Autumn Girouard
Fellowships Awarded: 2006
Autumn Girouard is interested in preventing human infectious diseases that are often facilitated by industrial agricultural practices, global warming and other impacts on the environment. Her research involves using Cryptosporidium parvum, a waterborne intestinal parasite, to investigate how industrial animal production contributes to contamination of surface water and shellfish, especially oysters, in the Chesapeake Bay. Her research includes a combination of direct sampling and remote-sensing satellite imagery to study the spatial and temporal variations of contaminants in a portion of the Bay and, in addition, genetic fingerprinting to determine the source of the contamination. She earned her BS degree in biology and biotechnology from George Mason University. Her doctoral advisor is Thaddeus Graczyk, PhD, Associate Professor, Environmental Health Sciences.
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