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Imari Walker Is on a Mission to Protect Our Health From Microplastics

During the pandemic, Pratt School Ph.D. candidate Imari Walker has found her public speaking voice.  The environmental engineer student is taking her research into the dangers of microplastics in the environment to the public through a science education series on YouTube.

The series is geared to broad range of ages and knowledge levels. Many of the sessions focus on microplastics – the materials that stay in the environment for a long time after plastics disintegrate. Her message: This stuff is ubiquitous in our environment and it has an impact on our health and bodies.

A fifth-year PhD student in the lab of Duke environmental engineer Lee Ferguson, she studies the fate of plastic components as they break down and disperse in the environment.

Above, Walker explains how the pandemic has affected her research and her personal life – spoiler, she got a cat – and why the study of environmental education is important to daily living.

Read more about Walker, who is also committed to promoting science education among Black youths.