The Microplastics Research and Education Center is supported by a collaborative agreement with NASA.
~$5M 5-year award for research, student internships, tuition and housing.
Dee Barker, PhD, Associate Professor of Chemistry & Environmental Science is the Principle Investigator for the award with NASA
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To serve all Alaskans we are adopting the California Water Board Protocols for detecting microplastics in drinking water. We are working to become a California Water Board Accredited lab to serve our Alaskan communities.
Our Alaska & Arctic Waterways Analytics lab is outfitted with the state of the art instrumentation for microplastics research
We have a beautiful lab, and the Chugach Mountains, is the scenic view outside our lab windows.
We conduct research in many ecosystems: mountain watersheds, ocean dives along Alaskan coastlines, summit mountains, kayak rivers, and trek to Arctic regions of northern Alaska.
We aspire to take a One Health approach, respecting the land and the peoples who live Traditionally in and on the land, braiding Indigenous Knowledge and Western Science into our research practices.
Our partners
We are partnering with the Moore Institute for Plastic Pollution Research in California. The Moore Institute lab is one of two labs in the USA accredited by the California Water Board for detecting microplastics in drinking water.
Partnering with the lead scientists in the NASA SWOT (Surface Water Ocean Topography) Satellite Mission to track microplastics movement on the ocean
Our mission is to ignite a lifelong passion for learning. By challenging the advanced and uplifting the less assured, we engage our students to rise to their unique academic potential.
Alaska Pacific University Microplastics Research and Education Center 