A group of all-female “citizen scientists,” including women from the Sacramento region and across the globe, is preparing to launch an around-the-world sailing voyage this fall.
Three hundred women will sail in stages to study plastic pollution. Kim Wooten, an archaeologist from Jackson, was chosen by the group eXXpedition Round The World to be on the first of 30 stages.
She says she hopes to come away with a better understanding of how plastic waste impacts our planet. “I've already seen among my friends this kind of shift in how they start to perceive what they're purchasing as consumers,” Wooten said. “So, I really want to look at this from a consumer perspective."
In an email from Larissa Clark, who serves as a media contact with eXXpedition, she wrote that applications came in from 100 countries, and that travelers pay their way in different ways, everything from tapping into their savings to fundraising from friends.
Wooten says she didn't know how to sail before she applied. Now, she's spending as much time on boats as she can.
Wooten says she is already scheduled to give presentations about her experience to groups in Jackson and as far away as Boston upon her return.
The full excursion will start in England, go through the Panama Canal, past Australia, around Africa, up the east coast of the United States and into Greenland.
Her excursion is expected to cover 1,300 miles and take a couple of weeks. The 30 stages will take two years to complete and cover 38,000 miles.
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