From Lakes to Labs, Chemistry’s Pincus Tracks Microplastics in Motion

April 12, 2026

Authored by:

John DiConsiglio

Lauren Pincus, an assistant professor of chemistry at George Washington University, doesn't always work in a sterile high-tech research facility. Sometimes her lab is the brackish waters of northern New Jersey bays. Instead of a white coat and goggles, she wears waterproof hip waders and mosquito repellent. And her equipment, rather than state-of-the-art instruments, is plastic bags, nylon ropes and milk crates from Home Depot.

Pincus and her student researchers at the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences(CCAS) track how plastics move through the environment in real-world conditions. Sometimes that involves studying scientific samples with powerful particle accelerators. And sometimes that means tagging store-bought products along the Jersey shorelines.

Supported by a National Science Foundation (NSF) Earth Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowship grant, Pincus planted plastic drop cloths and ropes along lakes and bays for two years. In her GW lab, she and her research team-Ph.D. student Brian Beukema, first-year master's student Emma Finigan and senior environmental science and chemistry major Ivy Ha-are examining those filmy, algae-coated samples for insights into how harmful microplastics degrade in nature.

Her work bridges the gap between studies that quantify plastic pollution on beaches and rivers and others that simulate weathering conditions under controlled settings. Pincus aims to "capture the full complexity of what's actually happening to [plastics] in the environment," she said.

Growing up in Montclair, N.J., Pincus spent much of her childhood outdoors, backpacking with her family and developing a deep appreciation for the natural world. When she discovered a passion for chemistry, it seemed only natural to combine her enthusiasm for science with her zeal to protect the environment.

"I love chemistry," she said. "If you understand chemistry and chemical reactions, it's a great lens through which to view the whole world. It's amazing how interactions on an atomic level translate into real world issues."

For Pincus, few environmental threats feel more pressing-or more pervasive-than microplastics. Indeed, a collaboration between the National Park Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration tested 37 beaches across U.S. national parks and shorelines for microplastics. The pollutants were found at all of them.

"They've been observed in the deep oceans, Antarctica, the Arctic," Pincus said. "They're in our atmosphere, our water, our soils. They are everywhere."

A Living Laboratory

At GW, Pincus' lab operates on two tracks. Her environmental chemistry focus is "observational," she said, tracing how pollutants accumulate and change in natural settings. Her sustainable, or "green," chemistry work involves designing materials and strategies to mitigate pollution. To Pincus, the two sides operate hand-in-hand.

"If you don't do observations, then you can't create the informed designs that tailor the right solutions to specific environments," she explained.

Pincus began her NSF-funded experiment as a postdoctoral researcher at Princeton University. Her first step was choosing field sites for testing how microplastics break down under different conditions-land versus water, for example, and saltwater versus freshwater. She selected the man-made freshwater Carnegie Lake at Princeton, and two saltwater locations within Barnegat Bay-Cattus Island County Park and Sedge Island.

Pincus and chemistry Ph.D. student Brian Beukema analyze their plastic samples using a particle accelerator at the Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island.

Next, she rounded up household materials-polyethylene drop cloths and ropes made of nylon, polyester and polypropylene. "I purposefully wanted to study these plastics in commercial form because that is what's predominantly in the environment," she explained.

Cutting the plastics into measured sheets, she secured them to milk crates and anchored them in place-keeping the materials stationary in the water and sunlight without drifting away and adding to environmental pollution.

For two years, the samples endured heat waves and cold snaps. Floods submerged them under water and droughts left them baking in the sun. Pincus tracked them regularly, first monthly then every six months. She waded into lakes and hitched rides on New Jersey Fish and Wildlife boats to retrieve small sections. "When I envisioned the project, I was picturing great Jersey Shore weather," she said. "But in reality, it was a bit more challenging."

By the time she packed up her plastics and brought them to GW in 2024, Pincus had amassed nearly 150 weatherworn pieces-which she literally handed to Ph.D. student Beukema. "I gave Brian bags of these samples and said, 'Good luck,'" she laughed.

During her GW lab analysis, Pincus and her team use infrared light and X-rays to examine how the plastics' surface chemistry has changed. They also analyze the samples using a particle accelerator at the Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island. The team discovered that the altered chemical structures made them more likely to bind with toxic metals-increasing their environmental impacts. "The weathered plastics have the potential to be dangerous vectors for heavy metal transport," noted master's student Finigan, who is part of the CCAS Environmental and Green Chemistry Program.

Meanwhile, the research confirmed that environmental conditions play a decisive role in how quickly plastics degrade. Freshwater systems appear to slow the process, while saltwater and terrestrial environments accelerate it-an insight that could help guide cleanup efforts. Pincus was surprised at the rapid degrading rate, recording surface chemistry shifts after only a month. "We thought it would take several months to see really substantial changes," she said.

For her students, Pincus' lab offers a rare opportunity to help shape emerging research. "This is still a relatively new field, and I'm excited to be in the position to contribute to the conversation in a meaningful way," Beukema said. "Professor Pincus is a great mentor, and seeing her drive and passion for this research is inspiring."

As she moves forward-publishing her findings and further exploring metal-plastic interactions-Pincus hopes to expand her fieldwork and let her students gain their own firsthand experience in a living laboratory. Indeed, Pincus emphasized that their insights are central to her work. "From our shared, pooled knowledge, we can really understand what is truly going on out there," she said.