Samantha Romanick, PhD

Dr. Samantha Romanick is a molecular biologist with an interest in studying the effects of microplastic exposure to human health. Since 2014, Samantha has made a commitment to do her part to help curb plastic pollution by omitting plastic waste from her home, educating her community on the issue, starting up a small retail business to offer alternatives to household single-use plastic items, as well as teaching high school students about the plastic waste problem. Samantha recently directed her own scientific career to study how microplastics effect human health. After receiving a PhD in molecular biology from the University of Nevada, Reno, in 2020, Samantha came to the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Rochester for her postdoctoral training in investigating the impacts of microplastics exposure and human health. Since then, she has been involved in many personal and professional zero waste and sustainability initiatives, from organizing composting and recycling at community events and festivals, composting and researching microplastic pollution in the Black Rock Desert, and promoting sustainable labs at academic institutions. Samantha also maintains the Microplastic Workgroup of Western New York that includes over 60 participants from 17 different organizations across NY and Canada with an interest in microplastics research.