{"id":214470,"date":"2026-04-01T12:48:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T12:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/214470\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T12:48:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T12:48:10","slug":"thousands-of-microplastics-are-hiding-in-campus-soil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/214470\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands of microplastics are hiding in campus soil"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The University of Miami is frequently described as \u201cresort-looking.\u201d Palm trees line walkways, Lake Osceola reflects the sun and landscaping crews maintain the polished appearance that defines campus. To the average student walking to class, the campus looks clean.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But beneath the surface, a different story is unfolding.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lauren Novorska, a UM senior double majoring in ecosystem science and policy and anthropology, has spent the past year studying the soil beneath students\u2019 feet. Her research has uncovered thousands of pieces of macro and microplastics embedded across multiple campus locations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been seeing things like fertilizer beads, Styrofoam, confetti, glitter, pieces of fabric \u2014 like dryer lint and clothing threads and strings \u2014 popping up again and again,\u201d Novorska said. \u201cSo clearly, there\u2019s an issue here.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the 2024 fall semester, Novorska was working on a class project when she read a paper about filtering plastic out of soil.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Because plastic is hydrophobic, it rises when mixed with oil. This allows researchers to isolate and count the macro and microplastics.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She did not expect much to result from this project, but tried it anyway.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI honestly didn\u2019t expect it to work,\u201d Novorska said. \u201cBut when I tried it, I was astonished by the amount of plastic that came out of the soil.\u201d<\/p>\n

One test sample, collected near the Watsco Center on campus, contained 384 pieces of plastic in a single 16-ounce jar. The Watsco Center is used throughout the year by UM athletics, but it is also a venue for dozens of graduation ceremonies, including UM and other schools in the area. At these events, it is common for confetti cannons to be popped for photos, potentially leaving behind hundreds of pieces of plastic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cThat\u2019s when I realized something was actually wrong,\u201d she said. \u201cI thought campus was very clean.\u201d<\/p>\n

The results turned a small class project into a full-scale undergraduate thesis. Over the next year, Novorska collected 30 soil samples from locations at UM and 30 more at St. Petersburg College in St. Petersburg, Fla.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Samples were collected from \u201chot spots\u201d on campus. Locations included outside the food court, near residence halls and around campus landmarks. Every sample from UM contained plastic, with the lowest having two pieces. At St. Petersburg college 13 samples had no plastic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn one jar I found more than a thousand pieces,\u201d she said. \u201cSeveral others had 700 or 800.\u201d<\/p>\n

As her research expanded, Novorska began mapping her findings. She found that microplastics are not randomly distributed \u2014 that they accumulate in specific areas tied to student behavior.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Outside of the food court, she found a high concentration of wrappers likely carried by the wind. Near the U statue \u2014 a popular spot for graduation photo shoots \u2014 she found layers of confetti embedded in the soil.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOver at the U statue, I did a sample a couple of weeks ago that had 396 pieces of plastic, and more than 100 pieces of confetti in it,\u201d she said. \u201cI kept digging and digging, and I never stopped seeing confetti as I was digging, which is very concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n

The findings revealed a disconnect between how clean campus appears versus what actually exists in the soil.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Visible litter, known as macroplastics \u2014 which are larger than 5mm, is relatively limited on campus Novorska said. The real issue is the microplastics \u2014 pieces smaller than 5mm.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t see them when you\u2019re just walking by, but once you start looking for them, they\u2019re everywhere,\u201d she said, pointing out a piece of plastic just outside the window near Shalala.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Blending her anthropology background with environmental science, Novorska approached her research like an archaeological study \u2014 using plastic as a lens to understand human behavior.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking at these 10 sites to see what the plastic in the soil itself tells us about the students on campus,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat does it tell us about our use of different goods and potentially even the production of plastics?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of the most common pollutants she identified was small green beads. Initially, neither Novorska nor campus experts could identify them.<\/p>\n

Eventually, she traced them back to fertilizer \u2014 specifically polymer-coated fertilizer beads commonly used in potted plants brought onto campus.<\/p>\n

A majority of the microplastics she found originated from these beads, rather than from campus landscaping practices. Other materials \u2014 including confetti, Styrofoam and synthetic fibers \u2014 reflected everyday student activities.<\/p>\n

Her research also revealed geographic differences. While every UM sample contained some sort of plastic, a few samples from St. Petersburg College contained little to none. Novorska suspects the difference may be due to variations in maintenance practices, landscaping materials or campus culture.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At UM, visible litter is often quickly removed, but less noticeable microplastics are left behind.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOur landscaping and maintenance staff do a great job of keeping campus looking clean, but you can\u2019t clean up what you can\u2019t see,\u201d Novorska said.<\/p>\n

Plastic doesn\u2019t just stay where it lands. Rain washes debris from sidewalks into the soil, then into Lake Osceola and eventually into Biscayne Bay.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t just a UM issue,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a Miami issue, a Florida issue \u2014 and honestly, a global issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her findings also highlight plastic\u2019s persistence. In one sample near Mahoney-Pearson Residential College, she discovered a candy wrapper from more than a decade ago still intact.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was sitting in the top layer of soil, and I could still read everything on it,\u201d she said. \u201cIt makes you think \u2014 what will people find that we leave behind?\u201d<\/p>\n

For Novorska, the research has fundamentally changed how she views campus and cleanliness itself. Her work has also shifted her personal habits and sparked a broader mission: changing student behavior.\u00a0<\/p>\n

By combining research, education and policy change, Novorska hopes to help reduce plastic pollution on campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She is working with campus organizations to develop an educational campaign that frames microplastics in ways that resonate with different students, from public health concerns to environmental impacts and policy implications.<\/p>\n

One initiative focuses on replacing plastic confetti with paper alternatives during graduation season.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re celebrating your future while actively harming it,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd the pollution you leave behind won\u2019t affect you \u2014 it will affect the students who come after you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Novorska plans to continue her work in graduate school, pursuing a masters degree in water science, policy and management.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the scale of microplastic pollution can feel overwhelming, she remains optimistic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is still hope,\u201d she said. \u201cThere are actions we can take \u2014 as individuals and as a community \u2014 to reduce our reliance on plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The University of Miami is frequently described as \u201cresort-looking.\u201d Palm trees line walkways, Lake Osceola reflects the sun…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":214471,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-214470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214470\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}