Trisha Vaidyanathan, PhD, Science Director (she / her)

Trisha is a scientist and researcher dedicated to using science to drive policy change. She has a decade of academic research experience, and holds a BA from UC Berkeley and a PhD in neuroscience from UC San Francisco. Her passion for environmental health grew from her postdoctoral research at Duke University, where she studied how prenatal exposure to air pollution affects brain development, work that illustrated to her the urgent need to translate science into action. Prior to Beyond Plastics, Trisha served as the Senior Director of Research at Defend Our Health, leading research initiatives and ensuring scientific rigor across campaigns on toxic chemicals and plastic pollution. She has worked with various science-policy organizations, such as the National Science Policy Network and Virginia Scientist-Community Interface. Trisha is excited to focus her work on plastic pollution, an urgent crisis at the intersection of climate change, public health, and environmental justice.