Dr. Elise Granek is the principle investigator for the OMARC lab. She received her PhD in Zoology/Marine Ecology from Oregon State University in 2006 and her MESc in Forest Ecology and Conservation Biology. She joined Portland State University's Environmental Science & Management faculty in 2007, where she runs the Applied Coastal Ecology lab. Her research spans examining the effects of disturbance, including emerging contaminants, on marine species and ecosystems, to understanding human knowledge and perceptions about coastal management, fisheries, and contaminants.

Kellie Teague is a research analyst at OMARC. She has a BS in Chemistry from Southern Methodist University, and a MS in Marine Science from Hawaiʻi Pacific University, where she specialized in chemical oceanography. Kellie has been working in the field of plastic pollution since 2019, and served as the Laboratory Manager for the Center for Marine Debris Research from 2020-2024. She is particularly interested in the degradation and chemical changes that plastics undergo in the environment. 

Dr. Susanne Brander is on the OMARC Advisory Board and was instrumental in bringing a dedicated microplastics laboratory to the pacific northwest. She received her MS in Environmental Science and Policy from Johns Hopkins University, her PhD in Toxicology from the University of California, Davis, and is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State University.  She leads the Ecotox and Environmental Stress Lab, where her research focuses on discerning mechanisms of toxicity and linking the results of laboratory experiments to ecosystem responses. Specific compounds of concern include endocrine active pesticides and pharmaceuticals.