Science Café: A Problem So Small You Can See It From Space

Name: Science Café: A Problem So Small You Can See It From Space
Start: 2024-11-13T17:30:00-05:00
Location: Conor O'Neills Ann Arbor

Schedule

Wed Nov 13 2024 at 05:30 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

Conor O'Neills Ann Arbor | Ann Arbor, MI

Do we really consume a credit card’s worth of microplastics in a week? That depends largely on how you measure it. But one thing is certain: microplastics are all around us and they’re here to stay.
These plastics may be small, but understanding their impact requires research at all scales. Zooming in, microplastics are not solo actors: they host an array of plastic-associated microbes that could be unexplored reservoirs of pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes. Microbes also degrade plastic. Zooming out, the extent of the microplastic pollution in our waterways could be detected from space using remote sensing technology.
Please join Chris Ruf, Principal Investigator of the Remote Sensing Group (RSG) in the Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering Department (CLaSP) and graduate student Gopal Sundaram of the College of Engineering; Melissa Duhaime, Associate Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; and members of the Duhaime Lab (Rachel Cable, Lizy Michaelson, Skyler Har), for a discussion about one of our planet’s biggest tiny problems.
Science Cafés provide an opportunity for audiences to discuss current research topics with experts in an informal setting.
Hors d’oeuvres at 5:30P.M.
The program begins at 6:00P.M.
Seating is limited—come early.
UMMNH would like to thank Conor O’Neill’s for 15+ years of support for our Science Cafés. Their continued commitment brings U-M faculty into the Ann Arbor community to discuss current research topics.
This Science Café is also sponsored by Dr. Michael Hagan.