Sydney Rilum is a Marine Debris Specialist with USC Sea Grant and USC Wrigley Institute for Environment and Sustainability. She helps lead research and policy development on marine microplastics and works collaboratively with communities in Southern California to develop improved technologies, and impactful outreach and educational programming to reduce the amount of marine debris and microplastics that enter coastal systems. With a diverse career portfolio, Sydney has worked in education, habitat and species monitoring, research and data science fields within a variety of environmental and sustainability sectors, including non-profit (Laguna Ocean Foundation, Aquarium of the Pacific, OC Habitats), state agency (CA Department of Fish and Wildlife, State Water Resources Control Board), and private (Ocean Rainforest). Sydney holds a Master of Environmental Science and Management from the University of California, Santa Barbara Bren School with specializations in Coastal Marine Resources Management and Environmental Data Science, as well as a Bachelors in Environmental and Ocean Sciences with a Marine Ecology focus from the University of San Diego.