Vol 3. Issue 3. October 2025
Building on Momentum
By Allison Foster, Communications Coordinator
In his seminal work Meteorology, Aristotle coined the term “quicksilver” to describe mercury. Since antiquity, humans have exploited this liquid metal for its unique characteristics—it is a good conductor of electricity, forms alloys with other metals, is sensitive to heat and pressure, and acts as a preservative. Yet, there are hidden risks to using these products.
Next week, mercury scientists, government and agency delegates, and health organizations from around the world will gather in Geneva, Switzerland, to share their knowledge and research results. The Minamata Convention on Mercury draws worldwide attention to the effects of exposure and widespread use of mercury in consumer products and commercial applications and is working to reduce mercury in many products, such as skin lightening products (SLPs).
Mercury is a common ingredient used in skin lightening or anti-aging soaps and creams because mercury salts inhibit the formation of melanin, the pigment that gives human skin, hair, and eyes their color. Skin lightening products are used throughout the world among dark-skinned populations, but they are also promoted as treatments to remove age spots, freckles, and blemishes.
A Call to Action
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the main health risk to those who use skin lightening products that contain mercury is kidney damage, but the use of these products can also result in allergic reactions, skin irritation, or neurotoxicity. Even those who may not use SLPs directly can still be affected through inhalation and environmental contamination.
In 2021, BRI’s researchers joined a pilot project to investigate the risk of exposure to mercury-added SLPs. Led by the UN Environment Programme and in collaboration with the World Health Organization, BRI researchers focused on three countries—Gabon, Jamaica, and Sri Lanka—to understand the depth of the mercury problem in these products.
Through the project work, which will be completed in early 2026, these participating countries strengthened their abilities to regulate and monitor the processes needed to reduce mercury in SLPs. The pilot project is now in its final phase, however, results to date have led to an expanded project.
This past October, representatives from 13 African countries—Burkina Faso, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Guinea, Madagascar, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Togo, and Uganda—gathered in Ethiopia to launch the preparatory work for the new six-year regional initiative Eliminating Mercury-Added Skin Lightening Products in Africa.
Over three days, participants reviewed national project priorities, discussed workplans, budgets and other administrative considerations, and determined needs for further refinement of project activities.
Country delegates presented their priorities for action—including expanding laboratory facilities, developing Customs protocols, expanding market surveillance and community outreach, strengthening biological monitoring, and piloting mercury waste management initiatives.
A Shared Commitment
BRI is honored to serve as the lead executing agency, providing scientific expertise and coordination through the Center for Mercury Studies. BRI has a long-standing history of providing scientific information for mercury policy change, assisting with the Minamata Initial Assessments (MIAs) for more than 40 countries. Through that work, the need for enhanced testing of skin lightening products for mercury was identified as a key issue.
While our role is to guide and support the research, this project truly belongs to the participating countries—their leadership and local knowledge are at the heart of this effort to develop project activities for their communities. Together, we’re building data-driven, community-informed strategies to eliminate toxic products from the market and protect health and ecosystems alike.
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Growth Leads to Opportunity
By Deborah McKew, BRI Editor-in-Chief, Publications
With two months still to go, 2025 holds the record for the greatest growth BRI has experienced in its 27-year history. In September, BRI opened the new wing of our office building providing an additional 5,000+ square feet of space to the original 16,000+ square feet. This year to date, 13 scientists (including eight Ph.D.s) have joined some of our existing staff to fill those 17 new offices.
Here is a glimpse of some of our newest researchers:
Nate’s knowledge of bat ecology runs deep—he has had the privilege of training with Dr. Thomas Kunz, one of the most esteemed bat scientists in the world (now deceased). Nate’s expertise will benefit a number of our research programs. Nate brings a unique background from regulatory agencies and science funding, having previously worked for US Fish and Wildlife Service, National Science Foundation, and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, where he was the state bat biologist for Texas. Away from the office, he is an avid whitewater rafter on the Northeast’s rowdiest rivers, including several big runs in Maine.
Christine Gardiner; Ecotoxicology Lab Director
Christine joins BRI to oversee and expand our laboratory capabilities, with a particular focus on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS; aka forever chemicals). She also works on strategic planning for the ecotoxicology program through grant writing, project development, and field work. She has a passion for science communication, along with fostering strong collaboration networks with stakeholders, state and federal agencies, and academic partners, for the benefit of environmental health policy and public advisories. She likes to ski and craft macrame pieces, but nothing compares to playing with her dog Leo. She’s come to the right place!
