The Microplastics in our Rivers and their Microbes

The in-person event will take place in the Athabasca University Governing Council Chambers, 1 University Drive, Athabasca, Alta.

Srijak Bhatnagar is an assistant professor of computational biology and microbial ecology at Athabasca University. His Enviromics Research Group studies microbes associated with the impacts of humans on the environment, like microplastics, herbicides, and oil spills. He uses DNA-based tools to identify the microbes and their capabilities so they could be used for environmental cleanup and restoration.

His research spans from the Crowsnest Highway in Southern Alberta to Bigstone Cree Nation in Northern Alberta to the Far North in the Arctic, and everywhere in between. For the last few years, he has studied the microplastics in Alberta's rivers to udnerstand our impact on the rivers and the potential impacts of microplastics on us.

How much microplastics are in our rivers when the water enters the town and when it leaves the town? What are the microbes on these microplastics? Are they different on the surface of the water and at the bottom of the river? What are these microbes doing? Are they good or are they bad? Can they eat the plastic? These are some of the questions that his research is trying to answer.