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 […]
One of the largest means of producing electricity is through the combustion of coal. Coal ash, its waste product, contains trace metals that can become mobile in the environment. Catherine Crowell, a sophomore majoring in environmental science, examined trace metal contamination within sediment and water samples collected near a coal-burning power station using ICP-OES. Synthetic […]
Mathematics students Hannah Frederick, Ashley Scurlock and Isabella Gransbury traveled to the 2020 Joint Mathematics Meeting in Denver, CO, January 2020–the largest mathematics conference in the world! The three UMW Mathematics majors presented their research with almost 400 other students in the undergraduate poster session of the conference. Hannah’s poster–Using Circulant Matrices for Sharing Secret […]
In recent years the magnitude of the problem of plastics in the marine environment has become increasingly well-known, but less research has been done in freshwater systems. Thomas Bustamante, a junior majoring in biological sciences, examined the gizzards of five species of water fowl, in order to document the presence of plastic particles and identify […]
Students in the sciences at UMW have a unique opportunity to participate in a 10-week long, multi-departmental Summer Science Institute supported by the University, which provides full room and board for the duration. One or two faculty members from each of the STEM disciplines are selected for participation in the Institute each year. At the […]
