Meet the UT Student Tracking Microplastics in Austin Lakes

The article profiles Danielle Zaleski, a recent University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) graduate with a Bachelor of Science in geology from the Jackson School of Geosciences, who has been researching microplastic pollution in Austin's waterways for over two years. Inspired by an introductory geosciences course in high school, Zaleski focused her undergraduate work on analyzing sediment cores from Lake Austin and Lady Bird Lake, near the UT campus. She presented her findings at the 2025 Jackson School student research symposium and has won multiple awards, including the undergraduate category at the symposium (twice) and the President's Student Employee of the Year Award. Her advisers praise her as a self-starter who innovated lab methods, such as developing a new approach to count microplastics using software.

Zaleski's methods involved extracting 2.84-meter-long core samples from Lady Bird Lake, divided into 15 sections, and filtering them to identify microplastics (particles 45 micrometers to 1 millimeter in size). She focused on "road wear particles" from asphalt and tires, counting them under a microscope.

Key findings reveal microplastics in every sample layer, with concentrations rising dramatically from older, deeper sediments (about 200 particles per 100 grams) to newer, shallower ones (about 4,600 per 100 grams). This increase correlates with Austin's urban growth and development. The research underscores the ubiquity of microplastics, found even in remote global locations, and is contributing to a City of Austin report on pollution sources and mitigation strategies.

Zaleski will continue her work as a master's student at the Jackson School, expanding to microplastics along the Texas coast. Her advisers highlight her initiative, with one noting, “Give her a small idea, and then suddenly, the next day, it’s double.”