UAS hosts operational headquarters of the Marine Debris Foundation
Partnership supports community-based initiatives, including the Clean Oceans Innovation Hub.
Juneau, Alaska
Date of Press Release: November 12, 2026
Hosting the foundation at UAS is an opportunity for students, faculty and staff to engage at the nexus of ocean research and action, including with workshops and abatement projects. It opens the door to new collaborations with partner entities in areas such as environmental sciences, marine biology and marine policy.
“We are proud to have the Marine Debris Foundation at UAS, as it is our mission to serve our coastal environments, cultures, economies and communities,” said UAS Chancellor Aparna Palmer. “Centering national efforts of the foundation here creates an unparalleled opportunity to weave the learning and research that occurs at the university with the leadership and service needed to address this critical challenge with the urgency it deserves.”
The Marine Debris Foundation currently hosts 2026-27 Alaska Sea Grant State Fellow Emma Maxtutis at its UAS-based headquarters. Maxtutis is identifying cutting-edge projects and managing Alaska grants through the foundation’s newly launched Clean Oceans Innovation Hub. The hub provides financial support to high-impact solutions, grounded in local knowledge and experience, with potential for replication and scale.
“As our aim is to support communities in protecting waters and coasts that are culturally or economically important, having Emma embedded in a vital Alaskan institution will enable us to work more effectively in Alaska,” said Clare Romanik, executive director of the Marine Debris Foundation.
Maxtutis also coordinates community-based debris removal projects with the Alaska Center for Marine Debris, administered by Alaska Sea Grant. These initiatives through UAS and the Marine Debris Foundation are supported by 2023 and 2025 awards from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Debris Program.
“Marine debris impacts Alaskan livelihoods and marine resources,” said Ginny Eckert, Alaska Sea Grant director and University of Alaska Fairbanks professor of fisheries. “Community-based removal projects prevent debris from entering the food web and affecting marine birds, wildlife, fish and other foods that Alaskans harvest.”
The Marine Debris Foundation was established in the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act of 2020, led by U.S. Sens. Dan Sullivan and Sheldon Whitehouse and U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, as a charitable nonprofit partner of the NOAA Marine Debris Program. Sullivan has advocated for the foundation’s operations to be based in Alaska to provide a frontline perspective from the state, as Alaska has more coastline than the other 49 states combined and receives debris transported from around the world.
“I am excited to see the official announcement of the congressionally chartered Marine Debris Foundation—established through my historic Save Our Seas 2.0 Act—making the world-class University of Alaska Southeast the home of its operational headquarters,” said Sen. Sullivan.
“This new partnership builds on our years-long effort to establish Alaska as a global hub for cutting-edge research, innovation, and Arctic expertise. From the National Science Foundation’s Regional Innovation Engine at UAF and the Department of Homeland Security’s Arctic Domain Awareness Center at UAA to the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit at UAF and the Ted Stevens Arctic Security Center at JBER, we are making tremendous strides toward that goal.”
“I want to congratulate the Foundation and UAS teams on this important partnership and their shared commitment to tackling one of the world’s most solvable environmental challenges. Together, we can make a lasting difference in protecting our oceans and making our marine ecosystems more sustainable for generations to come.”