An Interview with Soma Barsen, MPP 2021: Capstone Insights and Tying it all Together

Interview by: Eva Lewis

You've been working on this research project for almost two years -tell me about the process and what initially got you interested in this issue?

I spent most of the past two years  securing funding partnerships and delivering on the contract, which was quite stressful. The original funding partner was unable to fulfil their commitment due to funding cuts, and the heavy financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic on non-profit research organizations. It took additional months to secure another funding partner, Metro Vancouver.

The agreement with Metro Vancouver (MV) was that they were purchasing a product, which was a report and presentations on the study findings. I spent 9 months on data analysis, multiple presentations, and reporting. The MV agreement was with two different departments, which had different needs and expectations from the project. This meant I had to spend more time providing very in-depth analysis to one group. By the end of it, I was burnt out and nearly postponed completing my capstone by another term. If it weren’t for Nancy Olewiler’s  final push up that last hill, her encouragement, and confidence in my work, then this project would likely have been delayed by another semester. Deep into a Capstone project, we can get very caught up in the layers and layers of our work and sometimes lose sight of the bigger vision Having a great supervisor, like Nancy who can see all the moving pieces, when you can’t, is tremendously important.

I wrote the Capstone in about six weeks. Thankfully, the data analysis and reporting were a very short summary of what I had written for MV. I was also able to reuse parts of the literature review.  The policy design and analysis, some significant additional literature review and interviews related to policy options (about 5 of the nine chapters), plus the actual writing  were done during an intensive six-week period. Honestly, I don’t know how I did it. Right now, I can barely get out one paragraph a day. I have to mentally prepare myself to even write an email. COVID-19 burnout is very real.

I initially got interested during the beginning of first year when I came across a BC’s Knowledge Network segment that showcased some of the local research on the prevalence of microplastics in BC coastal waters. It was troubling that the majority of microplastics were microfibres shed in our household laundries and released into the wastewater treatment plant’s effluent. My academic background includes zoology and cell biology, plus  I was a volunteer teacher at the Vancouver Aquarium and I’ve always been interested in the textile industry; the combination of these factors worked out in a way that I became keenly interested in this topic.

Although following a  BSc with an MSc may have been a more ‘natural’ pursuit, I joined the SFU School of Public Policy because I  wanted to apply my training to existing societal challenges toward tangible and pragmatic solutions. In short, I love knowledge making but I need to know that the work that I do contributes to something that our society is wrestling with today.

What challenges did you deal with in accessing data and information sources?

Well, aside from the scientific studies about the prevalence and environmental impacts of synthetic microfibres, there is very little to no information available on the issue by way of case studies where an organization or jurisdiction may have acted on policies and mitigation strategies. Identified as a pollutant in 2011, microfibres are too recent of an issue for any jurisdiction to have implemented policies.

There are also no studies that address public perceptions and behaviours as they impact microfibre emissions from households. Nor were there many studies that address consumer fashion and laundry purchase behaviour that I could readily access. So, this was a very challenging problem. Therefore, I created an original method to conduct primary research and answer a whole set of important questions, which would impact this specific policy area.

However, a large portion of my capstone involved an exhaustive literature review and finding relevant datasets that would help provide context for the policy problem. I found SFU’s library system  an excellent resource where I was able to access nearly all the studies, documents, reports, and data that I needed.

All students should engage with the SFU Library support staff. They are incredibly helpful and a valuable resource that students shouldn’t overlook. And very importantly, attend the information sessions about the thesis document. It will save you a ton of time and you’ll become a big fan of the thesis document layout and formatting. I still use it for organising my writing. You will likely run into some serious technical issues that are beyond your knowledge and waning patience to correct on your own. The SFU Librarians will be there for those big rescue missions.

What are your hopes for the impact of your Capstone research and recommendations?  How have stakeholders reacted to your report?

It’s still early days. But even before I had completed the Capstone, there was interest from representatives at different levels of government in Ontario and BC. There’s been great interest from other organizations, largely out of California, who are also working on building the knowledge base on this issue.

I was very fortunate  that my project happened to overlap with Metro Vancouver’s public research and interests in mitigation strategies for pollutants. Metro Vancouver’s interest in this project was in two respects. Their public facing communication team has been long involved in running public information campaigns such as “The Unflushables” or their “We Love Water” programs. They’ve also developed an important textile waste management campaign called Think Thrice. Additionally, Metro Vancouver, as the Water Utility Managers of the local wastewater treatment facilities, have a critical interest in microfibres generated from household laundries and microplastics, in general, as emerging pollutants of concern. As an important stakeholder, Metro Vancouver is a key advocate for policy interventions to governments. My study findings inform their public information campaign programs and their policy advocacy.  Also, I’d like to officially express my thanks to the lovely people at Metro Vancouver who helped make this project happen. Their commitment was critical to getting this work off the ground and I’m very grateful for that.

