Postdoctoral fellows Tori Mezebish Quinn and Dylan Bakner and Professor Scott McWilliams in the University of Rhode Island’s Department of Natural Resources Science are initiating a project in collaboration with colleagues from three other local colleges that involves collecting hunter-harvested ducks to quantify and characterize microplastics in their digestive tracts.
The URI researchers are involved in a multidisciplinary investigation of the presence, distribution, effects, and fate of microplastics within Rhode Island’s coastal ecosystem. The work is part of a large collaborative effort between URI, Brown University, Rhode Island College, and Roger Williams University and is supported primarily by the National Science Foundation EPSCoR Program. The project, called SIMCoast (www.simcoastri.org), will provide local agencies, industries, and community organizations with actionable information to inform future plastic pollution mitigation strategies.
Quinn says they hope to receive donations from local hunters over the course of three Saturdays this January and have issued a request for whole or breasted-out common eider, red-breasted merganser, and bufflehead carcasses.
To donate:
- Freeze Rhode Island-harvested whole or breasted-out carcasses (foil wrapped if possible, but not necessary) individually in bags labeled with your name and phone number, species, harvest date, town nearest to where the bird was harvested, and the distance of harvest from that town.
- Bring labeled carcasses to any of three drop-off locations on Saturday, Jan. 17, or Jan. 31, between noon to 3 p.m.: URI Coastal Institute (1 Greenhouse Road, Kingston), West Greenwich Park & Ride (92 New London Turnpike, West Greenwich), and Newport Town Center Park & Ride (209-221 JT Connell Highway, Newport).
To coordinate delivery of donated common eider, redbreasted mergansers, and bufflehead, please contact tmezebish@uri.edu or dylan.bakner@uri.edu. For more information on the project, contact Professor Scott McWilliams at srmcwilliams@uri.edu.
