Two anglers standing on a boat, one of them holding a large brown and black lingcod. — Assistant Professor Christina Pasparakis holding a lingcod while on a research trip with the California Collaborative Fisheries Research Program. (Photo by California Collaborative Fisheries Research Program.)

Christina Pasparakis Wins UC Davis Award for Innovation and Creative Vision

Award Money Will Help Launch Microplastics Research

by Emily C. Dooley
May 06, 2024

Environmental toxicologist Christina Pasparakis, who is an assistant professor based at Bodega Marine Laboratory, is the winner of the 2024 UC Davis Award for Innovation and Creative Vision.

The prize is funded by Susie and alum Riley Bechtel and supports outstanding non-tenured early career faculty. It comes with a $40,000 research award that Pasparakis plans to use to launch a long-term community-based microplastic monitoring program in the Bodega Marine Reserve.

“Getting this grant has given me a boost and now allows me to get this idea kickstarted and get everything we need to move forward,” said Pasparakis who runs the Toxicology, Physiology, Ecology and Conservation, or ToPEC, Lab.