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“We can’t solve the plastic problem by ourselves, and we have seen the commitment at the University of Rhode Island to advancing our thinking on this topic, regionally and across the United States,” says Professor Bethany D. Jenkins, interim vice president of Research and Economic Development at URI. “I am excited that we can foster these conversations and ideas.” The University already has a critical mass of faculty and students investigating the impacts of plastic pollution. Victoria Fulfer, a URI Ph.D. graduate, has found that Narragansett Bay sediments are a basin for tons of plastic waste, while Jaime Ross, assistant professor at URI’s George and Anne Ryan Institute for Neuroscience and Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, is examining the potential hazards of plastics exposure to our brains. Through a recent study on mice exposed to microplastic beads, Ross and her team found that the material broke through the blood brain barrier and entered into their brains, causing increased spontaneous motion. “Our lives are becoming inundated with micro- and nanoplastics,” Ross stated at the forum. “About 30 percent of dementia cases, for example, can be affected by adjusting modifiable factors.

Kay Ho, research scientist, Atlantic Coastal Environmental Sciences Division

Demi Fox, New England regional coordinator, NOAA Marine Debris Program; Nicole Skyleson, environmental scientist, Narragansett Bay Commission; Kathleen Shannon, URI Research Strategic Initiatives.

Environmental toxins like microplastics are one of those factors.” Additionally, through the University’s Plastics: Land to Sea initiative, more than $200,000 has been awarded to six faculty members conducting research on plastic pollution and its real-world impacts, from examining how microplastics affect human liver tissues to addressing inequitable impacts of pollution on marginalized communities. The University continues to support these conversations through the Empowering Plastics Solutions seminar series. Rebecca Altman, a writer and sociologist focusing on the history of plastics, kicked off the series this past October. Topics also included: evolving recycling techniques, community-centric solutions, ecosystem insights, and the circular economy of plastics.

Seray Ergene, assistant professor of management, URI College of Business

Sarah Davis, doctoral student, URI Biological and Environmental Sciences

For more information, visit www.plastics.uri.edu.

John Riendeau, business development executive, US Extruders

Vinka Craver, associate dean of research, URI College of Engineering

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