PNW Consortium on Plastics

HAPPY WORLD OCEAN DAY! A few easy steps to be kind to the ocean, all related to clothes - wash clothes less often, buy less, shop secondhand, mend something, consider installing a microfiber filter! Here are some photos from our time on Materevolve's Textile x Ocean Connector Sail in SF Bay!

We had the best time chatting (ON A SAILBOAT!!) with textile experts from production and marketing to science (that's us!), gov, and nonprofits! Lauren got to share what we know about microfiber toxicity so far, including some of her own research from @smbrander.bsky.social lab!

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT! @oregonstate.edu student, Alli Miller is comparing #environmental and #agricultural impacts of #plastic, #bioplastic, wool, & paper #mulch across farms, evaluating breakdown, #toxicity, & value to help farmers make decisions about transitioning to #sustainable alternatives.

ICYMI!! PUBLICATION & PRESS ALERT! @smbrander.bsky.social and her co-authors Shanna Swan, PhD, Alvine Mehinto, Karen Kidd, Judith Weis, Scott Belcher, Jamie DeWitt, Stacey Harper, and Caren Helbing published their work in npj Emerging Contaminants & it was featured in @theguardian.com !

Excited to announce we're hosting the Session Microplastics, Chemicals, and the Soil beneath: Confronting the Growing Concern of Agricultural Plastic Pollution at North America SETAC this year! @smbrander.bsky.social @setac.bsky.social setac.secure-platform.com/meetings/sol...

Submit an abstract FOR FREE by June 3 at 17:00 EDT! www.setac.org/discover-eve...

Dr. Karl R. Haapala is a Professor in the School of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering at Oregon State University, where he directs the Industrial Sustainability Laboratory, the OSU Energy Efficiency Center, and the OSU Industrial Training Assessment Center.

He has chaired both the Life Cycle Engineering and the Design for Manufacturing and Life Cycle technical committees of ASME, as well as the Sustainable Manufacturing track of SME NAMRI.

Dr. Karl R. Haapala is a Professor in the School of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering at Oregon State University, where he directs the Industrial Sustainability Laboratory, the OSU Energy Efficiency Center, and the OSU Industrial Training Assessment Center.

His research addresses sustainable manufacturing challenges, including life cycle engineering methods, manufacturing process performance modeling, & sustainable engineering education, & has received over $39M in research funding in collaboration with university, national lab, & industry colleagues.

THREE DAYS LEFT TO REGISTER!!! We have had a diverse range of registrants so far, including representatives from: - City of Roses - Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment - Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua & Siuslaw Indians -OR Sea Grant - Washington County Solid Waste & MORE!

We are looking forward to strategizing how to best tackle the #plastics crisis with incredible leaders across disciplines and sectors! Drs. Scott Coffin & Huazheng Wang will be continuing the #AI Discussion at our event!

TEENY BITS of the potential for #AI use in #microplastics #science from Drs. Leah Thornton Hampton (SCCWRP), Scott Coffin (OEHHA), and Huazheng Wang (OSU)! - Continue the conversation! Register for our 4/10 workshop forms.gle/RSdeSZBH4zLM... -Full recording on our website www.pnwmicroplastics.org

NEW PUBLICATION ALERT! Dr. Clarissa Raguso published her first first-author publication looking at the effects of weathered & pristine micro/nano tire particles in invertebrate (mysid shrimp) and silverside fish! Work completed in @smbrander.bsky.social 's lab @oregonstate.edu!

Alison Bain is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at OSU. She obtained her BSc from Carleton University in chemistry with a concentration in nanotechnology, her MSc in Chemistry from the University of British Columbia, followed by her PhD in Chemistry from McGill University.

Dr. Bain and her research group study the physical properties of aerosol particles, including atmospheric plastics, and how they impact climate, using a combination of single particle spectroscopy, benchtop techniques, and fundamental modeling.

Alison Bain is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at OSU. She obtained her BSc from Carleton University in chemistry with a concentration in nanotechnology, her MSc in Chemistry from the University of British Columbia, followed by her PhD in Chemistry from McGill University.

Meet the team! We'll be continuing to highlight the people who make up our consortium! Be sure to read the thread below to hear more about @smbrander.bsky.social ! branderlab.net

Brander’s interdisciplinary research over the past 15 years has focused occurrence and biological effects of stressors, such as micro and nanoplastics, microfibers, and endocrine disrupting compounds on aquatic and terrestrial organisms.

Meet the team! We'll be continuing to highlight the people who make up our consortium! Be sure to read the thread below to hear more about @smbrander.bsky.social ! branderlab.net

Dr. Susanne Brander received a Ph.D. in Toxicology and Pharmacology from UC Davis in 2011. She served in a tenured faculty role at Oregon State University from 2017-2025, and as of 2026 has moved into a position as Project Director, Science for the Pew Charitable Trust’s Safer Chemicals program