Microplastic in the Desert
Awareness has been increasing on the effects that our society has on the Earth. There has been a push for understanding the quantity of microplastics we have in our oceans, but what about other ecosystems? We are proud to introduce you our new research project: Microplastic in the Desert!
The new micro-project supported by Polarquest aims to investigate microplastics in deserts and if microplastics are being transported by wind currents. From 5th to 19th May 2019, a planned expedition to collect sand samples is to take place in an area of privately owned desert in Utah, as part of the Mars Desert Research Station.
This area has minimal human interaction and therefore is an ideal area to show microplastics deposits most likely by wind, rather than human interaction. The collection of sand and the microplastics separation will be documented by blogs and videos to help communicate awareness.
The young Mechanical Engineer Zoe Townsend— currently working at CERN within the Magnets, Superconductors and Cryostats group— is taking part in this first sampling campaign as Crew Journalist.
“The future is in the hands of those who explore” so good luck to Zoe and all the crew. And you, keep following us to learn more about the project and its results!
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May 18, 2019
Good news, new jars arrived today. So I'm going to collect the sand to Stefano's specification. Currently sterilizing the jars in an autoclave. Will do a north and south site, 5 samples per site and one background contaminants jar. We also have a jar for gloves but unfortunately, I don't think we'll find many animal droppings. Mostile reptile here we tried to track a lone antelope but we were unsuccessful.
Can also send photos tomorrow when I'm back in the hotel. Today is the last day of simulation.
