Lauren Hashman

 

Undergraduate Student

Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences

Research interests: Atmospheric microplastics

 

Biography

I am in my third year of my undergraduate degree studying earth sciences. I am interested in anthropogenic effects on the earth.

Research

My research primarily deals with the presence of atmospheric microplastics. The plastic pollutants in our ocean can be weathered down to microscopic sizes which can be transported into our air. Microplastics become toxic when exposed to UV radiation which could be an issue for humans and terrestrial animals. Atmospheric microplastics haven’t been regularly studied in small coastal cities like Santa Cruz. It will be interesting to see how smoke, fog, and other weather patterns of the California coast will affect the presence of atmospheric microplastics.