UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The latest episode of the Growing Impact podcast features Margaret Byron, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Her research focuses on the study the transport of organisms and objects in environmental flows.

On the podcast, Byron talks about her seed grant project, titled Effects of Biofilms on the Transport of Microplastics. Through this project, she and her colleague, Jay Regan, a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, are investigating how the transport of microplastics through water may be impacted by biofilms.

“If you've ever been to the coast and you've seen a buoy or the bottom of a boat, it doesn't look like a pristine surface. It has stuff growing on it,” Byron said. “There are all kinds of organisms, bacteria, algae and larvae of animals that live in those ecosystems, and they like to attach to stuff. If there is a piece of plastic handy, maybe they settle there.”

Byron said there is a lot of debate about what the impacts of microplastics are going to be on the ecosystem and human health.

“With plastics, one of the problems here is that we're not quite sure what the overall impact is going to be," Byron said.

Considering that the world is still understanding microplastics and their impact, Byron said it would be very beneficial to understand how microplastics are going to be carried around in a flowing water system.

Growing Impact is a podcast by the Institutes of Energy and the Environment (IEE). It features Penn State researchers who have been awarded IEE seed grants and discusses their foundational work as they further their projects. The podcast is available on multiple platforms, including Apple, Google, Amazon, and Spotify.