JACKSON, WY— Thousands of tiny little plastic particles are called microplastics, and when they get into waterways, can pose a health risk to animals and possibly humans.
So are they found in our Snake River, and what can we do about them? These are among the questions Kirsten Kapp is hoping to answer with her microplastics research. Kapp is a Professor of Science at Central Wyoming College and has been investigating MPs since 2014. Last year she and Ellen Yeatman, a former CWC student and current University of Wyoming student, sampled the entire Snake River to determine if and where MPs were present. Pretty cool that taking a microbiology class at your local community college could lead to graduate research in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, an educational path toward a Masters degree in Agricultural and Applied Economics with a focus in Water Resources. Together they are helping the world understand how plastics affect our rivers.
The research team interviewed on 89.1 KHOL last week and explained their research. Listen to the full interview:
http://www.891khol.org/micro-plastics-in-the-snake-river/
