Public Impact Research

Let Knowledge Serve

Our research, scholarship, and creative activities at PSU improve lives, serving the Portland region, the Pacific Northwest, and beyond. Public impact research is our way to describe our contributions that benefit society and emphasize the value of collaborative research rooted in serving communities.

Our faculty, students, and staff engage in a broad range of inquiry and partnerships to address pressing challenges, including public health, climate change, resource management, and reckoning with injustice, discrimination and racial inequality. Research & Graduate Studies recognizes this work is a cornerstone of our portfolio and seeks to uplift these efforts by:

Communicating the value, importance, and transformative power of public impact research
Convening individuals and groups to build collaborative relationships, partnerships, and networks
Providing resources and support
Championing efforts to foster and support public impact research at the University

PSU-Led Team to Study Microplastics Across Columbia River Basin

Microplastics can be found everywhere — from the air to the ocean — but there's still much to learn about the sources and how they move through the landscape. With the help of a yearlong planning grant from the National Science Foundation, a Portland State-led research team will take a closer look at the microplastic cycle across the Columbia River Basin, one of the largest river basins in the U.S., with the goal of securing a larger research grant in the future.