OILAB has keen interests on: (1) microplastic pollution; (2) heavy metal pollution; and (3) area based management (e.g. MPAs, ECAs, and Marine Reserves) of critical coastal and marine habitats. This lab has been contributing to measure the microplastics ingestion or contamination rates in a wide range of marine organisms from different trophic levels in the Northern Bay of Bengal. OILAB has designed a new monitoring program to investigate the present state of micro-plastic pollution in seawater, bottom sediments and biota including bio-physical factors that determine their spatial distribution and domino effect in marine food webs. OILAB has been analyzing water, sediment and biotic samples taken from ship breaking and recycling yards, located in the Chittagong coastal areas for investigating heavy metal pollution and their bioaccumulation and biomagnification to surrounding biota including microbes. OILAB has been implementing various researches in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and Ecologically Critical Areas (ECAs) for creating scientific knowledge to support the Bangladesh government in its decision-making process for formulating appropriate conservation and management strategies to conserve and restore the critical habitats (e.g. corals, seagrass, sand dunes, turtle, dolphins and other marine mammals). This lab encourages co-management approaches and provides necessary guidelines for functional zoning through seascape or marine spatial plan (MSP) plan with practical demonstrations for sustainable use of coastal and marine resources.