My graduate and post-graduate work focused on the unintentional impacts of human activities on marine and estuarine environments. In collaboration with the National Marine Mammal Stranding Network and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, we detected and quantified the presence of persistent organic pollutants (including pesticides and flame retardants) in the body tissues of temperate and subtropical dolphin populations. At the University of South Carolina, our laboratory quantified the response of microorganisms to nutrient loading in estuaries adjacent to golf courses and residential developments.