Microplastics are an emerging contaminant in environmental systems, creating potential threats to organisms, ecosystems, and human health. OMARC aims to add to the global knowledge of microplastic pollution through the identification and quantification of microplastics and their associated chemicals.

OMARC is currently the only laboratory in the Pacific Northwest solely dedicated to microplastics analysis. As such, we serve as a resource for agency, private, non-governmental, tribal, community, and educational partners throughout Oregon, Washington, Idaho, California, Montana, British Columbia and beyond.

The pervasive nature of microplastics requires global knowledge sharing and collaboration to effect meaningful change. Therefore, following an embargo period, microplastics data generated by OMARC will be publicly accessible in an online database.

The idea for a Pacific Northwest-based microplastics research center was first developed by Dr. Elise Granek (Portland State University) and Dr. Susanne Brander (Oregon State University) in 2018. In collaboration with U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, PSU was awarded a portion of congressionally directed spending (CDS) from the FY2023 federal appropriations cycle (NA23OAR4690595). The bulk of this grant was dedicated to procuring state-of-the-art instrumentation for microplastic analysis, which was up and running by summer 2025.

The OMARC Laboratory is located inside the Science Research & Teaching Center (SRTC) of Portland State University in downtown Portland, Oregon:

Oregon Microplastics Analytical Research Center

1719 SW 10th Ave.

Portland State University, SRTC Rm B1-25

Portland, OR 97201

To contact us, please fill out our Service Request Form or email TeamOMARC@pdx.edu!