Microplastics

Plastics have become ubiquitous in today's consumerist climate. One concern regarding the amount of plastics produced is how the broken down pieces of plastics that have infiltrated our environment are affecting the organisms within it. With this research, we seek to discover if plastic microbead ingestion may affect the cell biology of Tetrahymena pyriformis. Through this research, which employs approaches from cellular, environmental, and microbiology, we hope to gain deeper insight to the bigger question: Are microplastics an environmental threat?

Pictured is Amanda Weiss presenting some initial findings at a regional event.