Earth and Environmental Sciences student Thanh-Binh Duong has been conducting ecotoxicological research, investigating the occurrence and toxicity of microplastics in freshwater systems. She has researched the presence of microplastics in sediment and water samples collected throughout the Potomac and Rappahannock River, and analyzed the interactive effects of microplastics and organochlorine pesticides on the viability and behavior of the dominant freshwater species, Daphnia magna. Thanh-Binh presented her work titled ““Determination of the Impact of Polyethylene Nanoplastics on the Toxicity of Methoxychlor on Daphnia magna” at the 2019 meetings for the Society of Environmental Toxicology at both the North America conference as well as the meeting for the local chapter of SETAC, and was awarded a travel award to attend the North America conference. Additionally, she won 2nd place for best oral presentation when she presented her research at UMW’s Summer Science Institute Symposium in 2019.
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