![\"Madison](\"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/news\/sites\/16\/2026\/11\/madison-jones-684x1024.jpg\")
URI\u2019s STEEP Superfund Research Program<\/a>, a frequent DWELL Lab<\/a> collaborator, is helping share the call. DWELL and STEEP have worked together on several PFAS communication projects, most recently PFAS Kitchen, an augmented reality experience to educate consumers about PFAS in household products. That game, along with other work on PFAS and plastics, gave Jones the idea to bring creative writing into the mix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re inviting poetic responses to the pressing concerns of persistent pollution and welcome submissions from poets working across disciplines,\u201d Jones said. \u201cWe\u2019re especially interested in reaching writers whose work engages with science, literature, ecology, and the environmental humanities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Submissions are due by<\/strong> Jan. 31, 2027<\/strong>. For the full call and submission guidelines, visit the call for poetry submissions<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A perpetual problem<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n While microplastics have received wide coverage and study at URI<\/a>, the emerging research around the dangers of PFAS<\/a> is also garnering significant attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These harmful chemicals can persist in bodies for years, a topic being studied by URI\u2019s College of Pharmacy and Graduate School of Oceanography. Known as \u201cforever chemicals,\u201d PFAS\u2014short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances\u2014are a large family of synthetic chemicals that have been used in a vast array of industrial and consumer products since the 1940s. PFAS do not easily degrade in the environment, and for the last seven decades have contaminated drinking water and food webs, increasing exposure and risks to human health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At URI, Jones coordinates the University\u2019s Certificate in Science Writing and Rhetoric, and has a dual appointment in URI\u2019s departments of Professional\/Public Writing and Natural Resources Science. He has presented on science communication for the National Park Service and is the author of \u201cInventing Ecosystems: The Rhetoric of Science in an Ecological Age\u201d and two poetry collections. He is also co-editor of \u201cA Rhetorical Arboretum\u201d and has been involved with the University\u2019s North Woods Project<\/a>. In “Visualizing Environments<\/a>,\u201d he discusses how the arts influence science communication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jones\u2019 recent personal poems describe a vernal pool at the former West Kingston Town Dump (closed in 1978 and now part of an EPA Superfund site) and a variety of residents of the natural world, from blackberries to sparrows. He and McDermott previously worked together as editors for the journal Kudzu House Quarterly, a journal of environmental arts and letters, now archived at the University of Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2018Forever\u2019 chemicals move through our air, water, food, and bodies,\u201d said Jones<\/a>. \u201cIt is our hope that our collection, \u2018Forever,\u2019 can voice a response to the problems of persistent pollution that we face, reckoning with the realities of living in today\u2019s age of change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He hopes to receive submissions from across URI and beyond and is asking the URI community to share the opportunity with colleagues, students, and others in their networks who might be interested. \u201cThe call is open to anyone,\u201d Jones said. \u201cWe\u2019re hoping for an international reach.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n To submit, visit <\/em>the call page<\/em><\/a>. For additional questions, contact Madison Jones at <\/em>madisonjones@uri.edu<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Nov. 9, 2026 \u2013 Poetry has had a universal appeal across centuries; words penned in earlier times are still with us, quoted and shared, today. Unfortunately, something else in our world has similar staying power. Now, a University of Rhode Island professor is connecting the two for a new collection. 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