The why: Austin Gray is on a quest to decode microplastics

On any given weekday afternoon, Austin Gray can be found washing beakers, flasks, and test tubes inside the research lab that bears his name.

Gray, a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences within Virginia Tech’s College of Science, could pawn off such grunt work on any number of undergraduate students aspiring to become polished researchers. But for Gray, washing glassware takes on a certain meaning.

“When I was at The Citadel [as an undergraduate], I was looking for a summer work study, and the only job available was as a glassware washer in an aquatic toxicology lab,” Gray said. “That’s where it started for me. I ended up cleaning glassware. But more so, I started learning about the research that was happening, all the work that was going on, and I started to ask, ‘Can I help? Can I take part in this?’ And by my junior year, I knew I wanted to be a researcher.

“Even now, I don’t let my undergrads do glassware. My grad students and I do glassware because it’s very humbling to remind myself where I started and that I’m never above that. The grad students remember that too. Just because you’re at a certain state doesn’t mean you can’t do those things. Those small things matter.”

Such small things have propelled the 34-year-old Gray into the global spotlight. A career that may have started in a small lab washing glassware gradually led to him becoming an expert in the field of microplastics, and his research today continues to garner international acclaim.

In November 2024, Gray and a group of researchers from the College of Charleston, The Citadel, and the University of South Carolina teamed up on a project that involved capturing exhaled air from 11 dolphins. The findings revealed that each dolphin had at least one suspected microplastic in its breath.

Their findings were important on a global scale, not just from understanding the impact of microplastics on mammals, but more importantly, the extent to which humans may also be inhaling microplastic particles.

“Dolphins have similarities to us humans, and so by understanding microplastics within them, we can then tease apart pathways of entry and assess risk,” Gray said. “This is especially important as research on the health effects of microplastics on humans is still in its infancy, so we use animal models to learn as much as we can since we can’t do human health studies with actual humans.”

The group’s findings were published in PLOS One, a peer-reviewed, open-access journal published by the Public Library of Science that covers primary research from any discipline within science and medicine. The group brought to light the potential harms for people living and working in coastal areas. Gray served as a co-author of the paper.

“Professor Gray is a pioneer in the emerging field of microplastics biology,” said John Morris, associate dean for research in the College of Science. “He has helped shape this rapidly developing area of research … and just as importantly, he is an outstanding mentor who inspires the next wave of coastal scientists every day.”

“Austin is the kind of collaborator that every researcher hopes for: eager to engage, generous with his expertise, and driven by curiosity and a commitment to mentorship,” said Leslie Hart, an associate professor at the College of Charleston who has worked extensively with Gray. “I'm so thankful that his former mentor, Dr. [John] Weinstein from The Citadel, connected us. His insights and enthusiasm have already enriched my own work, and I look forward to a long and productive collaboration.”

The project was a continuation of Gray’s research on the topic, which started while working on both his undergraduate and master’s degrees at The Citadel. His native Charleston relies heavily on the seafood industry, and he desires to do research that benefits the local community.

That strong pull of helping locals has been a driving factor for Gray when choosing his research interests. His Virginia Tech students currently are working with him on an array of projects, and they often can be seen wading in creeks and streams throughout the Blacksburg area.

“For me, microplastics starting out were just a means for me to investigate my own community,” Gray said. “Charleston is where I grew up. I lived my whole life there. From the creeks I sampled, from the beaches and the harbor that I sampled, these are all areas that I saw throughout my whole life. So there was that connection, and it taught me that you can do research that is relevant globally within your own community and still have an impact.”

Gray never expected to be in research until he took that job washing glassware in a lab at The Citadel. Truthfully, he never wanted to go to The Citadel. He only attended the military institution because his mother, who had been diagnosed with cancer at the time, wanted him to go there.

The youngest of five boys, Gray didn’t want to let her down, considering some difficult situations that she and the family had endured. One of those came when Gray’s father, a math and science teacher for 33 years, died just five days after being diagnosed with lung cancer when Gray was 14.

“I thought, ‘The least I can do is just go to The Citadel,’ and it was a gamble that paid off,” Gray said. “It paid off in the best way possible because I really did well there — and I didn’t know I would.”

Gray earned his master’s degree in biology from The Citadel while working under Weinstein, who served as a mentor. He earned his Ph.D. in environmental health sciences from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and he said he became the first Black American to graduate with a Ph.D. in environmental science from the school.

Gray said he often has found himself in such situations, citing his roles as one of, if not the first, appointed Black company commander for his home company — Golf Company, the company of Charles Foster, the first Black graduate of The Citadel — while at The Citadel and becoming the first recipient of Graduate Student Award for Academic Excellence and Leadership within his master’s degree program.

Gray, who came to Virginia Tech in 2021, never has aspired to be a pioneer just because of his skin color.

“I am very proud to be Black, and I am even more proud of the work that I do to mentor and guide the next generation of Black scientists because of the challenges that Black scientists face,” Gray said. “In all my efforts, I hope that my reputation and value to the field are not simply relegated to my identity as a Black man.

“While it is important, I have found people can put you in a box and your value is seen only in your identity rather than your scientific contribution. I hope that when I enter spaces, people can value that I am a Black scientist and acknowledge my scientific contributions. That truly matters to me.”

According to the National Science Foundation and Pew Research Center, Black individuals constitute approximately 9 percent of the STEM workforce.

To help the next generation, Gray teaches ecology, environmental toxicology, and pond ecology courses at Virginia Tech, and he oversees 12 undergraduate research positions in his lab to introduce students to research.

Gray currently is involved with projects centered on microplastics, the impact of anti-inflammatory drugs on insects and freshwater mussels with Ph.D. student Kathleen Irhin, and the impact of tire particles on amphibians with Ph.D. student Beija Gore. As if he weren’t busy enough, he hopes to start his dream research project soon, pending funding.

Gray wants to use a “gut-on-chip” system to mimic cells similar to those from the gastrointestinal tract and assess how exposure to pollutants typically found in drinking water may affect these cells. The small device could be a powerful tool for studying the complex functions of cells and understanding the causes of various health-related issues.

“That’s probably the one study that I’m itching to do,” Gray admitted. “It’s high risk, high reward, but it can change the game and how we understand human health impacts from drinking water-associated pollutants.”

Gray knows that there will be other projects, questions to be answered and problems to be solved. He admits to having an insatiable curiosity, even keeping a notepad next to his nightstand and jotting down ideas or questions that come to him in the middle of the night. Then he wakes up in the morning, energized and ready to begin the quest to help the world around him.

For him, this is the beauty of science.

“I remind myself this is still all a gift,” Gray said. “It’s a privilege to be a scientist. I teach that in my lab. To be a scientist, we’re servants in the world. Just like public servants, this is our job, and it’s a privilege that we get to serve the world.”

Original study: DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0309377