Mael Glon, Ph.D.; Biodiversity Research Program Director
Mael joins BRI with a deep passion for biodiversity and his dedication to its conservation. His expertise spans taxonomy and systematics, environmental policy, and invasion biology. Originally from France, Mael now calls Midcoast Maine home. He has recently delved into the world of pumpkin farming, since he does live in the town that hosts the state’s largest pumpkin festival.
Anya Hopple, Ph.D.; Ecosystem Scientist
Anya joined BRI’s Center for Conservation and Climate Change to work on carbon project monitoring, biogeochemical cycling, and sustainable land management in grassland, savanna, and shrubland ecosystems. She is passionate about translating science into action and collaborating with stakeholders to implement sustainable land management strategies that enhance biodiversity conservation and climate resilience. Anya is also a new mom!
Andrew Killen, B.S.; Maine Loon Project Field Research Lead
Andrew follows in the footsteps of a long line of loon biologists working at BRI, including our leader David Evers, a pioneer in developing methods to reliably capture and band loons. Andrew conducts and assists in ongoing loon studies in Maine such as demographics, behavior, contaminants, and genetics. And as is typical at BRI, he will most likely be recruited to assist other Programs as he has experience with raptors, waterfowl, and seabirds. In addition, his experience in the U.S. Army as a combat medic will be useful in remote study sites should there be an emergency.
Zoe Korpi, M.S.; Offshore Wind Staff Scientist
Zoe, an avian ecologist, works on projects related to offshore wind energy development. She has extensive experience using tracking technology to study movement ecology of small migratory birds. Her recent work has focused on studying offshore avian movements and the impact of offshore wind development on birds. She brings both research and regulatory experience. Zoe is so dedicated to her work, she once stayed overnight in a haunted lighthouse to install a *Motus Wildlife Tracking Station. *Motus is an international research community working together to study the movement and behavior of birds, bats, and insects.
Shea Tillotson, M.S.; Biodiversity Research Biologist
Shea, an entomologist with a passion for insect biodiversity and ecology, recently joined BRI to bring her skills to BRI’s Biodiversity Research Program, where she contributes to several large-scale carbon sequestration projects across Kenya, Tanzania, and Zambia. Her work centers on monitoring and documenting insect biodiversity, with an emphasis on dung beetles and grasshoppers, to better understand the ecological impacts of these carbon projects. On top of all this, she’s teaching herself to become a potter in her spare time. Creativity abounds!
Jay came to BRI from the academic world, having taught a variety of courses (statistical methods, biogeography, ornithology, population genetics) and ran a research lab studying bird diversity at Missouri State University. As co-director of the Wildlife Remote Acoustics and Imagery Lab (WRAIL), Jay will focus on applying and improving remote/passive approaches to surveying and monitoring biodiversity. To prepare for his move from Missouri to Maine, Jay bought a book of short stories about New England. One story had eerily similar details of Jay’s life. The coincidences are so strong, it’s downright spooky.
New Staff in BRI’s Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDA) Group
Five new scientists join our team of experts in environmental toxicology, contaminant fate and transport, hydrology, and more. Their knowledge and skills help support state and federal agencies through the NRDA program, which provides compensation to restore damaged natural resources for the public’s benefit.
Karen Carney, Ph.D.; Senior Ecologist
Karen’s consulting work has focused on bridging environmental science and on-the-ground restoration, conservation and policy. She has led planning and assessments of aquatic, terrestrial, and marine ecosystem restoration and conservation actions across the U.S. for foundations, federal agencies, state agencies, and Tribes. She has also led and implemented analytical efforts focused on understanding, mitigating, and adapting to the impacts of climate change, with this work cited in and influencing U.S. EPA’s national climate assessment.While shark monitoring off the coast of San Francisco, Karen had the opportunity to appear on the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week!
Heather Forth, Ph.D.; Senior Environmental Chemist
Heather brings expertise in environmental chemistry, contaminant fate and transport, contaminant characterization, field sampling, to our NRDA group. Her work often involves characterizing and assessing the nature and extent of contaminants in the environment. Through this work, she has supported the development of numerous new and innovative sampling and analytical methods to improve our ability to detect and quantify oil and other contaminants in the environment. A longtime lover of outdoor recreation, gardening, mountain biking, and camping, she is now learning how to rock climb!
