My current research focuses on microplastics in water, with an emphasis on community science and visualization: 

When water comes out of our tap, it appears clear. But clear water isn’t always clean water— the invisibility of particulates in our water creates a false sense of “emptines” or purity. In fact, tap water contains a wide variety of dissolved materials, even though, in the United States, it has been filtered prior to coming out of our tap. In looking at samples of tap water collected from all over Troy, NY, we found an abundance of microplastic particles, with an average concentration of 156 microplastic particles per liter of water. In the ordinary practice of drinking water, we find extraordinary evidence of the impacts of the Anthropocene. While this concentration is high, this could be expected, as microplastics are ubiquitous in our environment and have been identified in the world’s most isolated environments. This ubiquity evinces the pervasiveness of their source material—the plastics that are all around us, in our clothes, cosmetics, electronics and packaging. Plastic particles break down to microplastics, which makes them more widespread, but harder to see.  

Analyzing samples of “clear” water in the laboratory allows us to understand the quantity, morphology, and polymer chemistry of these microplastics. But how can we really understand something we cannot see? Visual images are integral to knowledge construction, allowing the apparatus of the scientific “eye” to bring form and shape to the global phenomenon of microplastics pollution.  The images created at Nature LAB begin to unveil the nature of microplastics as such. 

Image from  Allie E.S. Wist