Dean Wenham is a biochemist, scuba diver and sailor who, after witnessing the degradation of the oceans, decided to use his sailboat for good and contribute to microplastics research. To his surprise, the only technology available to sample microplastics - especially at depth - were heavy, expensive and impossible to deploy from a small sailboat. 

Dean found Ethan Edson, a dynamic marine scientist and engineer, at Northeastern University where he was developing an in-situ microplastics sensor to overcome these same barriers. ​Having collaborated on multiple microplastics research projects, and spending a semester at sea using Neuston Nets, Ethan was familiar with the painstaking and limited processes of collecting and analyzing microplastics in the water.

With the shared vision of developing technology capable of collecting the scientific data needed to inform solutions, Dean and Ethan combined their science, business and engineering skills, and passion for our oceans and waterways, to launch Ocean Diagnostics. Today, our growing team of problem solvers, innovators and explorers have commercialized game-changing tools to monitor microplastics and environmental DNA to influence change.