HWS News
10 April 2025 • Faculty • Research • STEM Unlocking Solutions: New NSF Grant Propels Microplastic Research
Professor Arens secures prestigious National Science Foundation grant to explore the environmental impact of microplastics across the Finger Lakes watershed.
The National Science Foundation has awarded a grant for more than $350,000 to Professor of Geoscience Nan Crystal Arens for her project “Collaborative Research: REU Site: Microplastic Sources, Sinks, Transport and Environmental Impact across the Finger Lakes Watershed.”
The $358,976 NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates grant will fund a collaboration between Arens and Professor Linda Tseng at The City College of New York. Students who participate in the research will spend five weeks designing a project and doing field work at HWS and then travel to CCNY to do laboratory analyses and interpretation.
Professor of Biology Meghan Brown and Professor of Chemistry Walter Bowyer will also participate as research mentors as part of the grant. By working with dedicated HWS mentors, students have additional opportunities to enhance their technical skills and develop their critical thinking and collaborative abilities.
Arens’ project runs through Oct. 31, 2027, and will allow the participation of 12 students per year for each of the three years. Students involved will study the Finger Lakes watershed as an interconnected system and examine how plastic pollution is moving into, through and around it. They will also record how microplastics are impacting the environment and entering into human food and water systems.
Arens says continued research is needed. “There are many ways that microplastics might be harmful to humans, but we don’t have a ton of evidence compiled yet,” she says. “This is an amazing learning opportunity for our student participants to grow as scientists. To engage in hands-on, cutting-edge research on microplastic pollution empowers students to contribute to meaningful scientific inquiry while preparing them to address pressing environmental challenges.”
The project was developed during the pandemic while reimagining research projects that did not require student travel. At the time, there was no documented microplastic research in the Finger Lakes and Arens launched her pioneering inquiry with a lab set-up purchased through the generosity of the family of a former Geoscience student Jacob Kotcher ’20, who now works at the global scientific consulting firm J.S. Held as an industrial hygienist.
Since then, HWS has produced two Honors projects highlighting microplastic research, one by Chase Bell ’22, and another by Heather Kerns ‘24. These recent alumni presented their results at numerous national conferences such as the Geological Society of America and the American Chemical Society.
Top: Heather Kerns ’24 filters microplastics out of Seneca Lake water samples in 2023 as part of an Honors project under the direction of Professor of Geoscience Nan Crystal Arens.
