SRS-RN Track 2: MACRO-SETS: Microplastics Across the Columbia River basin to the Ocean - Social-Ecological-Technological System

微塑料是长度小于5毫米的任何类型的塑料碎片。环境微塑料污染是一个重大问题，因为微塑料在世界各地都有发现，从深海生物体内到高原上受保护的荒野地区。从大气到海洋的分水岭尺度上的塑料循环存在显著的数据缺口。环境微塑料通过许多途径进入环境，包括道路、农业实践、雨水径流和废水系统。微纤维是所有环境中发现的主要微塑料，虽然一些微纤维来源已被确定和表征，但还需要有关其他来源的信息。此外，在微纤维来源、公众意识和现有政策和管理策略之间存在脱节。该规划拨款项目旨在对哥伦比亚河流域的微纤维进行研究，以深入了解微塑料来源及其连通性。该项目的另一个目标是建立一个由科学家、工业、机构和非营利组织组成的区域网络，以了解环境微塑料污染，并建议政策、管理和技术解决方案，以减少或消除微塑料污染源。这项规划赠款的目的是收集初步的物理和社会数据，为一系列讲习班提供信息，使不同的利益相关者参与制定项目范围，以了解哥伦比亚河流域的微纤维。物理数据和调查数据的收集将由关键信息研讨会告知，这是一个由项目团队所知的俄勒冈州利益相关者组成的网络研讨会。该小组将召开会议，就抽样、调查内容和随后的车间设计提供意见。第二次全流域研讨会将聚集来自哥伦比亚河流域的更多利益相关者。本次研讨会的目标是向与会者提供关于微塑料的科学现状的概述；利用各自的专业、学科、区域和文化观点来确定未来的超细纤维研究重点；并确定与项目团队共同开发超细纤维研究的实践者领导者。这些人将参加网络咨询小组讲习班，以综合规划过程的经验教训，并最后确定全面项目的目标。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Microplastics are fragments of any type of plastic less than 5 millimeters in length. Environmental microplastic contamination is a significant problem, as microplastics have been found all over the world, from within deep sea creatures to protected wilderness areas at altitude. The plastic cycle at the watershed scale, from atmosphere to ocean, has significant data gaps. Environmental microplastics take many pathways into the environment including roads, agriculture practices, stormwater run-off, and wastewater systems. Microfibers are the dominant microplastic found in all environments, and while some microfibers sources have been identified and characterized, information about other sources is needed. In addition, there is a disconnect between microfiber sources, public awareness, and existing policy and management strategies. This planning grant project aims to scope out research on microfibers in the Columbia River Basin in order to understand deeply microplastic sources and their connectivity. The project also has the goal of creating a regional network of scientists, industry, agencies, and nonprofits engaged in understanding environmental microplastic contamination, as well as recommending policy, management, and technology solutions to reduce or eliminate microplastic contamination sources.This planning grant has the objective of collecting preliminary physical and social data to inform a series of workshops to engage diverse stakeholders in developing a project scope for understanding microfibers in the Columbia River Basin. Both physical and survey data collection will be informed by a Key Informant Workshop, a webinar of Oregon-based stakeholders known to the project team. This group will convene to provide input on sampling, survey content, and subsequent workshop design. A second Basin-Wide Workshop will gather a larger group of stakeholders from across the Columbia River Basin. The goals of this workshop are to provide participants with an overview of the state of the science on microplastics; to enlist their respective professions, disciplines, and regional and cultural perspectives in identifying future microfiber research priorities; and to identify practitioner-leaders for co-developing microfiber research with the project team. These individuals will participate in a Network Advisory Team Workshop to synthesize lessons from the planning process and to finalize goals for a full-scale project.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.