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Microplastics Research Lab

Ongoing Research

Our lab focuses on the fate, transport, and environmental impacts of microplastics across different media.
research diagram
lab lab lab lab lab man at lab
Key Research Areas
microplastics car wheels

Microplastics in Air

  • Inhalational exposure from synthetic fabrics and clothing
  • Airborne transport and deposition
microplastic in water microplastic in water

Microplastics in Water

  • Abundance and distribution in stormwater detention ponds
  • Wastewater biosolids and runoff contamination
microplastic in soil

Microplastics in Soil (Especially Agricultural)

  • Impacts on soil hydrology, water retention, plant dynamics
  • Fate and transport in agricultural settings
  • Effects on soil-water-plant systems
Major Funded Projects
  • Proactive Waste Management and Landfill Fire Detection Using Satellite and UAS-Based Remote Sensing Technologies with Demonstration and Training, US Department of Agriculture (USDA), 2025 (CoPI), ~$346K
  • Inhalational Exposure to Microplastics from Clothing Made from Synthetic and Natural Fabrics, U.S. Cotton Foundation, 2025 (CoPI), ~$21K
  • NSF CAREER: Determining the mechanism and significance of microplastic pollution impacts on soil hydrology, National Science Foundation (NSF), 2024 (PI), ~$550K
  • MRI: Track 1 Acquisition of a Micro-Computer Tomography System, National Science Foundation (NSF), 2023 (PI), ~$450K
  • Memphis Aquifer Conservation (Multi-Projects), Memphis Light, Gas, and Water Division & City of Memphis, 2023 (Co-PI), ~$10M
  • Shelby County Stormwater Management guideline, Christian Brother University & USGS, 2023 (PI), ~3K
  • Investigating the Occurrence of Microplastic Pollution within the Biosolids of Wastewater Treatment Plants, Great Lakes Water Authority & Brown and Caldwell, 2022 (PI), ~$85K
  • Occurrence of Microplastics Pollution in Agricultural Farms, Brown and Caldwell, 2022 (PI), ~35K
  • Developing a framework to quantify Microplastic load transported by urban stormwater, Brown and Caldwell, 2021 (PI), ~$33K
  • ITESO-Memphis Engineering Exchange, US Department of State, 2021 (co-PI), ~$83K
  • Pre- and post-restoration assessment of Loan Oak basin, West Tennessee River Basin Authority, 2021 (Co-PI), ~$163K
  • Microplastics Fate and Transport in Agricultural Soil: Interrelation of Hydrodynamics, Chemistry, and Material Sciences, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA-NIFA), 2020 (PI), ~$590K
  • Toward a Water Smart Campus- Green Fee, University of Memphis, 2020 (PI), ~$34K
  • Investigating contaminant storage and release mechanisms at low permeability zones, Herff College of Engineering Faculty Research Grants- UoM, 2020 (PI), ~$15K
  • West TN Dept of Agriculture, Tennessee Department of Agriculture, 2019 (Co-PI), ~$430K
  • MLGW Aquitard, Memphis Light, Gas, and Water Division, 2019 (Co-PI), ~$5M
  • Community of Research Scholars grant (CoRS), University of Memphis, 2019 (PI), $2K
  • Allen Wellfield Evaluation, Memphis Light, Gas, and Water (MLGW) Division, 2017 (Co-PI), $1.2M
worker in lab worker in lab
Sharing Our Progress
We show our progress through publications, conference presentations (e.g., AGU Fall Meetings), and ongoing lab experiments.