RWU Engineering and Chemistry Students Research Microplastics in Narragansett Bay

Senior Michelle Kryl, an Environmental Engineering major from Westhampton Beach, N.Y., junior Ashlee Lewandoski, an Environmental Engineering major with minors in Mathematics and Sustainability Studies from Bristol, Conn., and Grace DiBlasio, a junior Chemistry major from North Andover, Mass., are part of a multi-year student research team, working to determine the volume and types of microplastics entering Narragansett Bay.

Along with Lillian Jeznach, Associate Professor of Engineering at Roger Williams University, the students have been working on the long-term microplastic sampling campaign to develop a database of freshwater and atmospheric microplastic measurements in Rhode Island. Part of their work will also create sampling and analysis methods that are accessible to all Engineering undergraduate students in the program.