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Laura Sunberg is a postdoctoral scholar in the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) at CU Â鶹ӰԺ. Her research investigates the transport of particles such as microplastics and firebrands in environmental flows through laboratory experiments and numerical simulations. Prior to coming to CU Â鶹ӰԺ, she completed her PhD at Stanford University in environmental fluid mechanics. Outside of research, she enjoys reading, baking, and walk-jogging in precipitation

Microplastics in the coastal ocean: the interplay between particle properties and flows

Microplastics are a growing problem in the oceans. Understanding where microplastics are carried by ocean flows is crucial to learning their fate and impacts. The transport of microplastics is complicated by their physical properties (e.g., shape, size, and density), which can change over time as microplastics biofoul (i.e., facilitate the growth of organisms adhering to their surfaces). In this talk, I will discuss two projects which explore the interplay between microplastic properties and transport by coastal flows. First, I will share experiments on the dispersion of microplastics of different shapes and sizes in a wave-current flow. Then, I will discuss numerical simulations on the interplay between biofouling and the regional scale coastal transport of microplastics. Despite their different physical scales, both of these projects highlight the complex interplay between particle properties and their transport by environmental flows.