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Jen Drummond (McCormick Ph.D. ’15) presented research findings about the impacts of microplastic pollution in rivers and freshwater ecosystems at a Tuesday webinar hosted by the Institute for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern. Drummond focuses her research on the hyporheic zone of rivers. The hyporheic zone is made up of the top layer of sediment in riverbeds and is where many important nutrient cycling processes occur. Microplastics, which result from plastic waste fragmenting into small pieces, can potentially persist for hundreds of years since they don’t biodegrade. Drummond’s research focuses on how these small plastic fragments enter the hyporheic zone and the impact they have on the ecosystem. She said microplastics are consumed by aquatic organisms and can become homes for pathogens, potentially threatening human health when they move downstream. ....