Andrew McFadden, M.S.; Environmental Scientist
Andrew, an environmental scientist and physical geographer, joins BRI with more than ten years’ experience in interdisciplinary natural science research and in associated field and laboratory data collection. He has expertise in a wide variety of technical disciplines including natural resource damage assessment, ecological restoration, terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecology, toxicology, water resources management, natural hazards assessment, and climate related research. Andrew claims the dubious honor of having a wildfire named for him, after he reported the fire on Mount Blue Sky, a 14,000-foot peak in Colorado.
Molly McLaughlin, Ph.D.; Environmental Scientist
Molly joins BRI with more than 12 years’ experience in interdisciplinary research at contaminated sites including designing and conducting field sampling surveys and data analysis, review, and interpretation. She has expertise in natural resource damage assessment, environmental chemistry, hydrogeology, and risk assessment. Before digging into her career, Molly spent her après college summer WWOOFing in Ireland.
Matthew Rissing, M.S.; Geospatial Scientist
Matt is a geospatial scientist and data analyst who works on projects related to environmental sciences, natural resources, restoration, and data management. His expertise is in using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for developing spatial analysis approaches to solve challenging problems. His work has been used as exhibits for litigation cases, datasets for assessing programs and rules, and products for data visualization applications. To clear his head from all that data, Matt climbs mountains—on a bike! Last summer, he rode solo along the Colorado Trail from Denver to Durango. Two weeks, 540 miles, and 73,000 feet of climbing.
Illustrations © Iain Stenhouse, Shearon Murphy, and Linda Mirabile.s.
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Anatomy of an Infographic
By Deborah McKew, BRI Editor-in-Chief, with Iain Stenhouse and Shearon Murphy
Before humans had spoken language, they had infographics. Earliest humans communicated information through drawings on cave walls. Over the course of history, people understood that visual representations were invaluable to teach (best hunting practices), create a writing system (hieroglyphs), provide directions (maps), and explain intricate relationships (graphs and charts). Visual data exploded with the use of social media and BRI has jumped on that bandwagon big time.
BRI’s multitalented staff includes a number of artists, and we in the communications department take full advantage of them. Every infographic aims to present data or simplify an idea or a concept and are usually customized for a specific audience. So, when we need to explain a complex scientific concept for use in our outreach materials, I know just who to call.
Meet Iain Stenhouse, technically our marine bird expert—but I call him our Information Architect. He builds digital infographics to help make scientific information accessible to a general audience. But I’ll let him tell you in his own words:
From Iain: When a request for an infographic comes my way, the very first questions I ask are, “What do you want to get across and who are you talking to?” The answers will drive the entire process.
Although I work digitally in Adobe Illustrator, the initial concept often comes together first on paper. Photographs and other source material help enormously, but I always ask for something from my colleagues to get started. I want to know what they envision in their mind’s eye. They often respond with, “I’m not artistic… that’s why I came to you!” But I explain that even the roughest, most abstract of scribbles can be enough to spark an idea that we can develop and refine through trial and error. A simple step like this can cut down the time involved enormously.
Infographics need to be appealing pieces of art in their own right, of course, but to be successful, they must provide the crucial content in a simplified format that allows the viewer to absorb the information quickly, easily, and intuitively.
Infographics are born of more art than science—to create them effectively, you need a good graphic design eye and a strong sense of layout—but being a scientist is a huge help in creating scientific illustrations. Even a basic knowledge of the subject matter is invaluable when attempting to depict and relate complex concepts or ideas. For example, knowing which species are appropriate in which settings increases the accuracy of the content, improves the efficiency of the creative process, and enhances the effectiveness of the ultimate design.
Once I get going on a design, I build the artwork in layers, which can be clicked on and off. This allows greater flexibility for quick changes and edits down the road. Once drafted, I work with colleagues to review and refine until the infographic delivers what they need. I revel in the process and enjoy getting ideas across to an array of audiences!
Now, while Iain is a talented digital artist, we sometimes need something a little more traditional. For that, I go directly to our Rembrandt in Residence, Shearon Murphy.
Shearon, a loon biologist by day, started painting for pleasure at night. Her latent talent emerged when BRI needed a few bird illustrations for a report. With that first project, the flood gates of creativity sprung open. Here are her thoughts on what it takes to make an infographic come alive:
From Shearon: It is my challenge to absorb another person’s vision, then process it into graphic reality. Usually, the product must work in concert with other graphics, text, and design elements—all of which must be considered.
