Patricia Villarrubia-Gómez

Patricia Villarrubia-Gómez is a sustainability scientist and plastic pollution researcher whose work focuses on the intersection of Earth systems science, international policy, and social justice. Villarrubia-Gómez is a PhD candidate at Stockholm University's Stockholm Resilience Centre and holds an MSc in Social-Ecological Resilience for Sustainable Development from Stockholm University, as well as a BSc in Environmental Science from Granada University. Her doctoral research is a collaborative project between the Stockholm Resilience Centre and Gothenburg University, in partnership with the 5 Gyres Institute, and addresses the global challenge of plastic pollution using a social-ecological systems approach.

Villarrubia-Gómez conducts research on plastic pollution at a global scale, examining impacts on Earth system processes, international policy, and social movements. Her work explores the interconnections between science, policy, and society, including early evidence of how plastic pollution has pushed humanity beyond a safe operating space as defined by the nine planetary boundaries. She integrates insights from natural and social sciences to analyze power dynamics and issues related to social and environmental justice in the context of plastic pollution. Prior to her doctoral studies, Villarrubia-Gómez worked as a plastic pollution expert for GRID-Arendal, a United Nations Environment Programme partner, focusing on projects related to the transboundary movement of plastic waste.

Villarrubia-Gómez has contributed to scientific literature on plastics governance, investigating how plastics, as novel entities, have exceeded the planetary safe operating space due to extensive production, uncontrolled environmental releases, and insufficient regulation of chemicals within materials. Her research traces the impact pathway from production to environmental fate. She serves as a steering committee member of the Scientists Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty and has engaged with the politics of the global plastics treaty, including United Nations negotiations in Busan, South Korea. Villarrubia-Gómez has co-authored research on global producer responsibility for plastic pollution, collaborating with scientists from multiple universities and utilizing citizen science initiatives in which volunteers conducted waste clean-ups and documented brands found on collected pollution.

Villarrubia-Gómez emphasizes science communication as a key aspect of her work to reach broader audiences. She delivered a TED Talk, "The Problem with Plastics — and How They're Changing the Environment," in which she discusses the consequences of plastic production at every stage, from fossil fuel extraction to the disposal of single-use plastics in landfills and oceans. Villarrubia-Gómez has highlighted that the total mass of plastic is now twice the total mass of all living organisms on the planet and that it is altering processes essential to the Earth's climate system. Her work translates complex Earth system science into accessible narratives for audiences addressing the challenges of plastic pollution, environmental policy, and sustainability.