I am a physical oceanographer with specific expertise in how objects are transported in the ocean. I am passionate about multi-disciplinary research that addresses key environmental issues faced by our oceans today. I have applied my expertise to determine how plastic pollution is transported and where it ends up in the Indian Ocean, and to determine the most likely sources of plastic waste washing up on remote Indian Ocean islands. In my current research, I am determining the physical mechanisms that transport kelp detritus from the coastal ocean into the deep sea, where it can potentially become sequestered.

PEER REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS

A.M.M. Sequeira, J.P. Rodriguez, S.A. Marley, H.J. Calich, M. van der Mheen, M. Vancompernolle, L.M. Arrowsmith, L.R. Peel, N. Queiroz, ..., V.M. Eguiluz. Global tracking of marine megafauna space use reveals how to achieve conservation targets, Science, 388:6751 (2025): https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adl0239

T. Simpkins, M. van der Mheen, M.F. Pedersen, A. Pessarrodona, C. Pattiaratchi, T. Wernberg, and K. Filbee-Dexter. Macroalgae detritus decomposition and cross-shelf carbon export from shallow and deep reefs, Limnology and Oceanography, 70:4 (2025): https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.70006

M. van der Mheen and C. Pattiaratchi. Plastic debris beaching on two remote Indian Ocean islands originates from handful of Indonesian rivers, Environmental Research Letters, 19:10 (2024): https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad75aa

M. van der Mheen, T. Wernberg, C. Pattiaratchi, A. Pessarrodona, I. Janekovic, T. Simpkins, R. Hovey, and K. Filbee-Dexter. Substantial kelp detritus exported beyond the continental shelf by dense shelf water transport, Scientific Reports, 14:839, (2024): https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-51003-5

C. Pattiaratchi, M. van der Mheen, C. Schlundt, B.E. Narayanaswamy, A. Sura, S. Hajbane, R. White, N. Kumar, M. Fernandes, and S. Wijeratne. Plastics in the Indian Ocean – sources, fate, distribution and impacts, Ocean Science, 18, (2022): https://doi.org/10.5194/os-18-1-2022

M. van der Mheen, E. van Sebille, C. Pattiaratchi. Beaching patterns of plastic debris along the Indian Ocean rim, Ocean Science, 16, (2020): https://doi.org/10.5194/os-16-1317-2020

M. van der Mheen, C. Pattiaratchi, S. Cosoli, and M. Wandres. Depth-dependent correction for wind-driven drift current in particle tracking applications, Frontiers in Marine Science, 7, (2020): https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.00305

M. van der Mheen, C. Pattiaratchi, and E. van Sebille. Role of Indian Ocean dynamics on accumulation of buoyant debris, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 124, (2019): https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JC014806

M. van der Mheen, H. A. Dijkstra, A. Gozolchiani, M. den Toom, Q. Feng, J. Kurths, and E. Hernandez‒Garcia. Interaction network based early warning indicators for the Atlantic MOC collapse, Geophysical Research Letters, 40, 2714–2719, (2013): https://doi.org/10.1002/grl.50515

REPORTS

Inigo Koefoed, Mervi Kangas, Yasha Hetzel, Daniel Gorman, Ainslie Denham, Rachel Marks, Alex Hesp, Mirjam Van Der Mheen. Understanding the relationship between commercial prawn species population dynamics, fishing patterns and climate in the Shark Bay World Heritage area in WA, FRDC report 2019-015, (2024): https://www.frdc.com.au/project/2019-015

Gary Jackson, David Fairclough, Emily Fisher, Yasha Hetzel, Mirjam van der Mheen, Ben Scoulding, Bronwyn Gillanders, Patrick Reis-Santos, Luciano B. Beheregaray, Jonathan Sandoval-Castillo, and Matias Braccini. Where did the Snapper go? Determining factors influencing the recovery of Snapper stocks on the west coast of Australia, FRDC report 2018-050, (2023): https://www.frdc.com.au/project/2018-050

MEDIA

A. Pessarrodona, K. Filbee-Dexter, M. van der Mheen, and T. Wernberg. Buried kelp: seaweed carried to the deep sea stores more carbon than we thought, The Conversation, (2024): https://theconversation.com/buried-kelp-seaweed-carried-to-the-deep-sea-stores-more-carbon-than-we-thought-228888

J.L. Rummer, B.J.M. Allen, C. Pattiaratchi, I.A. Bouyoucous, I. Yulianto, and M. van der Mheen. It might be the world’s biggest ocean, but the mighty Pacific is in peril, The Conversation,  (2020): https://theconversation.com/it-might-be-the-worlds-biggest-ocean-but-the-mighty-pacific-is-in-peril-150745

M. van der Mheen, C. Pattiaratchi and E. van Sebille. There’s no garbage patch in the southern Indian Ocean, so where does all the rubbish go?, The Conversation, (2019): http://theconversation.com/theres-no-garbage-patch-in-the-southern-indian-ocean-so-where-does-all-the-rubbish-go-114439