With each assignment, the “cognitive processing” starts immediately; I must visualize the product to some extent before I can begin to create it. Often, that mental picture coagulates while my colleague is articulating their ideas to me, but sometimes it takes more coffee, aimless walks, and research to get there. In the first phase of creation, I will amass reference information, produce sketches, and work with the communications team to approve the composition. As the idea gels, I’ll choose the media and tools I need to bring the vision into reality.
As a scientist and a person who appreciates accuracy, I spend A LOT of time researching my subjects; I am compulsive about understanding the nuances of the story I am trying to tell, or the subject that I am trying to represent. The internet allows me to explore places I have never been, and to observe creatures that I have never seen. Google Earth allows me to fly over the planet and visit far-flung landscapes—it’s kind of like an out of body experience. Botanical records help me know the correct plant species to establish an accurate sense of place. Images and videos across the internet show me details such as distinguishing characteristics, proper body proportions and (importantly) postures and mannerisms that give a species its unique character. For example, the USFWS Feather Atlas shows me the shapes and patterns of individual bird feathers by species. The internet also provides a window into communities, landscapes and ways of life around the globe, which is invaluable when I am tasked with representing cultures that I’ve never experienced. For each illustration, I will view hundreds to thousands of photos and resources, and I will select from around 10 to over 100 images on which to base my sketches and provide painting reference.
Unlike Iain’s purely digital creations, most of mine require some component of traditional art techniques. I use a variety of media including graphite, watercolor, acrylic, and gouache. I either scan or photograph the artwork, then I use digital tools (such as PaintShop Pro or Procreate) to clean up and color correct the images before providing them to the communications team for use in published materials.
Currently, I am working with BRI to provide illustrations for BRI’s upcoming book about the Birds of Amboseli National Park, in Kenya. This project has challenged me in new and exciting ways, with complicated graphics and a new-to-me medium—not to mention the need to represent with accuracy complex species and human interactions in a place that I have never been! For this challenge, I am synergizing traditional painted pieces with digital layering to compose complex and dynamic scenes that are malleable in both content and composition.
Science communications is an expanding industry, one that relies on the ability to translate complex into accessible, or what I call deceptively simple. The final result might seem like a simple illustration, but the work needed to build layer upon layer, while keeping in mind audience, accuracy, and design, is anything but.
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How Science Informs Policy
By Deborah McKew, BRI Editor-in-Chief, Publications
It was nearly 15 years ago that Dave Evers, BRI’s executive director and chief scientist, was invited to join the science committee that would help inform the negotiating process of an international treaty on mercury. As he delivered his talk on mercury research to a delegation of world leaders and other dignitaries developing one of the most critical UN environmental treaties of our lifetime, I wonder if he could imagine just how far that first step on the world stage would take BRI.
Now here we are, 2025, and the Sixth Convention of the Parties of the Minamata Convention on Mercury is about to begin. Five BRI staff members will be joining the hundreds of delegates in Geneva, Switzerland to present our research, data that is integral to many projects and programs funded by the UN Environment Programme.
BRI’s scientific research has helped shape regional, national, and international policy regarding the use of mercury in commercial products and industrial processes and has significantly helped raise awareness on the health risks of mercury exposure to humans, wildlife, and the environment we all share.
BRI’s Participation in COP-6 of the Minamata Convention
- From Science to Policy — Integrating data for the first effectiveness evaluation
Entered into force in 2017, the Minamata Convention is now formalizing procedures to evaluate how well the treaty is working. BRI is participating in an Open-ended Scientific Group that will contribute, analyze, and synthesize data pertaining to mercury emissions and releases and monitoring. Our data team is developing protocols to standardize and harmonize data originating from various sources so information is presented in a clear and accessible format.
- Detoxifying Cosmetics and Beauty Ideals — Global voices and solutions to reduce demand for mercury and skin lightening
This seminar, also called a knowledge lab, will focus on specific country experiences. BRI staff will provide material related to our Eliminating Mercury Skin Lightening Project with UNEP (see our science story in this issue).
- Building the Evidence: Monitoring mercury and protecting communities
This panel discussion will incorporate BRI’s Global Mercury Biotic Synthesis database and a preview of UNEP’s World Environment Situation Room.
- Fostering the Integration of Chemicals Pollution into National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans
Presentations will include the latest tools and perspectives from different countries. Discussions will include the impacts of mercury to biodiversity. To learn more about BRI’s work on this subject, click here.
