Sharon Nappier
Fellowships Awarded: 2007, 2006, 2005
Sharon Nappier is interested in the microbial assessment of untreated waste from animal and human sources now being deposited in surface waters. The environmental and public health impacts of pathogens include contamination of shellfish in the Chesapeake Bay. Ms. Nappier is currently comparing clearance of pathogens by native (Chesapeake Bay) and non-native oyster species to assess the risks of non-native oysters as a vehicle for human and zoonotic pathogens. This will help inform the State of Maryland and the commercial oyster industry about potential human health impacts of the introduction of non-native oyster species currently being proposed. This will be Ms. Nappier’s third year as a CLF Fellow. She earned her BS in Biology and Environmental Studies from The George Washington University and a MSPH from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her doctoral advisors are Kellogg Schwab, PhD and Thaddeus Graczyk, PhD, both associate professors in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences.