SOUTH KINGSTOWN – The University of Rhode Island has been awarded a multimillion-dollar federal grant to fund a professor’s study on the impact of micro and nanoplastics in Rhode Island, as well as boost the state’s workforce.
URI announced Tuesday that Daniel Roxbury, an associate professor of chemical, biomolecular and materials engineering, and his team received a four-year, $7 million grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research – Research Incubators for STEM Excellence program. The university says the program – which will be in partnership with Brown University, Rhode Island College and Roger Williams University – seeks to enhance the state’s research capabilities and develop workforce opportunities in critical areas within the Ocean State, especially in coastal areas.
The university says its research estimates that the top 2 inches of Narragansett Bay’s floor consists of microplastics. Consuming excessive amounts of microplastics can lead to health issues, URI says, such as reproductive problems, nervous system damage and even cancer.
For this project, URI it says will collect samples from the bay. Brown, meanwhile, will help model microplastics transport from "source to sink,” URI says. RWU will aid in characterizing the microplastics, and RIC will help in community engagement, the university says.
“The new E-RISE project highlights the diverse and strong expertise present at URI and other academic institutions across Rhode Island in addressing plastic pollution,” said Vinka Oyanedel-Craver, associate dean of research and professor of civil and environmental engineering for URI’s College of Engineering, in a statement. “The project brings together experts from a wide range of fields, including the fundamental and social sciences and engineering.”
Roxbury said in a statement that the group hopes to not just research and study microplastics in the Narragansett Bay and other waterways, but also engage with and learn from community organizations, as well as educate Rhode Islanders about microplastics in the coastal ecosystem.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on X at @James_Bessette.
