Our world is filled with plastics. From packaging around the food we eat to the clothes we wear, plastic is all around us, and, unfortunately, much of that plastic makes its way into the ocean.
that they suspect may be related to increased reflectance from accumulated plastics. They will then produce estimates of surface reflectance under on different microplastic concentrations and atmospheric conditions. Dierssen’s team will simulate the observations that new satellite sensors, such as hyperspectral imagers and polarimeters, could make under these different environmental conditions.
Since the 1950s, when plastic became a major part of consumers’ lives, plastics have been accumulating on the ocean surface, transported by currents, wind, and waves. A significant amount of this plastic is composed of what are known as microplastics. Microplastics are plastics smaller than 4.75 millimeters, about the size of a red ant, that have broken from larger plastics or come from tiny plastic materials. The ocean is filled with trillions of these microplastics. Scientists know these plastics often concentrate along convergence zones where warm and cold surface water come together. Yet, there has never been a comprehensive analysis of the spatial and temporal distributions of microplastics. Furthermore, the monitoring tools for this task are not well-developed, as they have mainly focused on larger macroplastics. Professor of marine sciences and geography, Heidi Dierssen, has received a nearly $577,000 grant from NASA to study better methods for remote sensing of surface microplastics using satellites. The project will involve a collaboration with a visual artist to advance community understanding of this problem. Dierssen’s lab, Coastal Ocean Lab for Optics and Remote Sensing (COLORS),
The researchers will then assess how well satellites could detect microplastics based on current and future instrument characteristics, microplastic quantity and nature, and external conditions such as atmospheric state. Dr. Heidi Dierssen
conducted previous research on the optical properties of microplastics, providing the necessary background information to determine the best approaches for remote detection. Understanding the optical properties of microplastics is the first step in determining whether satellites can detect and quantify floating microplastics from space. Dierssen has assembled a diverse scientific team of experts from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Colombia University, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and Terra Research Inc. The team will evaluate the geospatial and temporal trends from existing studies of ocean color across hot spots
They will evaluate the implications of the results of these analyses and make recommendations for the development of new algorithms and instrument designs. The research team will work with visual artist Oskar Landi to produce an unconventional exhibit on microplastic pollution. This exhibit will be hosted at the Alexey von Schlippe gallery on the Avery Point Campus. “This project will help advance the community’s understanding of how floating microplastics can be detected and quantified with novel remote sensing technology under different environmental conditions and establish a unique partnership between science and art to add value and exposure to our study,” Dierssen says.
Even in Retirement Richard Parnas Continues Environmental Work from the Institute of Materials Science
Dr. Richard Parnas’s UConn spinoff company, REA Resource Recovery Systems, broke ground in March 2021 on a first-in-the-world, FOG-to-Biodiesel production plant at the John Oliver Wastewater Treatment Facility in Danbury, CT. The City of Danbury contracted with Veollia North America to perform a 70 million dollar plant upgrade, and the REA FOG-to-Biodiesel system is included in the overall project. www.ims.uconn.edu Dr. Richard Parnas
The REA system makes use of a licensed UConn patent for a novel biodiesel reactor developed
by Parnas and colleagues several years ago. REA sponsors work at UConn to continue development efforts on several aspects of the process including novel methods of sulfur reduction using protein/ polymer conjugate gel adsorbents. Dr. Parnas retired in 2020 after 19 years as a Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and faculty member of the Institute of Materials Science (IMS) Polymer Program. 12
