Dr. Anastasiia Snigirova started her work at Flinders University in October 2022 joining the microplastic research group. Her main role as a Research Associate in Biological Oceanography lies in studies of microplastic distribution in the marine waters of South Australia. Using light microscopy and Raman spectroscopy techniques she quantifies and identifies microparticles to provide information on possible sources of this type of contamination. One of the outcomes of her work is the development of guidelines on microplastic identification.

Her main background is in biological oceanography, she did her PhD in 2015 studying sand-dwelling microalgae in the Black Sea region at Odesa National I.I.Mechnikov University (Ukraine). Since 2019 she assumed the role of Head of the Department of Ecology of Contact Communities at the Institute of Marine Biology of the NAS of Ukraine. In this leadership position, she played a pivotal role in shaping the direction of ecological research and fostering collaboration among talented scientists. Since 2018 her main research interest has been focused on marine litter and its interaction with organisms, which led to the creation of the research group of scientists at the Institute of Marine Biology (Ukraine) on studies of biofouling on plastic in laboratory and field experiments.

Since 2023 Anastasiia joined the Nano Microplastics Research Consortium. Her main role will be related to managing the consortium, and cooperation with industry and international partners.