.

Horn grew up in southern California and joined the Marine Corps after high school, training to be a helicopter crew chief. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree of Science at California State University Channel Islands in Environmental Science and Biology and has worked with the National Park Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a ranger. Her presentations focused on wildlife, including the California Condor.

She has received the National Science Foundation graduate research fellowship in her second year of graduate study, a fellowship that has allowed her to investigate what happens to crabs and fish when they ingest microplastics. Her research has taken her along the coast of Oregon, California, the California Channel Islands, Hawaii and Costa Rica. Now Horn lives in Newport, Oregon, while she finishes her research with the help of Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's shellfish team.

Nature Matters, a lively conversation about the intersection of nature and culture, takes place on the second Thursday of each month from October through May. Nature Matters is hosted by Lewis and Clark National Historical Park in partnership with the North Coast Watershed Association, the Lewis & Clark National Park Association, and the Fort George Brewery + Public House.

For more information, call the park at (503) 861-4414 or check out http://www.nps.gov/lewi or Lewis and Clark National Historical Park on Facebook and Instagram.