Working With Miami to Improve the Circular Economy Assessing gaps and areas for growth in the Magic City’s largest river December 15, 2020 The following guest blog was authored by the Jambeck Research Group at the University of Georgia, including Dr. Jenna Jambeck (Lead, Center for Circular Materials Management in the New Materials Institute), Amy Brooks (New Materials Institute), Jennifer Mathis (New Materials Institute), Kathryn Youngblood (Citizen Science Director, University of Georgia) and Taylor Maddalene (CAP Coordinator). Have you recently been out for a walk in your neighborhood and seen a piece of litter on the ground—maybe a food wrapper, a to-go utensil, or a cigarette butt—and wondered “where did this come from?” or “how many of these actually end up on the ground?” Have your questions then wandered a bit deeper, maybe toward why we’re using these items in the first place, why they’re made of this material, or even how or why it wasn’t captured by the waste management system? If so, you are not alone, and the team in the Jambeck Research Group at the University of Georgia has developed a protocol for answering those questions and investigating a step further towards tangible, local interventions.