the story so far
Growing up in Ballydehob, West Cork, son of two boatbuilders, kayaking the wild Atlantic coastline with his dog India. Every tide brought more plastic ashore. At seven years old, that bothered him enormously. It still does.
At 16, Fionn discovered that ferrofluid — a magnetic liquid — binds to microplastic particles. His method extracts them from water using magnets. In 2019, it won the Google Science Fair Global Grand Prize, beating 2,000+ projects from 80+ countries.
From the World Economic Forum in Davos to the House of Lords in London, Fionn has taken the microplastics crisis to the world's biggest stages. Forbes 30 Under 30. National Geographic Explorer. TV presenter. Fluent in five languages.
curriculum vitae · publications & patents
timeline
Chemistry
Postgraduate research in chemistry
University of Groningen
Sustainable organic redox flow batteries · Cum Laude
UNIS Svalbard
Microplastic distribution in polar waters and glacial ice
University of Groningen
Foundations in chemistry and materials science
Global, 2,000+ entries · 80 countries
Ferrofluid-based microplastic extraction
awards
publications & patents
A novel method for the removal of microplastics from aquatic environments using ferrofluids
paperGoogle Science Fair — Research Paper · 2019
Ferrofluid-based separation of microplastic particles from aqueous media
patentWWSPTO · 2020
Filed
→ recordSpeaking & Event Locations
Cities where Fionn has keynoted, taught, or appeared on stage.
The full complexity of the plastics puzzle
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Bioplastics, recycling, microplastics — and why the plastic problem cannot be blamed on the consumer alone. Drawing on Fionn's experience as a WEF Global Plastic Action Partnership Champion and his ferrofluid invention, this keynote unpacks the system behind the symptom.
How imaginative play leads to scientific breakthroughs
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How imaginative exploration and a state of flow lead to breakthrough invention. The mindset that took Fionn from kayaking the Atlantic coast at age 7 to winning the Google Science Fair at 18 — and what it takes to keep that lens as the work gets more serious.
Reducing the carbon cost of discovery
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Laboratories are enormous consumers of energy, water and single-use plastic. How the scientific community must hold itself to the standards it recommends to everyone else — and why the instruments of discovery deserve the same scrutiny as the discoveries themselves.
Davos taught me that the solution still had to come from the cove.
portraits · stage · field · lab
press · talks · tv · podcasts
FGJ
Field notes from the lab, the road, and the coast. Microplastics, sustainability, the actual science. Roughly monthly. No newsletter cosplay.
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August 2026
Where My Ideas Actually Come From - Fionn’s Green Journey
Hey Eco Champions 💚,
July 2026
🔥 37.1 and Rising - Fionn's Green Journey
Hey Eco Champions,
June 2026
What Happens After the Bin? 🗑️ - Fionn’s Green Journey
Hey 🌍 Nature lovers and 🧭 curious minds,
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contact@fionnferreira.com