When I started the project, my hope was that I’d be able to contribute to an important body of knowledge and provide another piece of the puzzle to pave the way for policy action on an increasingly important local and global problem. My aim was to answer some of the key questions which had either been overlooked or, for various reasons, not prioritized as a research area.

The public, or more accurately, the citizen-consumer is a key stakeholder whose voice has been excluded from the discussion despite the success or failure of interventions hinging on their actions. My study’s aim was to address that knowledge gap and bridge the interventions that have been recommended by various bodies across the globe to real consumer behavioural outcomes. I think I’ve been able to do that, at least at the local level, which is an important foundation for addressing those same questions at the much larger Canadian scale to inform broader policies with more global impacts.

Although your project focuses on British Columbia, the report mentions the possibility of expanding the initial work to a Canadian context.  Tell me more about this?

The study data demonstrated the reliability of my questionnaire instrument and I was a bit surprised about the strength of responses. Within the first few weeks of exploring my dataset, it became very clear to me that running this study at the national scale would provide critical insights for policy action that could address this issue across Canada.

The textile industry’s global carbon footprint and sustainability necessitate policy scrutiny. As my study indicates, addressing the microfibre emissions from textile production and consumption may help us achieve greater sustainability in other key aspects of the industry. Based on this, with Nancy’s support, I’ve been able to secure a research agreement with Smart Prosperity Institute which I’m very excited about.  We’re in the process of getting the pan-Canadian study off the ground as soon as our other major funding partner gives the green light. I am thrilled to have this opportunity to expand my research and very fortunate to have the incredible level of support from the School of Public Policy.

You're now on the other side of a complex and ambitious Capstone project.  What's your advice for MPP students who are just starting that journey? 

First, build your community of friends, colleagues, and mentors who you can rely on. Don’t network for networking’s sake – it’s disingenuous. Make sure that everyone who spends any amount of time to provide any assistance to you knows that you value their time and contribution. Everything about this capstone project is a team effort. Yes, in the end it is you who will bring together all that knowledge and expertise to produce a very challenging project, but at every step, for every single little question that helps build that big picture you’re working on, there is someone whose help and generosity you can’t do without.

Make sure you surround yourself with reliable friends who share your commitment to knowledge making and a strong work ethic. I promise you there will be moments of panic, which only a friend who is going through this program will understand and will be able to provide some much-needed reassuring support. In the midst of all that work and potential anxiety, don’t wallow, don’t get lost in your head, and don’t forget to check up on your friends and colleagues to make sure their doing okay or at least lend an ear.

Second, some of us come to the School of Public Policy with a strong professional background and we already know what kind of work and research we want to explore in this program. This is great. If that’s the case, stay focused on your hopes and aims. Keep in mind that flexibility in how you think through things and openness to critique and challenges to previously held assumptions will ease the way to having a greater understanding of whatever policy issue it is that you want to address.

If you’ve come to this program with some notion of a new area of work that you want to explore, then I suggest flexibility in what policy area you tackle. I came to SPP thinking I would follow this degree by going into epidemiology. Afterall, it seemed to me that that was what my BSc lends itself to best. And yet, for my Capstone I ended up exploring a field that I had never set out to do. And now, I’ve landed in a research and policy area that I just can’t turn away from. I am singularly captivated by the depth and breadth of the range of questions and issues regarding global textile consumption. Hopefully I’m not speaking too soon, but I feel I’m singularly dedicated to expanding my work in this field in the foreseeable, and perhaps into the distant, future.

In my opinion, what School of Public Policy is an excellent place to pursue your ambitions is that is has a great degree of flexibility. If you wish to move directly into a professional role, you can do that. If you wish to dig deep into some policy area and expand the existing body of knowledge, you can do that too.

The framework and academic structure are there to help you achieve your goals. It isn’t easy, which is why you need to be very honest with yourself about exactly what you’re setting out to achieve. Then work hard to get there.

Being a good policy analyst is not easy. It seemed to me the entire SPP experience was one that demonstrated how truly difficult it is to be able to answer some of the most challenging problems of our era. What makes this master’s degree very, very special is that it pulls students out of the silos that we’ve become comfortable in and in some ways pigeon-holed ourselves into and enables us to see the policy issues that interest us in ways that we could not have expected. The program offers researchers and aspiring policy people a unique skillset to draw on many bodies of knowledge and equips them to investigate the tough question and coalesce that work in a way that is foundational to developing tangible and pragmatic sustainable interventions.