EAGER: Toward Eco-Friendly Oceanography - Using Biodegradable Materials for Drifting Buoys

The PIs request funding to investigate the use of bioplastics for oceanography. The proposed biodegradable hull enables a greener way forward for experimental oceanography. It is an important first step toward making buoys with less environmental impact for future networks of small, low power buoys. This women-led team of scientists and engineers strives to create more eco-friendly surface drifting buoys for the Arctic Seas, and the global ocean. It would provide training opportunities for students, enabling them to develop expertise in polymer science and engineering, sustainability, system testing and characterization, and the deployment of buoys. In addition, graduate students involved in the project would participate in the Clean Energy Ambassador Program. This program facilitates their placement in classrooms across the state of Washington, where they will conduct experiments on creating polymer composites from biomass and engage in mentoring interactions with the participating schools. To evaluate the impact of these visits, teachers and hosts will provide feedback through evaluations. The Clean Energy Ambassador Program has established a network of over 500 teachers, ensuring that the outreach activities stemming from this project can be shared with a broad audience of teachers and students. They propose to investigate the use of bioplastics for oceanography. The field of bioplastics itself is making advances and the biomaterials we intend to use present a cutting-edge approach as such. The PIs would apply this material science focused research in ocean exploration, with the intent to further both the characterization of the material in ocean relevant environments, as well as push the frontier of what is possible in buoy development. A biodegradable hull enables a greener way forward for experimental oceanography. It is an important first step toward making buoys with less environmental impact for future networks of small, low power buoys. 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.